University of Memphis Athletics
Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
- dbrown33@memphis.edu
Darryl Brown is in his first season as the program’s associate head coach in 2015-16. He joins the Tigers after a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Cleveland State from 2013-15.
“Darryl has tremendous experience,” head coach Melissa McFerrin said. “Having been a long-time assistant coach and a head coach, he brings a broad perspective to our program.
“He has a tremendous passion for the game, especially on the defensive end of the floor. Darryl has outstanding character, an ability to connect and motivate players and a true dedication to success.”
In his two seasons in Cleveland, Brown helped the Vikings move up in the Horizon League. He helped the Vikings post a combined 33-29 overall record, 19-13 conference mark and two top-five finishes in the Horizon League regular season. With Brown on staff, Cleveland State had four postseason award recipients.
The two years prior to his arrival (2011-12, 2012-13), Cleveland State went a combined 25-36 overall and 11-23 in the league and had regular-season finishes below fifth place (seventh in 2011-12, sixth in 2012-13). The Vikings only one player receive conference postseason honors over those two seasons.
Cleveland State began its climb in the Horizon in Brown’s first season in 2013-14. The squad went 13-17 overall and 5-11 in the league, placing fifth in the conference regular-season standings. The Vikings had two players – Imani Gordon (All-Horizon first team) and Khayla Livingston (Horizon All-Freshman) – take home all-league honors.
The following campaign (2014-15), Cleveland State made a big jump, posting a 19-13 overall record and a 10-6 Horizon League mark. The 19 overall wins and 10 league victories were the most since 2010-11. The Vikings finished third in the Horizon regular season and earned a WNIT appearance. The postseason berth was the program’s first since the 2009-10 campaign.
Moreover, Cleveland State had two players – Gordon (All-Horizon second team) and Cori Coleman (All-Horizon first team) – earn postseason recognition.
Cleveland State, though, is not Brown’s first time in helping a program turn around its fortunes. In five seasons from 2008-13, Brown helped Pepperdine climb back to the top-half of the West Coast Conference (WCC). After winning consecutive league titles in 2001-02 and 2002-03, the Waves fell on hard times from 2003-04 to 2007-08. In those five years prior to Brown’s arrival in Malibu, Calif., Pepperdine only one winning campaign and finished fifth or lower in the WCC regular-season standings three times.
Enter Brown, who helped Pepperdine to three winning ledgers and two postseason berths. Among those three winning seasons was the program’s first 20-win campaign (2009-10; 20-12 record) since 2002-03. The Waves also posted three-straight years with nine or more wins from 2008-09 to 2010-11. The last time Pepperdine had a longer streak of nine or more conference wins was from 1997-98 through 2003-04 (seven seasons).
Pepperdine had three-straight seasons with a top-three finish in the WCC regular season from 2008-09 to 2010-11, the first since the program had three-consecutive, top-three finishes from 2001-02 to 2003-04. In that three-year run, the Waves also advanced to the 2010 WCC Championship title game and earned 2010 and 2011 WNIT berths.
In addition to the team’s success, Brown helped in the development of the Waves’ players. Brown had three players earn WCC postseason honors a total of six times and also had two players to play in the professional ranks. He also played a major role in Pepperdine’s 2012 signing class that ESPN.com ranked No. 1 among mid-majors in the West and No. 7 among the mid-majors nationally.
Prior to Pepperdine, Brown spent four seasons at Cheyney University, an NCAA Division II school located in Cheyney, Pa., from 2004-08. Brown served as a Wolves assistant coach his first two seasons, and in 2006-07, was elevated to the program’s interim head coach. He assumed the head coach title in 2007-08.
Again, Brown helped engineer another turnaround. After consecutive 20-loss seasons, Brown guided Cheyney to an 11-18 overall record and a 7-5 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) mark in 2007-08. The 11-18 overall record was the program’s best ledger in 18 years. The 7-5 league record earned the Wolves a third-place finish in the PSAC East Division, and the squad qualified for the PSAC playoffs for the first time since 1989-90.
Brown also had two players earn All-PSAC honors, the first time in 17 seasons that two Wolves were named all-conference the same season. For his efforts, Brown was named the PSAC Coach of the Year honors, becoming the first coach in Cheyney University history to earn the league’s honor.
A 1995 Temple University graduate with a degree in marketing, Brown was an assistant coach at his alma mater from 1998-2000 and at Montclair State in 2001-02.
In between his collegiate stints, the Philadelphia, Pa., native coached at the high school level in the Philadelphia area. In three years as an assistant at Norristown Area High School, Brown helped the Eagles to three-consecutive, 20-win seasons and a Pennsylvania State Championship Final 8 appearance. Under his tutelage, eight student-athletes received NCAA scholarships to play basketball, including five at the Division I level.
Brown is married to the former Tasha McDowell, who is an assistant coach for the Cincinnati women's basketball program. The couple married in August of 2015.
