Daniel "Dee" Brown (born August 17, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player and current college coach. Brown played at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

from 2002 to 2006, receiving numerous awards and accolades, including the 2005 Sporting News National Player of the Year. Brown was selected in the second round of the

2006 NBA draft The 2006 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2006, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. c ...

by the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

. Brown played for several international basketball teams from 2007 to 2015.

High school

Brown attended Proviso East High School in

Maywood, Illinois Maywood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded on April 6, 1869, and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 23,512 at the 2020 census. History There was limited European-Am ...

. He earned Mr. Basketball honors in the state of Illinois following his senior season, and was the ninth Mr. Basketball to attend Illinois since the award began in 1981. Brown was named Illinois' Gatorade Player of the Year in 2002, McDonald's All-American, ''Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette'' Illinois Player of the Year in 2002, First-Team All-State pick by the IBCA, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and the ''Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette''. Brown finished his high school career as Proviso East's all-time leader in scoring, assists and steals, averaging 25.6 points, 5.5 assists and 2.9 steals per game as a senior. He shot 44 percent from the three-point arc as a senior and once made 12 three-pointers on his way to 42 points against Addison Trail High School as a senior. Brown helped the Pirates to the Sweet Sixteen of the Illinois state tournament as a senior and averaged 19 points, eight assists, five rebounds and five steals per game as a junior while earning First-Team All-State honors from the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' and ''Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette''. His tenacity in transition offense earned him the moniker "The One-Man Fast Break" from the Chicago-based media, a nickname that stayed with him throughout college. Brown led Proviso East to a 25–4 record and the West Suburban Gold Conference championship was ranked by RivalsHoops.com as the No. 2 point guard and No. 11 player overall in the nation and ranked the No. 3 point guard and No. 18 player overall by Blue Chip Hoops and Ranked by All-Star Report as the nation's No. 19 player. Brown also played football at Proviso East, starting at quarterback and lettering in 2000 and 2001. Brown passed and ran for more than 1800 yards and 16 touchdowns in seven games as a quarterback during his senior season and earned recruiting overtures from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

and the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

for football. Brown played in the Jordan Brand Capital Classic,

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

, and City-Suburban All-Star games. In addition to his athletic accomplishments, Brown also excelled in the classroom. He graduated from Proviso East in 2002, ranked sixteenth in a class of 382 students.

College

Freshman year

Brown was named a starting guard for 31 of 32 games in his freshman season at Illinois the one game he did not start walk on player Nolan Roberts took his place on senior night. He led the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

in steals per game (1.9) and averaged 5.6 assists, second to teammate

Deron Williams Deron Michael Williams ( ; born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in ...

; a contribution that helped the Illini finish second in the Big Ten regular season standings and win the 2003 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament.

Sophomore year

In his second season, Brown shared duties at point guard and shooting guard with

. He started every game of the season, averaging 13.3 points per game and ranking second on the team in assists with 4.5 per game (behind Deron Williams). Williams and Brown, combined with talents of junior shooting guard Luther Head and the frontcourt tandem of Roger Powell and James Augustine, helped the Illini to a 13–3 Big Ten Conference regular season record, enough to win the school's first outright Big Ten Conference Championship since 1952. In the NCAA Tournament, Brown helped the 5th-seeded Illini to an opening-round 72–53 victory over 12th-seeded Murray State. In their second-round game against the 4th-seeded

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the college sports, athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. The teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision as members of the Big 12 Conference. The Bearcats were pr ...

, Brown scored 14 points and accounted for 8 of the team's 26 assists in a 92–68 victory, the Illini's first ever NCAA Tournament victory over a higher-seeded team. Illinois finally lost to top-ranked

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

, 72–62, in the regional semifinals.

Junior year

In the 2004–2005 collegiate basketball season, Brown was one of a celebrated trio of guards (along with

and Luther Head) that led the

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The university operates a number of athletic fac ...

to a 37–2 record and a second-place finish in the 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Brown was named a 2005 Consensus First-Team All-American, he was a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award finishing third, and was named the National Player of the Year by The Sporting News. After the 2004–2005 season, Brown considered declaring his eligibility for the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

. However, Brown broke his foot during the NBA pre-draft camp for draft-eligible players, and opted to not enter the draft and return to Illinois for his senior year. In March of this season, Brown was featured on the cover of

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

. The title proclaimed "It's March!" and included a picture of Brown popping the front of his jersey towards the crowd.

