Wittenberg basketball Bill Brown resigns, call his career a ‘fun ride’

That may be true, but Brown left a legacy of winning that will be hard to top by whoever succeeds him. Brown resigned after 23 seasons on Thursday, finishing his career with the Tigers with a mark of 483-167. Assistant coach Matt Croci will serve as interim coach.

“Needless to say, it has been a great honor and great privilege to have been the head coach of one of the most well respected college basketball programs in the country,” Brown said in a statement. “There are many, many people to thank for their contributions made on my behalf during my time being involved with the university and the basketball program. This list includes university and athletic department administrators and their support staffs, all those who served as members of our coaching staff, faithful Tiger basketball fans, Witt alums and, of course, all the many fine young men I had the absolute great fortune and great pleasure to have been around and coached. It has been a fun ride and we sincerely thank all of you that helped make it so.”

In Brown’s first season, the Tigers finished 30-2 and placed third in the NCAA Division III tournament. The Tigers made the NCAA championship game in 2006, losing on a last-second 3-pointer to Virginia Wesleyan. They made the Elite Eight in 2012.

Wittenberg won seven NCAC regular-season titles under Brown and four tournament titles and played in the NCAA tournament seven times.

“The thing I’ll remember most about Coach Brown is he taught me the true definition of hard work,” said Muskingum University head coach Travis Schwab, who was Brown’s assistant from 2007-15. “This guy for 23 years has lived and breathed Wittenberg basketball seven days a week and 365 days a year.”

Athletic Director Gary Williams said he had conversations with Brown about his future, but he was surprised by the timing of Brown’s announcement.

Wittenberg finished 14-12 last season. That followed a 10-16 season that was the Tigers’ first losing season since 1955-56.

“We had discussed some transition plans, but they were plans,” Williams said. “Now they need to be more than plans. We have some really committed alumni who are going to expect Wittenberg to find the right successor for coach Brown.”

Michael Cooper, who played for Brown from 2008-12, called Brown a loyal coach who went out of his way to make sure he could play football and basketball at Wittenberg.

“He’s big on discipline, doing things the right way all the time,” Cooper said. “He never allowed us to cut corners. He always held us accountable. That, more than anything else, is what I took away from him.”