The new Assistant Bobcat coach is............

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Tue May 18, 2004 1:48 pm

Johnny Brown, I have no idea how tall he is!

BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Johnny Brown, a seasoned basketball coach with
West Coast and Midwest recruiting ties, will join the Bobcat basketball
coaching staff on June 1, MSU head coach Mick Durham announced Tuesday.
Brown comes to MSU from Eastern Oklahoma Junior College, where
he served as an assistant coach last year, as well as during the 2001-02
season. Brown also worked as an assistant at Binghamton (NY) University
(2002-03), Northern Iowa (2000-01), Texas A&M Corpus Christi
(1998-2000), and Fresno State (1994-98).
"Johnny will be a nice addition to our staff," said MSU coach
Mick Durham. "He brings a lot of strengths to this job. He's been a
Division I assistant, and he has experience coaching inside players,
which he'll work with here. He's from the West Coast, but he has
recruiting ties to the Midwest, which will help us expand our recruiting
base."
Brown, a 1986 graduate of the University of New Mexico, played
for the Lobos from 1984-86, and previously played for two years at
Pepperdine. The 1986 All-WAC selection averaged 18.8 points as a junior
in 1984-85, and as a senior scored 20.9 points a game. The Los Angeles
native scored 36 points in his home finale at The Pit.
Brown played in the Continental Basketball Association, as well
as Europe and the Middle East, and earned All-Star honors in the World
Basketball League in 1988, '89, and '91. He was an All-WAC choice in
1986, and was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers that year.
Brown joins Scott Carson and James Clark on Durham's Bobcat
staff.

HelenaCat · Post by **HelenaCat** » Tue May 18, 2004 2:25 pm

mslacat: Nothing against Johnny Brown as I have no idea who he is, other than this article. But I am very disappointed that Danny Sprinkle is not coming back home. Do you have any inside info as to why it did not pan out for Danny?

The article does say Brown will work with the big men. lets hope he is over 5'10" tall

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Tue May 18, 2004 3:29 pm

From the following picture I would guess he is about 6-5 basketball height.. He is the coach on the left. Number 50 BTW is our new center Beye!

velochat · Post by **velochat** » Tue May 18, 2004 4:13 pm

This really sounds like a good choice to me. Nothing against Danny Sprinkle, but this guy has much more experience (and he's taller). West Coast and midwestern ties would be good, and he already knows some of our new players. Welcome to Bozeman!!

Cat Pride · Post by **Cat Pride** » Tue May 18, 2004 5:03 pm

I am ecstatic about this hire! And here are 4 reasons why.
1. Experienced assistant coach
2. Proven player at a high level (WAC, drafted to NBA (even if it was the Clippers) European leagues)
3. Knows how to coach the "big man"
4. Knows Beye - which makes that transition all the better, and I assume coached against Pratt.

MslaCAT - Is Johnny Brown a hire who could be groomed as Mick's replacement? Is he capable of handling HC duties? I assume when he steps on campus, he will be Mick's top assistant.

As much as people are talking about Huse going to Missoula and MSU missing out, I'd rather JB on our staff.

If JB is the kind of coach who can really light a fire under our teams collect arse, then this hire is the total package!

macormixx · Post by **macormixx** » Tue May 18, 2004 5:39 pm

I'd like to add that the new coach, Johnny Brown, must be
roughly 41 years old. With the junior college players coming
in, I suspect that Durham felt his players needed more of a
senior figure ... more of a disciplinarian. Danny Sprinkle
is still of the age where he would play the role of the player's
advocate ... sort of how James Clark stands with the players
currently.

Also, it seems reasonable to expect that Brown is familiar
with not only Beye, but probably with Pratt, Jefferson, and
Miller. Oklahoma is JUCO-basketball crazy; they have these
jamboree tourneys down there with like 32 teams per tourney,
so Brown probably at least knows all those guys.

And, nobody's mentioned this yet, but ethnic diversity is a good thing,
maybe even better than "height diversity"!

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Tue May 18, 2004 10:46 pm

I'm intrigued.

I think it's been pretty much agreed that the program needed some new life breathed into it.

Durham seems to have gone "out of the box" on these new recruits and new coach. I don't recall us ever recruiting in Oklahoma, and I doubt any other Big Sky team spends a lot of time recruiting there.

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Wed May 19, 2004 7:48 am

Started last year with Dennis Woodall

suckitgriz · Post by **suckitgriz** » Wed May 19, 2004 8:43 am

Talked with Sprinks and it sounded like he was interested, but...
He actually would have been taking a demotion by coming here. Braswell has much opportunity to move up through the ranks and Sprinkle is his main man. Dan also just bought a house in L.A. and is enjoying it. He will be back to Bozeman in the middle of June- I am sure it will be a crazy time!

farmcats · Post by **farmcats** » Wed May 19, 2004 9:34 pm

Good to see we are getting a assistant coach with some size to work with the big men. As someone mentioned it is a good move to have another minority on the coaching staff. My big concerned, he hasn’t been in an one location for more than two years. Look for him to last only two years before he moves on.

The new Assistant Bobcat coach is............

The new Assistant Bobcat coach is............

This Could Be Very Good ...