Senior year

With Williams and Head in the NBA, Brown and fellow senior James Augustine led the Illini to a 26–7 record. Brown had played

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

for his first three years at Illinois. But since Deron Williams, who played

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

in his years at Illinois, had left for the NBA, Brown returned to his primary position of point guard for his senior season. His last game was the 67–64 loss to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. After the season, Brown was named Second-Team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n by the

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. He received the sixth-most votes, making him the leading vote getter on the second team. Also, he was named the winner of th
Bob Cousy Award
for 2006, given to the nation's top collegiate male point guard. Memorable games included a career-high 34 points at home against Michigan State on January 5, 2006, and 14 points in a win on the road against UNC in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (avenging the loss to UNC in the previous season's NCAA championship game in St. Louis). Brown led in the Fighting Illini in points (14.2), assists (5.8), steals (1.6) and minutes (35.8). When he retired his famous orange headband, he ended perhaps the finest four years in the school's history. Brown is the winningest player in Illinois history (tied with James Augustine) with 114 victories, leads in all-time minutes (4,698) and started the most games (136) of any player in school history. Brown played in 137 games during his career, the second most in school history (tied with James Augustine), he was third on the Illini all-time scoring chart with 1,812 career points and second in school history in career 3-pointers (299), career assists (674) and career steals (231). His career assists total ranks fifth in Big Ten history, while his career 3-pointers and career steals totals rank sixth in Big Ten history. Brown is also Illinois' record holder in the NCAA Tournament for career points (179) and career field goals (64).

Pro career

NBA

During the

, Brown was selected 46th overall by the

but was not offered a guaranteed contract. Brown attended the team's training camp in the fall, where he and various undrafted players competed for a roster spot. On August 29, 2006, Dee Brown signed with the Jazz and was reunited with former college teammates

and Roger Powell, who also signed with the team. On November 14, 2006, Brown scored his first points in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

with a pair of free throws against the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

. Through the first month of the NBA season, Brown played off the bench in eight of the Jazz's seventeen games. Brown played in 49 games during his rookie season, averaging just under two points per game. After spending the 2007–08 season with Galatasaray Café Crown in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, he was signed by the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

to an offer sheet for a two-year, partially guaranteed deal on July 9, 2008. Since Brown was still a restricted free agent at the time, the Jazz were given one week to match the offer, but declined to do so since they were already stocked at point guard. Brown officially signed with the Wizards as a free agent on July 30. Due to an injury to guard Gilbert Arenas, Brown broke into the Wizards rotation, eventually becoming the starting point guard. Brown averaged 2.4 points and 1.9 assists in 17 games with the Wizards. Brown was released by the Wizards on December 10, 2008, to make room for Mike James and Javaris Crittenton, two guards acquired by the Wizards via trade. On December 23 Brown was signed by the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

, who were looking for a backup point guard. After playing two games in which he averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 assists per game, Brown was released. In 2010 the Dallas Mavericks invited Brown to their training camp, but he was waived on October 21.

Overseas

On September 22, 2007, Brown decided that he would play the 2007–08 season for Galatasaray Café Crown of the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

rather than try to make the Jazz's roster in training camp. On January 23, 2009, Brown signed a contract with Israeli power house

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

for the remainder of the 2008–09 season. He was signed ahead of the top 16 stage of the

Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

to team-up with former

player Carlos Arroyo in Maccabi's back court. Brown signed with Air Avellino of the

Italian Basketball Federation The Italian Basketball Federation () is the governing body of basketball in Italy. It is based in Rome. It organises national competitions in Italy and the Italian basketball leagues, which operate the country's two professional leagues, Lega B ...

on August 11, 2009. On November 16, 2010, Brown signed with the Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

. In April 2011, he signed a contract with

Piratas de Quebradillas ''Piratas'' () is a Spanish adventure drama television series with comedy elements created by Carlos Portela and which stars Óscar Jaenada, Pilar Rubio and Silvia Abascal. It aired on Telecinco in 2011. Premise Set in the 18th century, the fi ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. On July 21, 2011, he signed with the Italian team Teramo Basket. In the summer of 2012, he signed a contract with Türk Telekom. On July 31, 2013, Brown signed with Latvian champions VEF Rīga of the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

and

ULEB Eurocup EuroCup Basketball, commonly known as the EuroCup and currently called BKT EuroCup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual professional basketball club competition organized by Euroleague Basketball. The league is regarded as Euroleague Basketbal ...

. On August 8, 2014, he signed a one-year deal with the Romanian team CSU Asesoft Ploiești. On January 21, 2015, he left Asesoft, and signed with

PBC Lukoil Academic BC Academic Metropol Region () is a reestablished Bulgarian professional basketball club based in the capital Sofia. In April 2022, Academic has been reborn and rebranded by the new owners, the German-Bulgarian ex-professional basketball players ...

in Bulgaria. Brown announced his retirement from playing professional basketball in September 2015.

