Brown among Wall inductees
Feb 6, 2008 7:14:53 GMT -5
Post by Raider Country on Feb 6, 2008 7:14:53 GMT -5
Brown among Wright State Wall inductees
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
It's easy to establish why players are inducted into Halls and Walls of Fame. You can always look at the numbers.
Head coaches can also pile up some numbers. With assistant coaches, that's a different story.
And Jim Brown is a different story, which is why he'll be inducted into the Wright State basketball Wall of Fame along with players Tim Walker, Lyle Falknor, Mike Grote and Sean Hammonds on the men's side and Jess Van Der Geest, Jeanne Biermann, Lori Collins and Lois Warburg on the women's side.
The ceremony will be held during the men's basketball game with Detroit on Feb. 20.
Brown is unique in that he was WSU's first assistant coach and served under three head coaches before becoming the team's interim coach under less than ideal circumstances. He was at the school 27 years.
"I had a great 27 years there," said Brown, who was hired in 1970 under initial head coach John Ross, then served under Marcus Jackson and Ralph Underhill before taking over the team in 1996. "I recruited every player we had there."
That means Brown recruited Walker (1972-74), Falknor (1973-76), Grote (1982-84) and Hammonds (1991-94).
Walker became the school's first 1,000-point scorer, ending with 1,009 points. Falknor — who had the perfect jump shot — finished with 1,418 points. Grote was the Most Valuable Player in the 1983 Division II national championship game and Hammonds ranks sixth all-time in scoring with 1,573 points and second in rebounding with 828.
On the women's side, Warburg (now Sterwerf) was the 1984 MVP and scored 1,229 points, still fifth-best overall. Biermann (Johnson) was co-MVP in 1979 and scored 1,108 points and is the all-time rebound leader with 897. Van Der Geest was a two-time MVP as a sophomore and senior, and scored 1,054 points.
Brown was there while they all played. He had played on the 1964 Belmont High team that won the state championship under Ross. After college, he went into the service and was about to be released after serving in Vietnam when Ross called.
"I took a part-time job with him in February 1970," Brown said. "When he retired a few years later, I wasn't ready to be a head coach, but they told all the candidates I was going to be part of the job."
That's the way it stood for 26 years until Underhill was let go just prior to the 1996 season and Brown was named in his place.
"We had just scheduled the toughest schedule in school history because we had some seniors back, and then Vitaly Potapenko surprised us and went pro," Brown said. "We weren't ready for that."
Not with Kentucky and Louisville and Miami and Dayton on the schedule. Wright State went 7-20, and while the Raiders did lose 11 games by nine points or less — six by three or less — it wasn't enough to save Brown's job.
For the past 11 years, he has coached Northmont High School basketball teams and has taught at WSU.
• Saturday's men's game at Youngstown State will be shown on WHIO-TV's digital channel 708 beginning at 7 p.m.
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2008/02/05/ddn020608inside.html
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
It's easy to establish why players are inducted into Halls and Walls of Fame. You can always look at the numbers.
Head coaches can also pile up some numbers. With assistant coaches, that's a different story.
And Jim Brown is a different story, which is why he'll be inducted into the Wright State basketball Wall of Fame along with players Tim Walker, Lyle Falknor, Mike Grote and Sean Hammonds on the men's side and Jess Van Der Geest, Jeanne Biermann, Lori Collins and Lois Warburg on the women's side.
The ceremony will be held during the men's basketball game with Detroit on Feb. 20.
Brown is unique in that he was WSU's first assistant coach and served under three head coaches before becoming the team's interim coach under less than ideal circumstances. He was at the school 27 years.
"I had a great 27 years there," said Brown, who was hired in 1970 under initial head coach John Ross, then served under Marcus Jackson and Ralph Underhill before taking over the team in 1996. "I recruited every player we had there."
That means Brown recruited Walker (1972-74), Falknor (1973-76), Grote (1982-84) and Hammonds (1991-94).
Walker became the school's first 1,000-point scorer, ending with 1,009 points. Falknor — who had the perfect jump shot — finished with 1,418 points. Grote was the Most Valuable Player in the 1983 Division II national championship game and Hammonds ranks sixth all-time in scoring with 1,573 points and second in rebounding with 828.
On the women's side, Warburg (now Sterwerf) was the 1984 MVP and scored 1,229 points, still fifth-best overall. Biermann (Johnson) was co-MVP in 1979 and scored 1,108 points and is the all-time rebound leader with 897. Van Der Geest was a two-time MVP as a sophomore and senior, and scored 1,054 points.
Brown was there while they all played. He had played on the 1964 Belmont High team that won the state championship under Ross. After college, he went into the service and was about to be released after serving in Vietnam when Ross called.
"I took a part-time job with him in February 1970," Brown said. "When he retired a few years later, I wasn't ready to be a head coach, but they told all the candidates I was going to be part of the job."
That's the way it stood for 26 years until Underhill was let go just prior to the 1996 season and Brown was named in his place.
"We had just scheduled the toughest schedule in school history because we had some seniors back, and then Vitaly Potapenko surprised us and went pro," Brown said. "We weren't ready for that."
Not with Kentucky and Louisville and Miami and Dayton on the schedule. Wright State went 7-20, and while the Raiders did lose 11 games by nine points or less — six by three or less — it wasn't enough to save Brown's job.
For the past 11 years, he has coached Northmont High School basketball teams and has taught at WSU.
• Saturday's men's game at Youngstown State will be shown on WHIO-TV's digital channel 708 beginning at 7 p.m.
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2008/02/05/ddn020608inside.html
