WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State director of athletics Darron Boatright announced Friday that he will remove the interim tag from men’s basketball coach Isaac Brown.
Brown has verbally agreed to a five-year deal and will be formally introduced on Monday as the 26th full-time coach in program history.
Brown will also become the first Black men’s basketball coach ever to lead a Division I program in the state of Kansas.
Known around college basketball as a player’s coach and people person, Brown steadied the ship through turbulent times early in the season.
Picked seventh in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll, Wichita State (13-4, 9-2) is currently in first-place with two games remaining.
Brown assumed the interim role on Nov 18, 2020 – just eight days before the team’s scheduled opener. COVID-19 protocol forced the Shockers out of the Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, and the team played and practiced shorthanded over the next two weeks, resulting in early December losses to NCAA tournament contenders Missouri and Oklahoma State.
After a 1-2 start, Brown’s Shockers have since won 12 of their last 14 games — capped by last week’s upset of No. 6 Houston — and are now receiving votes in both national polls.
Brown, 51, is in his seventh season at WSU – the first six as an assistant under Gregg Marshall.
WSU has won over three-quarters of its games since Brown’s 2014 arrival, going 170-54 (.759) highlighted by four straight NCAA tournament bids (2014-18) and a run to the NIT semifinals in 2019.
Brown is in his 19th season overall at the Division I level, having also served as an assistant at Louisiana Tech (2011-14), Arkansas State (2010-11), Arkansas (2007-10) and South Alabama (2002-07).
Combined, Brown’s teams have posted 11 20-win seasons, made 10 postseason appearances, and won eight regular season titles across four conferences (C-USA, MVC, Sun Belt, WAC).
The Pascagoula, Miss. native was a standout point guard in college, helping Louisiana-Monroe to a berth in the 1993 NCAA tournament. He owns a bachelor’s degree from ULM in health and physical education.
