Isaac Brown fills out Wichita State basketball staff with former Texas A&M head coach
Since Isaac Brown was recruited by Texas A&M as a basketball player in 1990, he has always admired Billy Kennedy as a coach.
Brown, who was promoted to interim head coach at Wichita State on Tuesday, announced on Sunday evening that he has hired Kennedy, his mentor for the past three decades, as WSU’s third assistant coach for the 2020-21 season.
Kennedy gives WSU’s bench something it lacked entering the season: experience as a Division I head coach — and lots of it. He has spent most of the last two decades as a head coach, most recently at Texas A&M from 2011-19. After not coaching anywhere last season, Kennedy will be on the bench for the Shockers’ season opener Wednesday against Utah State at the Crossover Classic in South Dakota, according to WSU’s press release.
Brown averaged 12.0 points for the 1990-91 Texas A&M team with Kennedy as an assistant coach. Brown has known Kennedy since he recruited him when he was a high junior in his hometown of Pascagoula, Mississippi.
“I’m excited to welcome Billy to our basketball family,” Brown said in the release. “He has been a mentor of mine for over 30 years and has proven himself as a coach at the highest levels. His experience and teaching ability will help our young team.”
Kennedy has been a head coach of four Division I programs: Centenary (1997-99), Southeastern Louisiana (1999-05), Murray State (2006-11) and Texas A&M (2011-19). He has also won conference coach of the year awards in three different leagues: Southland (2004), Ohio Valley (2010, 2011) and SEC (2016).
Success has followed Kennedy at each of his stops. He took Southeastern Louisiana to its first NCAA Tournament in 2005 and led Murray State to the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament as a No. 13 seed.
At Texas A&M, Kennedy led the Aggies to two Sweet 16 runs and their first conference championship in 30 years when they won a share of the SEC title in 2016. He was fired following a 14-18 campaign in the 2018-19 season, as Kennedy finished with a 361-294 career record in 21 seasons as a head coach.
“I am excited about the opportunity to be part of a new season at Wichita State,” Kennedy said in the release. “The chance to work alongside coach Brown and invest in these young men is a blessing.”
Kennedy, 56, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 47, just before he started his head coaching job at Texas A&M. He has 34 years of Division I coaching experience, including assistant coaching jobs with New Orleans (1986-87), Wyoming (1987-88), Northwestern State (1988-89), Tulane (1989-90), Creighton (1991-93), California (1993-97) and the University of Miami (2005-06).
He is expected to meet with WSU players for the first time on Monday, two days before the Shockers open their season. Kennedy joins Lou Gudino and Tyson Waterman as assistants on Brown’s coaching staff.
This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 7:48 PM.
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