Tommy Brown, a native of Chattanooga and a successful head coach at Bluefield College has been named the new men’s basketball coach of the Lee University Flames, according to the university’s president, Dr. Paul Conn.

Brown replaces coach Rick Hughes who resigned after the 2004-05 season.

Brown is a graduate of Boyd-Buchanan High School . He was a standout on the Covenant College basketball team for four years. Brown paid his dues in the coaching ranks, serving as a high school coach for four years and as an assistant coach at the college level before becoming head coaching.

For the past seven years he has been the head coach at Bluefield College .  His clubs participated in the NAIA Division II National Tournament three out of the past four years and four of the seven years he has been head coach at the Virginia college. He is a three-time coach of the year in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC).

This past season Bluefield defeated Elon College , a Division I school and a member of the Southern Conference. Two seasons ago his club whipped Mountain State University which finished as the runner-up in the NAIA Division I National Tournament.

Brown directed the 2004-05 Rams to a 22-11 overall mark and 18-4 in AAC play.   Bluefield won the regular season championship and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament. His overall coaching record is 231-122.

“I am extremely excited about the opportunity to be the next head men's basketball coach at Lee University ,” said Brown. “Lee is a special place. I buy into the mission of the institution and I am very impressed by the university's commitment to excellence in athletics.”

Brown added, “I hope to meet with the team this weekend. There seems to be a solid group of returning players and I will begin recruiting immediately. I look forward working for (athletic director) Larry Carpenter and with the rest of the coaching staff. I am glad to be back in the southeastern Tennessee area and my family and I are looking forward to being apart of the Cleveland community.”

The new Lee coach stressed that there are more important aspects of his coaching philosophy than simply winning. “The reason that I coach is to develop character in my players and instill in them a desire to develop a relationship with Christ, something that they can carry with them throughout life. I am also concerned with them receiving a quality education.”

Brown’s approach to coaching and concerns for the future of his players impressed Lee’s president. “I believe Tommy Brown is a great fit for our athletic program,” said Dr. Conn.  “He has already been very successful as a young head coach, and we feel he is ready to make a big impact at the NAIA Division I level.  We looked at lots of outstanding candidates, and I have no doubt that Tommy is the top choice of them all."

Carpenter echoed the same feeling.  “I am really excited to have Tommy Brown join the Lee University coaching staff and feel he will have an immediate impact on our campus. I watched Tommy as a player at Covenant and saw a hard working competitor who carried that intensity and work ethic to the college coaching ranks and has quickly become one of the bright young coaches,” said the Lee AD.

“He has achieved a tremendous amount of success at Bluefield College finishing in the top three each year while claiming big wins over non-conference opponents Mountain State and NCAA Division I Elon. We feel coach Brown will be able to step in and quickly have our team competing for conference championships and a berth in the NAIA National Tournament,” said Carpenter.