Men's Basektball Head Coach Bill Brown
Springfield, Ohio — Wittenberg University Men's Basketball Head Coach Bill Brown reached another milestone with Saturday's 91-85 victory over host Hiram College. Now in his 21st season as a head coach and his 15th directing his alma mater's men's basketball program, Brown earned his 400th career victory.
Brown's career record is now 400-180 in 21 seasons, including 15 at Wittenberg, five at Kenyon and one at Wooster. His record at Wittenberg is a sparkling 340-81, including this season's 13-6 mark.
At the start of the 2007-08 season, just 31 active NCAA Division III men's basketball coaches had reached the 400-win plateau. A total of 50 coaches in NCAA Division III history had ever reached that win total before this campaign. In addition, Brown's career winning percentage of .690 before the season ranked 33rd in NCAA Division III history.
A 1973 Wittenberg graduate, Brown holds the school record for coaching victories, and his winning percentage of .809 is exceeded by just three Tiger coaches with four of more seasons at the helm - Larry Hunter, Dan Hipsher and Ray Mears. Under Brown's direction, Wittenberg has captured six North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season championships and four NCAC Tournament titles, and the Tigers have made nine NCAA Division III Tournament appearances.
A two-time district coach of the year and five-time conference coach of the year honoree (including 1986 with Kenyon), Brown has guided Wittenberg to two NCAA Division III Tournament Final Four appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2006.
Wittenberg is back in action Wednesday against Earlham College in the newly named Pam Evans Smith Arena. Saturday's win moved the Tigers to 9-1 in the NCAC, good for a first-place tie with Wooster. It was Wittenberg's 12th win in the last 13 games after a 1-5 start.
Written By: Ryan Maurer
Photo By: Robert Gantt