Wichita State has hired Isaac Brown as an assistant men’s basketball coach, Head Coach Gregg Marshall announced today.
“I have known Isaac 15 years and have always enjoyed my dealings with him,” Marshall said. “He is very personable and a quality individual. He has a great reputation as a coach and recruiter and is excellent at building relationships with student-athletes.
“In addition, he has coached at a very high level in the SEC, and he has also impressed me with the job he has done helping Coach White at Louisiana Tech build a nationally relevant program.”
Brown recently completed his third season as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech where he has coached since 2011.
“I am excited to work at Wichita State, a Top 10 program, and it is an opportunity of a lifetime to work for Gregg Marshall, one of the best coaches in the country,” Brown said. “It was a difficult decision because of the opportunity Coach White at Louisiana Tech gave me, while I look forward to being a sponge and absorbing all I can from Coach Marshall and the great staff he has there.
“Coupled with their 2013 Final Four and record-breaking 35 wins, Wichita State has some of the best facilities and the very best fan support, so I also look forward to experiencing that all first-hand.”
Brown helped coach the Bulldogs to a 29-8 record, which tied for the most victories ever in a season in program history.
With the 29 wins came a share of the C-USA regular season title in the school’s first year in the league and a runner-up finish in the C-USA Tournament. Louisiana Tech also registered wins against Big 12 runner-up Oklahoma and SEC runner-up Georgia, and was one victory shy of reaching the National Invitation Tournament Final Four.
The team also won the inaugural Gulf Coast Showcase tournament and finished in the top 20 nationally in scoring offense, scoring margin, assists per game, steals per game and turnover margin.
Brown’s on-court responsibilities for the Bulldogs involved coaching the wings and guards, which included four all-conference players during his coaching stint.
With his assistance, Louisiana Tech featured a trio of guards this past season who earned postseason honors — Kenneth Smith was selected first team All-Conference USA as well as the C-USA Defensive Player of the Year, Alex Hamilton was selected third team All-Conference USA and Kenyon McNeail was named the C-USA Sixth Man of the Year.
The prior season was just as historic as the backcourt tandem of Kenneth Smith and Raheem Appleby were selected first team all-WAC. In addition, Alex Hamilton was named to the All-Newcomer team.
In 2012-13, he helped coach the team to a 27-7 overall record and a 16-2 mark in conference that earned the Bulldogs their first-ever WAC regular season championship.
The year featured a program-record 18-game winning streak, the school’s first AP Top 25 ranking in 28 years and a berth into the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) where they advanced to the second round.
This solid foundation was laid a year earlier by Brown and the coaching staff when the team finished the regular season with wins in five of their last six games and reached the program’s first-ever WAC Tournament final after upsetting Utah State and Nevada in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
Prior to joining White’s staff, Brown served as associate head coach at Arkansas State. In the 2010-11 season, Brown helped the Red Wolves to a 17-14 overall record including a 13-0 mark at home while serving under head coach John Brady. ASU won the Sun Belt Conference West Division title with an 11-5 record.
Prior to ASU, Brown spent three years at the University of Arkansas (2007-10) under head coach John Pelphrey, assisting with recruiting and on-the-floor coaching.
During his time with the Razorbacks, Brown helped lead the squad to a 52-45 record, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 when the team advanced to the second round.
Prior to his stint at Arkansas, Brown served on the coaching staff for Pelphrey at South Alabama for five seasons. During his time at USA, Brown helped direct the Jaguars to the best turnaround in the nation in 2006 when the team improved its record to 24-7 after three losing seasons, captured the SBC West Division title and tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998.
Following their success in 2007, the Jaguars posted a 20-12 record in 2007, won the SBC regular-season title and earned a berth in the NIT, where it dropped a 79-73 decision to Syracuse. The 2007 team led the Sun Belt in turnover margin, assist-to-turnover ratio and three-point defense, and it was second in steals and scoring defense.
The Jaguars also made 272-of-749 three-pointers, an average of 8.5 per game. Brown began his coaching career at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Miss., in 1997. After two years, he went to his hometown as an assistant at Pascagoula (Miss.) High School.
Following one season, he moved back into the junior college ranks at Okaloosa-Walton Community College in Niceville, Fla.
At OWCC, he recruited and coached Kedric Brown, who in 2001 became the first junior college player selected as an NBA lottery pick (No. 11 by Boston). He also coached guard Donell Taylor, who played for the Washington Wizards.
Fifteen OWCC players signed Division I scholarships while Brown was on the staff. Brown earned his bachelor’s in health and physical education from ULM in 1995.
He played two years at Mississippi Gulf Coast CC (1989-90), spent one season at Texas A&M (1991), transferred to ULM and sat out the 1992 season before helping his team win the 1993 Southland Conference title at 17-1, finishing 27-4 overall and earning an NCAA Tournament bid.
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