Obviously, one of John Brown’s great loves in life is basketball.
He loves teaching the game to kids.
And that’s one of the reasons Brown was more than happy to take Gerald Pilz up on his offer to coach at the 2008 Pilz All-Star Games this year. This year’s event will be July 12 on the campus of the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout.
“It’s an honor to work with these kids,” said Brown, one of the most successful basketball players ever produced by the state of Missouri. “Any time I have a chance to help young people I want to do it. And coaching in this all-star game will be a pleasure for me.”
Brown, a former Dixon High School and Mizzou basketball legend, was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Brown, currently a businessman in Rolla, led Dixon to a Missouri state basketball championship in the late 1960s before enrolling at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He quickly became the finest player during that span of the Norm Stewart-coached Tiger era.
Brown was an All-Big Eight and All-America forward-center for Mizzou in 1972 and 1973, leading the first two Mizzou teams to win more than 20 games and advance to the NIT.
When he finished his career at MU, Brown was the all-time career leader in scoring, and still ranks sixth in the Tiger career scoring list.
Brown later earned a spot in the USA’s Olympic men’s basketball team, although he couldn’t play due to injury. He was later a first-round draft choice of the Atlanta Hawks and was named to the All-Rookie Team in 1974.
His NBA career ran through 1980. After that he played professionally in Europe for several years.
He has been involved in several successful businesses around the Rolla area ever since. He still is competitive in basketball, and has won national championships as part of senior basketball teams. He has also been a big supporter of the Missouri Show-Me State Games over the years, and has been selected as the winner of the National State Games Man of the Year Award.
In addition, Brown has helped instruct young basketball player sever since his professional playing career ended. He has coached in several all-star games, including the Pilz event, in the past as well as work with many high school and college programs.
He says he looks forward to again working with the Pilz all-stars.
“I enjoy it every time I help out at one of these events,” Brown said. “I enjoy helping players’ improve their game. Hopefully we can do that this time as well.”