Roosevelt men's basketball thriving under Coach Dee Brown
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Former Illini and Proviso East standout player Dee Brown is in his second year as a head coach at Roosevelt University after five years as an assistant at the University of Illinois Chicago. He was just named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference coach of the year, leading the Lakers to one of their best seasons ever.
This coaching thing seems to fit Dee pretty nicely.
"Loving it," he said. "I tell people this: Winning is not normal. Winning is fun, but I hate losing more."
Luckily for Dee, his Roosevelt Lakers haven't done a lot of losing in his second year at the helm. They went 24-3 in the regular season and secured the school's second-ever trip to the NAIA national tournament by winning their first-ever conference title.
"Meant a lot," he said. "Really wish we would've done it last year for those guys. For us to come back in year two and win it, that was our goal, to come in and at least compete for a championship. For us to win it, first time in school history, is a blessing."
"When we won the conference championship, it meant a lot to us," said Julio Montes II, a sophomore guard. "I was just thinking about all the 6 a.m. practices, all the sprints we ran, all the times we were going through adversity. All the emotions was a little overwhelming. It was one of the best feelings I've had in my life."
Getting the program to a championship level in just two years obviously wasn't easy, but Brown has the guys buying in and putting in the work.
"He's definitely not the easiest guy to play for in terms of practice being tough. He's going to be tough on you as a player," said graduate forward Cody Mitchell. "It's only because he wants the best out of you at the end of the day. I've kind of loved that coming here. He's definitely pushed me to my limits to be the best player I can be."
"It's tough being a student-athlete. I commend those guys," said Brown. "You've got to have a different type of grit and toughness. Being here in Chicago is tough as well, so many things to do. But we wanted to win a championship. You have to sacrifice a lot to do that. Also, we want to make it to Kansas City. We want to go to the Sweet 16 and keep repping Roosevelt University and this great community."
It helps to have guys like Cody Mitchell, who transferred as a graduate student from Illinois Wesleyan, where he helped the Titans make it all the way to the D-III Elite 8 in 2022.
"That's kind of a big reason Dee brought me here was to bring a winning attitude and a winning culture," he said. "I've seen what it takes. That's what I've been trying to tell these dudes. You have to keep a level head this time of year. You can't get too high or too low. When March comes around, you've got to be firing on all cylinders."
Brown feels his team has grown to the point where they can make a tournament run. And he feels like he's also grown, learning to be a better head coach.
"It takes patience," he said. "You've got to believe. When you bring in your personnel, these student-athletes, you've got to believe in them. You've got to coach them up, but you've got to believe in them. Each day, you learn something new. I'm a lifelong learner. I want to continue to learn how to become a better coach, a better mentor. It's been a blessing. I'm very grateful, and I'm having a great time."
The Lakers got a 4 seed in the 64-team NAIA tournament. They begin play Thursday in Livonia, Michigan, against 13-seed Shawnee State out of Ohio.
