North Carolina A&T State University Chancellor Stanley F. Battle announced the hiring of Wheeler Brown as the school’s new director of intercollegiate athletics at a press conference held at the Bryan Fitness and Wellness Center Monday afternoon.
Brown has served as the interim director of athletics since last November. Before taking over the role of interim AD, he served as the department’s associate athletics director for internal affairs and compliance for five years.
During his time as associate athletics director, Brown was one of only 12 applicants selected to participate in the NCAA Fellows Program. The program pairs minorities and women who are striving toward being director of athletics at Division I institutions with an executive Division I director of athletics mentor. Brown was the only person in the program from a historically black college or university. Today, he is one of the program’s success stories.
“We had an outstanding pool of highly qualified candidates,’’ said Battle. “However, Mr. Brown brings tremendous energy, experience and leadership to the position. He is an alumnus of the university and the appropriate person for the job at this time.”
Brown graduated from N.C. A&T in 1979 with a degree in health and physical education. Before graduating, he competed for four years as an offensive tackle for the Aggies football team. He was a part of N.C. A&T’s first MEAC football championship in 1975. The Baltimore native earned first-team All-MEAC honors in 1978. Twenty five years later, he was inducted into the N.C. A&T Hall of Fame.
“It is always an honor to come back and serve your alma mater in any capacity,’’ said Brown. “To be named athletics director is a little more special because I am a product of North Carolina A&T athletics. I really want to build our future on the strong traditions of the past.”
Brown began his professional career as a teacher and coach at C.L. Harper High School in Atlanta. Five years later he became the head men’s basketball coach at Howard Community College in Columbia, Md. In 10 seasons, he compiled a 191-110 record.
The foundation for his ascension to director of athletics began in 1996 when he accepted a position as an assistant athletics director and assistant men’s basketball coach at Wheeling and Jesuit University. He spent five years there before being hired as an associate athletics director at Bowie State University in 2001. A year later, he returned to his alma mater as an associate athletics director.
“From the first day I stepped on campus,’’ said Brown. “I fell in love with the school. “It wasn’t called Aggie Pride back then, but you had people on campus ready to preach to you about the importance of being an Aggie. We have to restore the attitude in our student-athletes that once you become an Aggie, you’ve become something special.”