By JORDAN MCLEMORE
Staff Reporter
Andrew Brown has been released as the head men’s basketball coach at Northwestern.
After being at the helm of the Rangers for eight seasons, Brown accumulated a 119-112 record. The Ranger men tied for the Great American Conference in 2013 and since then have gone 21-32 in the past two seasons. This includes a 17-23 conference mark. The Rangers completed this season 9-18 and with a ninth-place ranking in the GAC.
Brown joined the program as a student assistant in 1995 before becoming a full-time assistant coach in 2004.
According to Northwestern’s homepage, Brown was a full-time assistant for three seasons, helping Northwestern to a 57-39 record and making it to the NAIA National Championship “Elite Eight” during the 2006-07 season, a feat no other Ranger team has met.
Brown was also an assistant coach for two years at the University of Science and Arts. While at USAO, he was in charge of recruiting and helped with numerous other aspects of the Drover program.
Prior to USAO, Brown served as the assistant coach of the men’s and women’s program at Otero (Colo.) Junior College. Both teams won the conference championship with the women going 27-5 and the men ending with a 21-9 record.
Northwestern’s bio also mentions “during his inaugural year as head coach, Brown posted a very successful 18-11 overall record and a 13-9 mark in the Sooner Athletic Conference. He led the Rangers to a tie for fifth place in the SAC during that season, coached an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American, an NAIA Academic All-American and five SAC All-Conference selections”.
“We are committed to building a program that can consistently compete in the Great American Conference,” said Andrew Carter, director of athletics. “A change in direction is needed to accomplish that goal. Coach Brown has made significant contributions to the basketball program during his time at Northwestern and has helped guide the program during the transition phase to the NCAA. We wish him and his family the best in their future endeavors.”
Carter said the search for a new head coach would begin immediately.
When asked for an interview to answer further questions, Carter responded with, “I respectfully decline this meeting as I do not discuss personnel matters publicly. We have issued our statement and stand by it.”