Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Brown Becomes Women’s Basketball Head Coach

Keith Brown was officially introduced as Georgetown’s seventh women’s basketball head coach Wednesday morning, filling the void left after Terri Williams-Flournoy’s recent departure for Auburn University.

Brown, who spent the last five years as an assistant to Williams-Flournoy, pledged to continue the Hoyas’ recent success and set his sights on the Final Four. He was singled out by Director of Athletics Lee Reed for his educational background and his commitment to the Blue and Gray.

“Everybody can coach, everybody has a philosophy on basketball, but the person that is successful is the person that displays the want, the willingness, to be here more than anywhere else in the country. And Keith proved that,” Reed said.

Before coming to Georgetown, Brown coached elite AAU teams in the mid-Atlantic region and was a teacher in public schools in Maryland and the District of Columbia. Among the players Brown coached on the AAU circuit was Sydney Wilson, a 6-foot-6 center who will begin her senior campaign as a Hoya next fall.

“I know that he will maintain the things he brought as an assistant coach, and they were huge. And I think he’ll take them to the next level. But I don’t think it’ll be a crazy change,” Wilson said.

Fellow center Vanessa Moore, also a rising senior, noted Brown’s recruiting prowess, which he concentrated on while on Williams-Flournoy’s staff.

“Me and Coach Brown have been really close since I got here. He recruited me. He’s pretty much the reason that I came — or a big part in the process of me choosing — Georgetown,” Moore said.

But as a head coach, Brown will have to do more than just recruit. He described those new responsibilities by retelling a piece of advice he received from legendary former men’s basketball coach John Thompson Jr.

“One of the things in the last five years [Thompson Jr.]’s taught me that’s been special is making the Georgetown the best place it can be for our student-athletes. He taught me you’ve got to take care of the shield, the ‘G.’ I promise that on and off the court, I’ll protect the shield,” Brown said.

With seven seniors — who have won more games than any class in Georgetown’s history — graduating next week, Brown will have to reload the program amid the tough competition of the deep Big East. But his goal remains to finally take Georgetown to the Final Four.
“When I first came here, it’s funny, I thought one day we’d get to the Final Four. Everybody thought I was crazy. If we continue to do well, we continue to get the right athletes, we continue to play our style. … We have a chance,” Brown said. “We definitely want to focus on one day getting to the Final Four. ”

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