News

South Kent School is excited and proud to announce Gilbert Brown ‘06 is returning to The Hillside as an assistant coach for the prep basketball program. Brown spent three years at South Kent and will be reunited with his former coach, Raphael Chillious.

Coach Chillious proudly stated, “Today is truly a great day for South Kent School and South Kent Prep Basketball. The hiring of Gilbert is extra special for me, as I had the pleasure of being his coach and mentor during his time on The Hillside. He knows what it means to be a South Kent man and will be called upon to share his experiences as a student, athlete and positive member of the community with our team on a daily basis.” 

Brown concluded his three-year career as South Kent Prep's all-time leading scorer with 1,157 points after averaging 24.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game his senior season. During his tenure at SKS he was named a Top-100 McDonald's All-American finalist. As a junior, he helped guide South Kent School to a 32-9 record and No. 4 national ranking, helping lead the team to the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council final in 2004-05. At the conclusion of his high school career, Brown was a consensus top-100 recruit by multiple national recruiting services, ranked the No. 62 recruit nationally by Scout.com.

Chillious added, “I watched him consistently outwork his potential in the classroom and on the court and develop into the player and man he has become. I could not be more proud to welcome one of our greats back home!”
 
After South Kent, Brown attended the University of Pittsburgh from 2006-2011. Brown played a key role in Pittsburgh’s Big East Tournament Championship in 2008 and helped the Panthers reach their first ever #1 national ranking and a #1 seed in the 2009 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. He helped lead Pitt to the 2010-11 Big East Regular Season Championship and a #1 seed in the 2011 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. He concluded his collegiate career scoring 1,046 points, ranked #38 in program history, is #10 in school history with 129 career games played, and played twelve NCAA Tournament games, the most of any Pitt player.
 
After graduating from Pitt with a sociology degree and minor in economics, he had great success playing professionally for nine years. He had a brief stint with the Boston Celtics, as well as a stop in the NBA D league and played in some of the best international leagues in the world starring in Turkey, Italy, Israel, Germany, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. He was selected as a two-time all-star (2015-2017) and slam dunk champion (2016) in Israel and also received third team all defense and was a top 10 prospect in 2014 in the NBA D League after being drafted in the first round by the Canton Charge.

Brown had this to say as his basketball journey has come full circle, “I’m excited to come back to the place where I learned the value of hard work and how to be disciplined and resilient. I started my career at South Kent as a young sophomore trying to earn minutes behind guys that would soon be in the NBA. Instead of tucking my tail and running, I accepted the challenge, learned from those around me and became the basketball player and man that I am today.”
 
Now alongside his former head coach he is ready to apply his wealth of knowledge and help to develop the next generation of dynamic players and high level student-athletes.