EASTON — To this day, Trisha Brown remembers being asked questions about her potential future as a head coach.
Her answer? “I want it to be at the right place.”
Brown was a longtime assistant for legendary women’s basketball coach Kathy Delaney-Smith at Harvard, her alma mater, at the time of those questions. The Crimson won five Ivy League championships during Brown’s nine-year tenure, and became the first No. 16 seed to upset a No. 1 in the NCAA tournament as Harvard spoiled Stanford’s 59-game home win streak in 1998.
In came Brown’s big break, three years later. And there the first-year coach sat, at her new desk on the campus of Stonehill College, reconnecting with her old boss.
“It was first week I officially got down here. I called Kathy Delaney-Smith and said, ‘OK, now what?’” Brown said with a laugh. “This is a lot.”
Fast-forward 23 years, and Brown, 58, is no longer the rookie on campus. She’s the record-holding fixture for the Stonehill College women’s basketball program.
“I got so lucky getting this job,” said Brown, a Norwood native. “It had everything, including location.”
Brown recently set the program record for most career games (637 and counting), surpassing her mentor and team founder, Paula Sullivan. The Skyhawks (3-20), in the midst of their second Division 1 season, earned a 66-57 win over St. Francis (Pennsylvania) that night to commemorate.
“Towards the end, when we were up, I started to think about how special the moment was,” said Sharn Hayward, a junior point guard from Australia.
“We’ve been struggling, so to finally get that win and celebrate for her, it was a big night for us (players) and her,” senior guard Jada Thornton said. “That’s who we play for every day.”
Brown was admittedly confused at the time of the opening tip-off when the pregame public address announcer explained the record. “I was like, ‘Why are they talking about numbers of games? Then someone told me,” she said. “I had no idea.”
Brown led the Skyhawks to 17 winning seasons in 21 years at the Division 2 level, prevailing in nearly 70 percent of her games (403-185) before gearing the program up to Division 1 speed the past two years (9-20 in 2023). She is a five-time NE10 Conference Coach of the Year recipient, and Stonehill advanced to 13 Division 2 NCAA tournament appearances under her watch.
“It’s very special because, in this day in age, you don’t get the longevity of coaching in one place, especially in Division 1,” Brown said of the record. “I’m very grateful to Stonehill. I knew it was a really special place I was coming to when I took the job 23 years ago.
“The things that were important to me when I first got here are still the same things that are important. In that regard, I haven’t changed,” said Brown. “Who we recruit: it’s all about character, and their skillset, but more about the whole person and who we want to be a part of this program.”
“I could tell she was very invested in the family-like culture around this program. That’s something, coming so far from home, I felt that I needed.” said Hayward, who, during the pandemic, held her college recruitment over Zoom and hadn’t met Brown face-to-face until showing up on campus as an incoming freshman.
Thornton agreed of the program, citing a film session in which Brown rewinded a game-winner hit by 1,000-point scorer Kayla Raymond, a former Oliver Ames standout, years ago and the focus wasn’t on the shot. Rather, the emotion of the moment.
“Coach keeps replaying that, everyone going to hug (Raymond),” Thornton said. “(Brown) is really team-oriented. Her showing that in film over, over and over again is special.”
Brown said the record-breaking game didn’t feel any different while coaching it, but, opinion here, that game tape is also worth a rewind (or two).
“To be on the team, to be in the game,” said Thornton, “I think it’s something we’ll never forget.”
