Wichita State fired head men’s basketball coach Isaac Brown on Saturday after three years and the Shockers likely to miss playing in the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season.
Brown, 53, was 48-34 overall, including his first season in 2020-21 when he was interim head coach and guided the team to a 16-6 overall mark, 11-2 in the American Athletic Conference and an NCAA Tournament first-round game, which they lost 53-52 to Drake.
The 2021 AAC Coach of the Year, Brown was promoted to permanent head coach and became the first Black men’s basketball head coach at Wichita State.
The Shockers didn’t sustain that initial success, going 15-13 (6-9 AAC) in 2021-22, and were 17-15 (9-9) this season. They beat Tulsa 91-63 on Thursday, then lost to Tulane 82-76 in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament.
WSU athletic director Kevin Saal thanked Brown for his contributions to the program in a statement posted Saturday on the athletic department’s Twitter account.
“His love for our student-athletes and our program is unquestioned, and we are grateful for his investment in the lives of our student-athletes, serving as both assistant and head coach over the last nine seasons,” Saal said in the statement. “Coach Brown is a man of character and integrity, and we appreciate everything he’s done for our men’s basketball program, especially during a significant period of transition. We wish Coach Brown and his family all the best in their next endeavors.”
Saal said there is no official timeline for a “comprehensive national search” for Brown’s replacement.
Brown had spent six seasons as an assistant coach under Shockers head coach Gregg Marshall. Brown was promoted to interim head coach eight days before the start of the 2020-21 season when Marshall resigned amid allegations he physically and verbally abused past and present players, and later reached a $7.75 million settlement with the school.
Brown had three years remaining on a five-year contract, and will be owed approximately $4 million, paid in monthly amounts of about $108,000 through April 2026, according to reports.
–Field Level Media