Post playing career

On September 8, 2015, Brown was hired by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a special assistant to Athletic Director Mike Thomas, after his contractual obligation to Lukoli Academic ended. In April 2016, Brown was made the Director of Player Development and Alumni Relations for the school's men's basketball program. In October 2016, Brown resigned from his position at the University of Illinois, citing personal reasons. Brown commented on his departure through Twitter, saying, "I've been dealing with some personal issues that have weighed heavily on me. ... After much thought, I've made the tough decision to leave my position. I will always have love for my school and basketball program." On August 29, 2017, Brown was hired as an assistant coach for the University of Illinois-Chicago men's basketball team. Brown was named head coach of the

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university enrolls arou ...

men's basketball team on June 27, 2022.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, 49 , 0 , 9.2 , .327 , .214 , .649 , .8 , 1.7 , .4 , .1 , 1.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 17 , 11 , 13.7 , .386 , .300 , .333 , 1.6 , 1.9 , .6 , .0 , 2.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 2 , 0 , 14.0 , .200 , .250 , 1.000 , .5 , 1.5 , .0 , .0 , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 68 , , 11 , , 10.5 , , .340 , , .250 , , .643 , , 1.0 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , .1 , , 2.1

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 0 , , 6.5 , , .353 , , .000 , , .250 , , .4 , , 1.1 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.6

International

, - , 2007–08 , , Galatasaray Cafe Crown , , TBL , , 24 , , 31.3 , , .458 , , .355 , , .519 , , 2.7 , , 4.8 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 12.7 , - , 2008–09 , , Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. , , Ligat HaAl , , 17 , , 12.9 , , .579 , , .368 , , .857 , , 1.2 , , 2.1 , , .5 , , .1 , , 4.5 , - , 2009–10 , , Air Avellino , , Lega A , , 30 , , 29.9 , , .500 , , .319 , , .795 , , 2.6 , , 5.2 , , 1.7 , , .0 , , 14.8 , - , 2010–11 , , Qingdao DoubleStar , , China CBA , , 31 , , 31.7 , , .538 , , .322 , , .794 , , 3.8 , , 4.8 , , 2.0 , , .2 , , 22.2 , - , 2011 , ,

, , BSN , , 15 , , ''?'' , , .550 , , .480 , , .790 , , 3.4 , , 5.9 , , ''?'' , , ''?'' , , 16.5 , - , 2011–12 , , Teramo Basket , , Lega A , , 32 , , 33.1 , , .461 , , .307 , , .733 , , 3.3 , , 3.3 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 11.8 , - , 2012–13 , ,

Türk Telekom B.K. Türk Telekom Basketbol Kulübü (English language, English: Turk Telekom Basketball Club) is a professional basketball team that is based in Ankara, Turkey. The team is currently playing in the Turkish Basketball Super League. It is a branch of t ...

, , TBL , , 30 , , 34.6 , , .448 , , .354 , , .736 , , 2.4 , , 4.9 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 14.0 , - , rowspan="2", 2013–14 , , rowspan="2", BK VEF Rīga , , Latvia LBL , , 17 , , 30.0 , , .514 , , .209 , , .667 , , 3.3 , , 4.6 , , 1.7 , , .1 , , 8.6 , - ,

, , 18 , , 32.4 , , .440 , , .303 , , .795 , , 2.7 , , 6.3 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , 10.9 , - , rowspan="2", 2014–15 , , CSU Asesoft Ploiești , , Liga Națională , , 10 , , 37.1 , , .586 , , .283 , , .800 , , 3.4 , , 9.1 , , 1.8 , , .0 , , 14.7 , - ,

, , Bulgaria NBL , , 22 , , 30.3 , , .613 , , .385 , , .865 , , 3.1 , , 7.2 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , 14.3

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;",

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, 32 , , 31 , , 34.1 , , .434 , , .329 , , .681 , , 3.7 , , 5.0 , , 1.8 , , – , , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 34.9 , , .411 , , .346 , , .671 , , 3.7 , , 4.5 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 39* , , 39 , , 32.6 , , .499 , , .434 , , .772 , , 2.7 , , 4.5 , , 1.8 , , .1 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 35.8 , , .359 , , .321 , , .757 , , 3.1 , , 5.8 , , 1.6 , , .0 , , 14.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 137 , , 136 , , 34.3 , , .422 , , .360 , , .725 , , 3.3 , , 4.9 , , 1.7 , , .1 , , 13.2

References

External links

*
''DEE BROWN: My Illini Years'' by The (Champaign-Urbana) News-Gazette, published by Sports Publishing L.L.C., 2006

Player Card at ESPN.com

TBLStat.net Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Dee 1984 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Bulgaria American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Latvia American expatriate basketball people in Romania American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball coaches from Mississippi Basketball players from Illinois Basketball players from Jackson, Mississippi BK VEF Rīga players CSU Asesoft Ploiești players Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Lega Basket Serie A players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players McDonald's High School All-Americans PBC Academic players Phoenix Suns players Piratas de Quebradillas players Point guards Qingdao Eagles players S.S. Felice Scandone players Sportspeople from Maywood, Illinois Teramo Basket players Türk Telekom B.K. players UIC Flames men's basketball coaches Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players Washington Wizards players