Brad Brownell

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Brad Brownell (born November 15, 1968 in Evansville, Indiana) is the current head basketball coach at Clemson University. Prior to coming to Clemson, he held the same position at Wright State and UNC-Wilmington.

Brownell graduated from DePauw University in 1991, where he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He immediately went into coaching after graduating. He spent one season as an assistant to Jim Crews at the University of Evansville, then spent the next two seasons on the bench at the University of Indianapolis while earning his master's degree.

Upon completing his master's degree in 1994, Brownell began his tenure at UNC-Wilmington as an assistant to then-head coach Jerry Wainwright. Brownell helped guide the Seahawks to four postseason tournament berths while serving as an assistant, including a memorable upset win over the fourth-seeded USC Trojans in the first round of the 2002 NCAA tournament. Following that season, Wainwright left UNC-Wilmington to take over at Richmond, and Brownell was promoted to head coach.

During his time as the Seahawks' head coach, Brownell led the UNC-Wilmington to Colonial Athletic Association titles and NCAA tournament berths in 2003 and 2006, narrowly losing in the first round each season. For his efforts, Brownell was named CAA Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2006. In his four years, the Seahawks never finished below .500, and the 2005–2006 season produced a school-record 25 wins.

Following the 2006 season, Brownell left UNC-Wilmington to take the head coach's job at Wright State, and he immediately made an impact. In his first season at Wright State, Brownell led the Raiders to their first-ever Horizon League title, beating out nationally-ranked Butler to capture both the regular season and tournament titles. The Raiders earned the 14th seed in the West Region, and lost in the first round of the 2007 NCAA tournament to Pittsburgh. The team's 23 wins was a school record on the Division I level.