Charles Brown is a decorated athlete, 1965 alumni and basketball coach from New Jersey City University and is the first African-American head coach in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) history. His teams qualified for the post-season in every one of his 25 years as head coach at NJCU, including 12 NCAA Tournaments and 13 ECAC Tournaments without ever having a losing season. Brown guided the Gothic Knights to the NCAA Division III Final Four in 1986 and 1992, losing to the eventual national champion each time in the national semifinals. He also led NJCU to five NJAC Championships (1986, 1990, 1992, 1995, and 2004), adding to NJCU’s conference record of 11 overall titles.
In addition to the NJAC success, Brown also led the Gothic Knights to 13 ECAC Division III Metro Championships over his tenure, ranging from 1983-2007.
He coached the North-South All-Star game featuring players in Division I through III in 1987, and led the NJAC in the inaugural NJAC/CUNYAC Senior Challenge in 2001-02 in Jersey City, before again coaching the squad in its third year in 2003-04. Brown retired following the 2006-07 season as the winningest head coach in NJCU and NJAC history (483-218) and as the second winningest men’s college basketball coach in New Jersey history at the Division I, II, and III levels.