LYNN — St. Mary’s boys basketball coach Dave Brown may be in the middle of a stellar season with his Spartans, but Wednesday evening he took a quick break to be joined by family, friends, colleagues and his team at St. Mary’s for a ceremony honoring his 300th career victory as a head coach.
Brown, a member of the St. Mary’s Class of 1989 who sits in the school’s Hall of Fame, picked up the milestone win on Jan. 21 in a 60-44 victory over Austin Prep.
“I’d like to thank the Board of Trustees, Mr. Dolan, Jeff Newhall and the entire St. Mary’s community for this honor,” said Brown, who is near the top of the Spartans’ all-time scoring list with 1,267 points. “I’ve got to say, as an administrator it can’t be too easy to watch me coach out there at times, but I really appreciate all of the support that they’ve given me over the years.
“I was so excited when I got the call and was offered this job — this is where I always wanted to be,” Brown added. “All of the players, from my first year when we went 2-18 up to this year, have been so important to me and have been such a big part of my life. You don’t win without talent, and I’m grateful for the kids that I’ve coached who trusted me, believed in me and played hard.”
“We’re here to celebrate a 1989 graduate and someone who has made the St. Mary’s community a part of his life for a long time,” said St. Mary’s Head of School John Dolan. “When Dave reached this milestone, it was the urging of the board to take some time to honor such an accomplishment. When you reach 300 wins, you’re talking about longevity, building a program and having tremendous coaching ability.”
“We all know winning is hard, and that just makes Dave’s accomplishments all the more impressive,” said St. Mary’s Athletic Director Jeff Newhall, who hired Brown in 2013. “The passion that Coach leads the program with — maybe it’s sometimes to the highest level possible — is infectious, and as a graduate of St. Mary’s it just means that much more to him.”
After a stellar collegiate career at Westfield State — where he graduated in 1994 and is also enshrined in the Hall of Fame — Brown held a few assistant coaching jobs before finally taking over as the head coach at Winthrop High in 2002. He quickly built the Vikings into a powerhouse, bringing the team four Northeastern Conference titles, three North Final appearances and a Division 4 state championship in 2011.
After 10 years at Winthrop, Brown was hired as the head coach at his alma mater in 2013 and has been there ever since. To this point, the Spartans have won four Catholic Central League titles, been to three North Finals, won two North titles and won the Division 4 state championship in 2016.
Brown thanked his family, the administration, his assistant coaches and all the players he’s had over the years for all of their help in getting to this point.
“Winning 300 games and coaching for 19 years requires a lot of support, and I couldn’t have done it without my family behind me,” said Brown. “Coaching high-school basketball is a time-consuming thing, and without their support you don’t keep going. It’s meant the world to me.”
But Brown also made it known that the job isn’t done yet, and this year’s Spartans are hunting for a state title of their own. At 17-1 winners of 15 straight games and the No. 1-ranked team in all of Division 3, St. Mary’s is as hot as any team in the state.
St. Mary’s will take on rival Bishop Fenwick Friday evening (6:30).
