Pros, cons for new path
The news stung the University at Albany basketball community Monday, as much for its suddenness as for the content.
Will Brown, head coach of one of America East’s most successful programs for the past 19½ seasons, was dismissed, less than a day after Ualbany’s pandemic-infected season ended Sunday with an 83-77 America East Tournament quarterfinal loss at Hartford.
Much of social media has come to Brown’s aid. “The threshold on Will Brown’s replacement is going to be very, very high, one supporter wrote on Twitter. “No coach should be judged on this COVID season,” another posted on Facebook.
Neither Brown nor athletic director Mark Benson, who made the ultimate decisions, returned requests Monday for interviews. We may never know all of the details that led to the parting, but what follows is one view of factors that should have been considered when evaluating the coach.
Why he should have been kept
The record. Brown’s career record at Ualbany was 20 games over .500 after taking over a program that was near rock bottom when he took over. The five America East championships should require no further explanation. He had nine seasons with 19 or more victories. A lot of schools would take that.
He can coach. Numerous opposing coaches
have commented over the years about how hard it is to coach against Brown because of his game preparation. His “scout” for each opponent was treated like the Bible. He didn’t always recruit the best players, but he got a lot out of those who played.
His players graduate. Rarely in his two decades did Brown have an issue with academic eligibility. Four of his players won America East Academic Player of the Year honors. One of the current players, Adam Lulka, has maintained a 4.0 GPA over four years. These Danes are student-athletes.
Recruiting “good” kids. Over a four-decade career, I’ve heard virtually every coach say he has “good kids,” but in four seasons on the Ualbany beat, I’ve found it to be true. The intelligence quotient helps, but I don’t recall a player who wasn’t personable and likable. That makes marketing easier.
Community contributions. Brown has been a leader in the
“Coaches vs. Cancer” crusade. He and his wife, Jamie, have been hosts of the annual Albany’s Coaches vs. Cancer Basket “Ball,” and they donated $10,000 last spring to start a fundraising campaign early in the pandemic.
Potentially why he wasn’t kept
Style of play. Brown’s teams in general have played a slower tempo, relying on ball security to win games. While the philosophy had some success, it isn’t fan-friendly, and the school has had difficulty drawing fans — particularly among students. Most college players prefer the faster pace.
Reliance on JUCOS. Ualbany’s roster often was filled out with junior-college players and transfers. Will Amica is the only scholarship freshman on this year’s roster. While a lot of the JUCOS can play, their short, one- to twoyear stays make it hard for fans to connect long-term with the players.
Too short a bench. Brown admittedly prefers a small rotation of seven or eight players, which leaves a lot of recruits little opportunity to show their talents in games.
Among the players who have fled recently: Malachi de Sousa (2020), Sasha French (2020), Reece Brooks (2019), Philip Flory (2019), Nikola Jerotic (2019), Xavier Cochran (2018), Matt Conway (2018).
Coaching staff nepotism. All of Brown’s assistant coaches have a previous Ualbany connection. The current assistants — Jon Iati, Josh Pelletier and Jerrad Knotts — have been together for eight seasons. An outsider might have contributed new, and perhaps better, ways to operate.
Cremo/nichols fiasco. Joe Cremo and David Nichols were All-america East players who left a winning program after their junior season of 2017-18 — Cremo for Villanova, Nichols for Florida State. Cremo was the ultimate team player who frequently got pulled from games for a single mistake. Nichols got thrown out of practice numerous times for missteps. Their departure expedited the current slide of three consecutive losing seasons.