Wichita State fires basketball coach Isaac Brown after second straight missed postseason

Wichita State has parted ways with men’s basketball coach Isaac Brown, multiple sources with knowledge of the decision told The Eagle on Saturday afternoon. CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein was the first to report the news.

According to sources, WSU athletic director Kevin Saal informed Brown and the coaching staff during a 4 p.m. meeting in Wichita, the day after the Shockers concluded a 17-15 season with an 82-76 loss to Tulane in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth on Friday.

Brown was dumped just two years after leading WSU to its first AAC championship and an NCAA tournament berth in 2021 as an interim coach and his two-year tenure as permanent head coach marks the shortest reign of any Shocker coach in modern history. He finished with a 48-34 record.

But the Shockers have been nowhere close to returning to March Madness in the two seasons since winning a conference title. In Brown’s two seasons as permanent coach, WSU finished with a 32-28 record and a 16-20 mark against conference competition. The Shockers missed postseason play in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007 and 2008, the transition from the final year of the Mark Turgeon era to the first season under Gregg Marshall.

Brown, who had three years left in a 5-year contract, will be owed $4 million in separation payments that will net him approximately $108,000 every month through April 2026. If Brown, who turns 54 in May and has more than two decades of Division 1 coaching experience, is hired as a coach before April 2026, WSU’s payments would be reduced by the amount he is paid monthly in his new job.

WSU is in the process of shelling out $12.5 million to former employees in the athletic department, a list that now includes two men’s basketball coaches, athletic director Darron Boatright and baseball coach Eric Wedge. Payments to Boatright (June 9) and Wedge (Nov. 24) wrap up this calendar year, but WSU is still on the hook for more than $4.7 million to Marshall, who will be paid through November 2026.

WSU will now pay Brown and Marshall a combined $2.58 million per year not to coach the team for the next three seasons, on top of whatever contract the new coach commands.

In his three years as head coach, Brown guided WSU through some of the most extraordinary circumstances in the program’s history.

It began in the most dire of situations, months into a world-altering pandemic and two weeks before the start of the 2020-21 season after Marshall resigned amid abuse allegations and reached a $7.75 million settlement with the school.

As a first-time head coach, Brown guided an almost entirely remodeled roster, projected to finish seventh before the season, to the program’s first AAC title and an NCAA tournament bid. He was named the 2021 AAC Coach of the Year and was promoted by former athletic director Darron Boatright to permanent head coach, becoming the first Black men’s basketball head coach at WSU.

But WSU’s title defense the next season was a major flop, as a talented roster never jelled and became the first WSU team in 14 years to miss out on postseason play after a lackluster 15-13 season.

Meanwhile, another unprecedented time in college basketball was unfolding around the country with players having the ability the make money from their name, image and likeness. WSU was unprepared for the changing landscape, which played a role in the firing of Boatright and the decisions of several key players leaving the program through the transfer portal.

After years of dominance at Koch Arena, the Shockers’ home-court advantage significantly slipped under Brown the past two seasons, as WSU posted a losing record (8-10) in home conference games. WSU also lost to Alcorn State at the start of this season.

But there was a case for Brown to retain his job by the improved play seen by the team in the final two months of the season. According to Bart Torvik’s adjusted efficiency, WSU rated as a top-65 team in college basketball since Jan. 8 — a ranking that would have made WSU a borderline bubble team if sustained for an entire season. WSU was also significantly better on the road, winning seven of 11 games and posting a top-30 efficiency in the country on the road.

In the end, WSU missing two straight postseasons, declining attendance and the home losses were enough for Saal to make the decision to pay the $4 million buyout and start the process of making his first signature hire on the job at WSU.