Athletic Department
(410 area code)
Derek Brown
Experience: 34Hometown: Camden , NJ
College: Montclair State
Derek Brown enters his 12th full season and 13th overall as head women's basketball coach at Coppin State.
A two-time MEAC Coach of the Year in 2004-05 and 2005-06, Brown has instilled a tradition of winning in the Eagle program. He has coached four players to MEAC Player of the Year honors on five occasions. Keisha Brooks became the school's first Player of the Year following the 1999-2000 season, and Sherrie Tucker who claimed the award in 2004-05 and again in 2005-06. Rashida Suber won the award in 2006-07 and Shalamar Oakley made it four straight Eagles to win the honor in 2007-08.
The Camden, N.J. native has placed 17 players on the all-conference list and has been named the Most Outstanding Coach of the MEAC Tournament three times.
Under the guidance of Brown, Coppin State has made five trips to the postseason, including trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2008.
The 2005-06 squad led the nation with a 21-game winning streak heading into their second NCAA Tournament in two years. CSU finished 18-0 in the MEAC, one of only six Division I teams to go undefeated in conference play, becoming the first conference school since 1996-97 to accomplish the feat. It was the first time Coppin State finished without a blemish in conference play, and extended its current conference winning streak to 30 games including tournament and non-league contests.
Brown's defense finished the season ranked No. 1 nationally in field goal percentage defense and sixth in scoring defense.
On Jan. 9, Brown's Eagles defeated Norfolk State 61-35 in Echols Hall to give him his 100th career victory. He is the only head coach for the CSU women's basketball team to pass the milestone. Coppin State finished the season 22-9 to earn consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in the program's history.
In the 2004-05 season he guided Coppin State to it's finest season in over a decade and was rewarded with a MEAC regular season and tournament championship. The road ended with CSU's first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Coppin State picked up numerous monumental victories during the season that began with an overtime win against UMBC in the season-opener. Other notable triumphs throughout the season included defeating Delaware State at Memorial Hall to end the Hornets 23-game home win-streak, the second longest in the country at the time. The Eagles also defeated Howard for the first time since 2001 and an 80-46 roll over Bethune-Cookman was CSU's second largest margin of victory in school history.
The Eagles followed Brown to just their second 20-win season since joining the ranks of division I competition. They ended the season with a winning record in non-league competition for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign. They opened the season 9-4 for the best start in school history and nearly went undefeated in tournament play but were sidetracked by the Tar Heels in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In 2003-04 it became evident that Brown has instilled a winning attitude into the program, as the Eagles recorded one of their finest seasons since joining the Division I ranks. Picked to finish eighth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Coppin State was the surprise team of the league, garnering a third-place showing, one game out of first place, and reaching the MEAC tournament semifinals for the first time in six years.
The Eagles picked up non-conference victories over Pittsburgh, Drexel and St. Peter's along the way to their most wins (18) in more than 10 years and their most wins ever (13) in conference play.
Coppin State's transition to becoming a successful Division I program on an annual basis began to take hold during Brown's third year at the helm in 2001-02. The Lady Eagles put together a 14-14 overall record, went 12-6 in the conference.
Among their wins was a decision over defending America East champion and NCAA Tournament participant Delaware in the first round of the Cornell Classic, and sophomore LaKesha Wills was named MEAC Rookie of the Year at the end of the season.
A long-time assistant to Coppin State men's basketball coach Ron Mitchell, Brown took over the helm of the Eagles program on an interim basis in December 1999, following the resignation of Jennie Hall.
During the remainder of the 1999-2000 season, Brown guided the Eagles to a 10-9 record while continuing as an assistant with the men's team, and he also served the men's program in 2000-01 in a limited capacity as special assistant before relinquishing those duties.
Brown is in his 27th year at Coppin State and assisted Mitchell for 23 years, including 15 at Coppin State.
During his tenure with the men's program, he helped guide the Eagles to nine Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season titles, 11 straight winning seasons, two NIT tournament appearances and three NCAA tournament appearances, including a first-round upset of No. 2-seed South Carolina in 1997.
The Eagles' nine MEAC regular-season crowns equaled the most won by any program in the country during the '90s, and their winning percentage ranked among the top 25 that decade.
Prior to coming to Coppin State, Brown and Mitchell were together for eight seasons at Gloucester County (N.J.) College.
During that period the Roadrunners recorded a 227-45 mark while capturing several regional championships and participating in four National Junior College Championships.
During his playing days, Brown was a star at Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, N.J. The former point guard led his team to a 27-0 record and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Championship his senior season.
His prep coach at the time was Gary Williams, presently the head coach at the University of Maryland.
Brown later attended Montclair State, where he played three years of varsity basketball.
He also spent nine years as a school law enforcement officer in Camden and was a correctional officer for the Camden County Sheriff's Department before coming to Coppin State.
