During the month of August 1997, I was hired as an assistant at Mount St. Mary's College. I had no idea what a blessing this was for me. I did not know that much at all about the Mount, just that the head coach there wore a bowtie. Upon my arrival, I quickly found out that there was more to Coach Jim Phelan than just the bowtie.

One of the first things Coach Phelan did when I arrived on campus was pick my brain about basketball. He was trying to find out if any of my experiences with basketball could help our team. He was looking for something fresh, something new, or even just a different twist to what he already knew. I was very impressed by that! Here is a coach who will be a future "Hall of Famer" asking a third year assistant about his ideas. He told me that he did not want everyone on the staff to have the same ideas because you get stagnant. "You might be missing out on an idea that would work well for your team." Right away, he made me feel like my opinion counted. Whether he used any of my ideas was not the point, he allowed me to grow as a coach.

The thing that most people do not know about Coach Phelan is that he is a better person, than he is a coach. This is probably the reason he was such a successful coach. He has always dealt with people straight up. He can be very honest with you, without hurting your feelings. He never attacked any of our players personally. Even when he got upset with the guys, he would not verbally attack them, he would address the group. That way, he was able to get his point got across and not single out any one player. Coach has a wealth of knowledge about different topics and can carry on an educated conversation about anything with just about anyone. After his last game, there was a ceremony for in his honor. Every player that spoke either during or after the ceremony said the same thing, "he helped me become the man I am today". Coach Phelan was not just about developing better basketball players; he was also about developing his players into men.

I did not play college ball for Duke or UNC. I have never had to opportunity to coach with Michigan State or UConn. But, as far as I'm concerned, Coach Phelan was my Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo or Jim Calhoun. He has helped to prepare me for this great opportunity to be a head coach. I'm sure that I feel the same way that Roy Williams, Tommy Amaker, Stan Heath, and Karl Hobbs felt when they got their first head coaching job, ready!

Coach Phelan is not just a guy I worked for; he is my friend. I owe him for this opportunity and I know just how I am going to say thank you. Every night we play, I want Coach to able to see that we play hard and smart. That our players compete and play with passion. Every night, win or lose, I want him to be proud of the product we put on the floor.

Congratulations again, coach, on a great career.

                                                                                                       - MILAN BROWN