Guard, a USF Hall of Famer, was first black sheriff of S.F.
Eugene “Gene” Brown, a guard on USF’s undefeated 195556 NCAA championship team and a man whose decades of public service included a stint as the first African American sheriff in San Francisco history, died of heart failure March 22. He was 84.
Brown attended San Francisco’s Washington High before heading to the Hilltop. As a sophomore in 195556, he played sparingly behind K.C. Jones but then took on a prominent role in the NCAA Tournament after Jones was declared ineligible for the postseason.
Brown scored a gamehigh 23 points in the Dons’ 7261 win over UCLA in their opening NCAA Tournament game. He had 16 points in their 8371 win over Iowa in the title game. The Dons finished 290.
The following season, Brown averaged a teamhigh 15.1 points per game and led USF back to the
Final Four. He was named to the alltournament team. As a senior in 195758, he again led the Dons in scoring (14.2 ppg) as USF went 252, 120 in the West Coast Athletic Conference.
In his three varsity seasons, the Dons went a combined 769. Brown was inducted into the USF Athletics Hall of Fame.
“He was a great, great teammate,” said teammate and fellow USF Hall of Famer Mike Farmer in a statement released by the school. “... He was a helluva player, but he was also a tremendous friend.”
After college, Brown devoted his life to public service. He spent time as a recreation director and a police officer. In 1978, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone appointed Brown to the sheriff ’s job as Richard
Hongisto resigned. Brown kept that position for a year.
Brown also worked in the Department of Justice and was a civil rights director in the Small Business Administration. In 2001, he retired from the San Francisco City and County Youth Guidance Center after 14 years.
His wife of 34 years, Betty Anne, died last April. Brown is survived by his son Roy, stepdaughter Adrienne Mitchell, daughterinlaw Heidi and granddaughter Olivia.