Jamal Brown

Jamal Brown enters his eighth year as an assistant coach with the Norfolk State men’s basketball program in 2023-24, after the team’s fourth consecutive appearance in the MEAC Tournament title game. Brown has more than 20 years in the coaching field, including a lengthy record of accomplishments within the MEAC.

Norfolk State notched its second consecutive 20-win season in 2022-23, amassing a 22-11 overall record. Joe Bryant Jr. earned MEAC Player of the Year honors for the second straight campaign, earning First Team All-MEAC honors alongside teammate Kris Bankston. Both players were also selected to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT) after the season’s conclusion.

NSU also averaged 75.8 points per game in 2022-23, the program’s most since 1999-2000. The Spartans led the conference in scoring average, field goal percentage, defensive field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds per game, and assist/turnover ratio.

NSU repeated as MEAC champion in 2021-22, the first time in program history the Spartans won the league’s title and NCAA berth in consecutive years. Led by MEAC Player of the Year Bryant and a total of three All-MEAC selections (first-teamer Bryant, second-teamer Bankston and third-teamer Jalen Hawkins), the Spartans posted the best-ever start to a season for a MEAC team in the league’s Division I era, at 9-1.

NSU logged a 12-2 MEAC mark in 2021-22, winning the outright MEAC regular-season title. The Spartans clinched the regular-season championship in dominant fashion, defeating North Carolina Central 75-46 at Echols Hall.

The Spartans captured just their second-ever MEAC title in 2021, advancing to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Appalachian State in the First Four. It marked the program’s second tournament win ever, the only current school in the league that can make that claim.

NSU also won a share of the MEAC Northern Division regular season title in 2020-21 at 8-4, the first Spartan team to win both a regular season and tournament title in the same year. The Spartans were named the HBCU Large School National Champion by the Black College Sports Network (BCSN).

NSU captured a regular season title in 2018-19 at 14-2, just the second ever for the program since joining the league in 1997. The Spartans earned the league’s automatic bid to the NIT, upsetting No. 1 seed Alabama in the first round. They also went 22-14 overall, the second-most wins for the program in its Division I era.

A total of five players earned All-MEAC honors in 2019, including guards Nic Thomas and Derrik Jamerson Jr. (second team), guard Steven Whitley and forward Jordan Butler (third team) and guard C.J. Kelly (all-rookie team). For the second straight year, the program set the overall school record for 3-pointers and the D-I record for 3-point field goal percentage, the latter a mark the program broke yet again in 2020-21. NSU also scored its most points per game (73.7) in 19 years during the 2018-19 campaign.

NSU followed that up by finishing in a tie for second in the MEAC in 2019-20 at 12-4. The Spartans secured their third non-losing season in four seasons with Brown on the bench when COVID-19 shut down the season before NSU’s first game in the MEAC Tournament. Nevertheless, Jermaine Bishop (first team), Whitley (third team) and Tyrese Jenkins (all-rookie team) garnered All-MEAC honors that year. Devante Carter (second team) and Joe Bryant Jr. (third team) captured all-conference honors in 2020-21.

NSU made its fourth-ever MEAC Championship title game appearance in 2019 and the second with Brown on the bench along with his first season in 2017. That 2016-17 campaign, the Spartans finished second in the MEAC regular season standings at 12-4. They also made their sixth straight postseason appearance after competing in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

Norfolk State posted a 10-game win streak during the middle of conference play, the second-longest win streak in the program’s D-I era. Guard Jonathan Wade earned first-team All-MEAC honors, and guard Zaynah Robinson earned a spot on the second team.

The Spartans followed that up by going 11-5 and tying for fourth place in the MEAC regular season standings in 2017-18 in Brown’s second season, finishing one game out of first place. NSU owns a 78-26 record (75.0 percent) in the MEAC since Brown joined the coaching staff, 132-91 overall.

In addition to his on-court responsibilities with the Spartans, Brown serves as the program’s recruiting coordinator, handles scheduling and team travel, and co-coordinates the team’s summer camps.

Prior to joining NSU, he spent a season as an assistant coach at MEAC rival North Carolina A&T in 2015-16 under head coaches Cy Alexander and interim coach Jay Joyner. The Aggies rallied late in the year to finish tied for sixth in the 13-team MEAC. Brown mentored the team’s post players, including third-team All-MEAC honoree Bruce Beckford.

Before joining N.C. A&T, Brown spent one year as an assistant coach at Winston-Salem State in 2013-14. The Rams finished 18-11 that year, including 11-5 in the CIAA, and advanced to the conference championship game.

The 2023-24 season will mark his 21st year coaching in the league and his 25th season overall as a coach. His familiarity with the MEAC also includes a five-year stint as the associate head coach under Frankie Allen at UMES from 2008-13.

Brown was directly responsible for recruiting and academics during his time with the Hawks. The team achieved a 3.0 GPA and an APR score of 1,000 under his guidance. He also recruited three All-MEAC players and three All-Rookie Team honorees. While at UMES, he was selected to attend the ACE Program for Minority Coaches in 2013.

His coaching career began at his alma mater South Carolina State, where he served as an assistant coach under Alexander for six seasons from 1997-03. While there, the Bulldogs had one of the most successful runs in MEAC history, playing in five tournament championship games in six seasons and claiming conference titles in 1998, 2000 and ’03.

Brown was the associate head coach under Alexander at Tennessee State from 2003-06. While there, he served as the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator and was instrumental in the program signing several future all-conference players. The Tigers also improved their win total by seven between Brown’s first and second years there.

He left Tennessee State to assume the head coach position at South Carolina State for one season in 2006-07. The Bulldogs finished tied for third in the MEAC standings that year, and the team’s GPA improved from 1.9 in the year before he arrived to 2.5 under Brown.

He graduated from South Carolina State University in 1997 with a degree in business marketing. While there, he was a member of the Bulldogs’ MEAC Championship team in 1996 that also shared the regular-season title at 14-2.

A native of North Charleston, South Carolina, Brown and his wife Jennifer have three children, Gilbert Jamal Brown II (21), Grant Carter Brown (7) and Irena St. John Brown (5). Gilbert II is a junior on the NSU men’s basketball team.

The elder Brown is an active member of the Black Coaches and Administrators (BCA) and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.