Brown also served during the 1999 season as head softball coach at Coppin State.
Brown and his wife, Joy, have one son, Jordan.
A two-time MEAC Coach of the Year in 2004-05 and 2005-06, Brown has instilled a tradition of winning in the Eagle program. He has coached four players to MEAC Player of the Year honors on five occasions. Keisha Brooks became the school's first Player of the Year following the 1999-2000 season, and Sherrie Tucker who claimed the award in 2004-05 and again in 2005-06. Rashida Suber won the award in 2006-07 and Shalamar Oakley made it four straight Eagles to win the honor in 2007-08.
The Camden, N.J. native has placed 17 players on the all-conference list and has been named the Most Outstanding Coach of the MEAC Tournament three times.
Under the guidance of Brown, Coppin State has made five trips to the postseason, including trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2008.
The 2005-06 squad led the nation with a 21-game winning streak heading into their second NCAA Tournament in two years. CSU finished 18-0 in the MEAC, one of only six Division I teams to go undefeated in conference play, becoming the first conference school since 1996-97 to accomplish the feat. It was the first time Coppin State finished without a blemish in conference play, and extended its current conference winning streak to 30 games including tournament and non-league contests.
Brown's defense finished the season ranked No. 1 nationally in field goal percentage defense and sixth in scoring defense.
On Jan. 9, Brown's Eagles defeated Norfolk State 61-35 in Echols Hall to give him his 100th career victory. He is the only head coach for the CSU women's basketball team to pass the milestone. Coppin State finished the season 22-9 to earn consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in the program's history.
In the 2004-05 season he guided Coppin State to it's finest season in over a decade and was rewarded with a MEAC regular season and tournament championship. The road ended with CSU's first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Coppin State picked up numerous monumental victories during the season that began with an overtime win against UMBC in the season-opener. Other notable triumphs throughout the season included defeating Delaware State at Memorial Hall to end the Hornets 23-game home win-streak, the second longest in the country at the time. The Eagles also defeated Howard for the first time since 2001 and an 80-46 roll over Bethune-Cookman was CSU's second largest margin of victory in school history.
The Eagles followed Brown to just their second 20-win season since joining the ranks of division I competition. They ended the season with a winning record in non-league competition for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign. They opened the season 9-4 for the best start in school history and nearly went undefeated in tournament play but were sidetracked by the Tar Heels in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In 2003-04 it became evident that Brown has instilled a winning attitude into the program, as the Eagles recorded one of their finest seasons since joining the Division I ranks. Picked to finish eighth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Coppin State was the surprise team of the league, garnering a third-place showing, one game out of first place, and reaching the MEAC tournament semifinals for the first time in six years.
The Eagles picked up non-conference victories over Pittsburgh, Drexel and St. Peter's along the way to their most wins (18) in more than 10 years and their most wins ever (13) in conference play.
Coppin State's transition to becoming a successful Division I program on an annual basis began to take hold during Brown's third year at the helm in 2001-02. The Lady Eagles put together a 14-14 overall record, went 12-6 in the conference.
Among their wins was a decision over defending America East champion and NCAA Tournament participant Delaware in the first round of the Cornell Classic, and sophomore LaKesha Wills was named MEAC Rookie of the Year at the end of the season.
A long-time assistant to Coppin State men's basketball coach Ron Mitchell, Brown took over the helm of the Eagles program on an interim basis in December 1999, following the resignation of Jennie Hall.
During the remainder of the 1999-2000 season, Brown guided the Eagles to a 10-9 record while continuing as an assistant with the men's team, and he also served the men's program in 2000-01 in a limited capacity as special assistant before relinquishing those duties.
Brown is in his 27th year at Coppin State and assisted Mitchell for 23 years, including 15 at Coppin State.
During his tenure with the men's program, he helped guide the Eagles to nine Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season titles, 11 straight winning seasons, two NIT tournament appearances and three NCAA tournament appearances, including a first-round upset of No. 2-seed South Carolina in 1997.
The Eagles' nine MEAC regular-season crowns equaled the most won by any program in the country during the '90s, and their winning percentage ranked among the top 25 that decade.
Prior to coming to Coppin State, Brown and Mitchell were together for eight seasons at Gloucester County (N.J.) College.
During that period the Roadrunners recorded a 227-45 mark while capturing several regional championships and participating in four National Junior College Championships.
During his playing days, Brown was a star at Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, N.J. The former point guard led his team to a 27-0 record and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Championship his senior season.
His prep coach at the time was Gary Williams, presently the head coach at the University of Maryland.
Brown later attended Montclair State, where he played three years of varsity basketball.
He also spent nine years as a school law enforcement officer in Camden and was a correctional officer for the Camden County Sheriff's Department before coming to Coppin State.
Brown also served during the 1999 season as head softball coach at Coppin State.
Brown and his wife, Joy, have one son, Jordan.
