68 Days to B1G Basketball: Former Illini Standout Hired as Assistant Coach at UIC

Former Illinois standout Dee Brown has been hired at sister school Illinois-Chicago. The Illini great was hired as an assistant coach and will join Steve McClain’s staff.

Brown played for Illinois from 2002 to 2006, helping lead the Illini to a national championship game appearance in 2005. He was also a consensus All-American and the Big Ten player of the year while playing for Illinois. His professional career in the NBA was short lived, but he would go on to have a productive career overseas.

Prior to joining UIC’s coaching staff, Brown had spent some time with Illinois recently. After originally joining the staff as a special assistant to the athletic director, he would later be named the basketball program’s director of player development and alumni relations. Brown would ultimately resign last fall, citing personal reasons.

It was speculated that Brown was being groomed for an eventual assistant coaching spot at Illinois, but that ended up not happening as Brown left the program due to personal reasons.

Due to some shuffling on the coaching staff at several programs, McClain was left with an open coaching spot after Brendan Mullins left UIC for Illinois State.

The addition of Brown could prove valuable as the former Illini great still has close ties to the surrounding Chicago area and could prove valuable when it comes to recruiting the area.

It all also be interesting to watch as it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Brown finds himself back in Champaign sometime in the future.