Brown and Muhammad earn NJAC Coach of the Year and NJAC Rookie of the Year, respectfully
By Edgar Rivas, Jr.
When Marc Brown entered his 6th season as NJCU Men’s Basketball head coach, he knew a tough task awaited him. He lost 4 of his starters from the 2011-12 season due to either graduation or injury.
“We were expecting a rough season,” said Brown.
After a slow start to the season, the Gothic Knights turned it around and now Brown has earned the NJAC Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career.
“It means a lot [earning the award],” he said. “It feels good that my work was appreciated by my peers.”
The NJAC Coach of the Year award is voted by fellow NJAC coaches.
This season’s team went younger, with 7 players being freshmen and 4 being sophomores. SG Khalid Muhammad, 18, Business Administration: Management, from Orange, was one of those freshmen and when he came into the season, he did not expect to start immediately.
“I was expecting to take the backseat,” he said. “But I had to step it up.”
28 games later, he was named NJCU Athlete of the Week four times, NJAC Rookie of the Week eight times, and now has earned the prestigious NJAC Rookie of the Year.
His stats are as followed: 15.0 Pts/G, 4.9 Reb/G, 1.6 Stl/G, and 28.2 Min/G. This stellar season was in honor of his best friend Malcom Bagley, who passed away almost a year ago.
“Khalid is a coach’s dream,” said Brown. “I’ve been here for six year and it’s either him or Walik Albright as the two most talented players I ever recruited.”
“I’ve seen [Muhammad being named NJAC ROY] that coming from the preseason,” said SF Josh Caver, 24, Professional Security Studies (Minor: Fitness, Exercise, and Sports), from Trenton. “He’s a terrific player and I see him in the future as an All-American.”
Caver played his final season with the Gothic Knights after 3 seasons.
“He really had a great career here,” said Brown.
The slow start began when the Gothic Knights lost 7 of their first 10 games of the season. In those 10 games, they averaged 58.1 Pts/G with a 38% FG. They also averaged 17.5 turnovers per game.
“We didn’t shoot well, weren’t scoring early, and turning the ball over too much,” said Brown.
He said the turnaround of the season began in a 58-48 win at Rutgers-Camden on Jan. 9th.
“We got our first conference win and you can just see the confidence at practice and games after that.”
The Gothic Knights spent the rest of the season winning 9 of their final 11 games. They also won 8 NJAC games. Including the Jan. 9th game, they averaged 60 Pts/G with a 40%FG. As a result, they clinched a playoff spot in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament. This turnaround is not only the team’s doing, but also Brown’s toughness toward his team.
“He pushed us as a team and never gave up on us,” said Caver.
“It was a journey,” said PG Dakwan Simmons, 20, Health Sciences, from Newark. “In the beginning we started off 0-7 in the conference. Now [we’ve won the final 7 conference games] and it’s a good feeling.”
Simmons, who played his first season with the team, was 4th in Pts/G, 1st in 3-PT FG%, 1st in Ast/G, 2nd in Stl/G, and 2nd in Min/G.
As the season ends what’s in store for the Gothic Knights, shows a promise in the near future.
Brown will enter his 7th season next year but is already making commitments to the 2013-14 season.
“I’m still recruiting,” he said. “We’re trying to bring in more guys
As for Muhammad, as Brown said, “The sky’s the limit.”
This dynamic duo may be a great player/coach duo when it’s all said and done.
