Local Sports

By PHIL HICKS
Sports Editor

Legendary basketball coach and player Marshall Brown of Whitehouse passed away Wednesday night.

He was 90.

Brown, a 1936 graduate of Whitehouse High School, coached the Stephen F. Austin State University Lumberjacks from 1959-78 where he recorded 345 wins. He had a winning percentage of .672 and led the Lumberjacks to five Lone Star Conference championships and five appearances in the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.

Also during his tenure, Brown coached five All-Americans, including two who played in the NBA -- George Johnson with the Washington Bullets and Houston Rockets; and James Silas, who had his jersey retired by the San Antonio Spurs.

The other three All-Americans were Surrey Oliver, Ervin Polnick and Pete Harris.

Brown was inducted into the SFA Letterman's Hall of Fame as one of the most successful coaches in the Lumberjacks' program.

The 1971-72 SFA team had a school-record 31 wins. That season the Lumberjacks finished third in the NAIA National Tournament, the highest finish in school history.

Brown, the son of the late Earl and Olive Brown, was raised in the Buncum community between Whitehouse and Troup.

After graduating from Whitehouse High School, Brown and teammate Bauman Roper played at Lon Morris College, while T.L. Gilley played at Tyler Junior College. The trio finished together at Texas Tech.

Brown graduated from Texas Tech in 1940 and played one year of Major League baseball with the St. Louis Browns of the American League.

He then started coaching. He went from Leverett's Chapel to Chandler to Tyler High School before returning to Lon Morris as coach.

Memorial services are scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church of Tyler.

Survivors include daughter, Rosemary Bates, Tyler; son, Terry Brown, Tyler; brothers, Melvin Brown, Eldon Ben Brown, Charles "Buck" Brown and Oscar Brown; sisters, Bernice Melton, Ruth Mitchell, Martha Burns, Alice Thompson, Mary McCoy and Rosa Ida Collins; three grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.

Family will receive friends following services at the church.