Former UNLV player leads U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team to gold

By Jared Harmon

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008 | midnight

Even with the top players on the United States Olympic women’s basketball team, it takes a slew of people behind the scenes to put the team together and help it function like a well-oiled machine.

One of the cogs in that machine for the team’s last four gold medal wins has been Henderson native Renee Brown, a 1974 Basic graduate who played at UNLV and went on to coach at the high school and collegiate levels. Since 1996, Brown has worked with USA Basketball as a vice president and chair of the committee that selects players for the U.S. National and Olympic teams.

“Renee has been a very important contributor to the program and had a vital role in bringing a fourth straight gold medal to the team,” USA Basketball President Val Ackerman said. “She has a vast amount of knowledge of the game and she is well-regarded by the players and the rest of the staff.”

Brown was involved in selecting teams for the Games in Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and Beijing this year. She also was an assistant coach for the National team, which plays internationally in non-Olympic years.

Brown traveled to Beijing with the U.S. team this summer and was there for the women’s team’s gold medal victory over Australia. She said it was a proud and emotional moment watching the players accept their medals and hearing the National Anthem play.

“I really felt fortunate to be a part of it,” Brown said. “It’s a dream job but I also feel a responsibility to help women’s basketball be the best it can be. The key, for me, is that today a ninth-grade girl at Basic can dream of going to the pros just like boys do. Girls didn’t have that dream 12 years ago.”

When she isn’t traveling overseas with the Olympic team, Brown also serves as the chief of basketball operations and player relations for the WNBA.

“I sometimes have to pinch myself,” Brown said. “For someone like me who loves the sport of basketball and interacting with players, this is a dream. To think I went from Henderson to the Great Wall of China. And I know I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t been raised in a town like Henderson.”

Brown, 52, attributes her success to the encouragement she received from her mother and her basketball coaches at Basic -- former freshman coach Judy Cameron and former varsity coach Matti Smith. After returning from the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta with a gold medal ring, she gave the ring to Smith as a thank you for her guidance throughout the years.

“It was my way of thanking (Smith) for seeing something in me that I didn’t see in myself,” Brown said. “She was a role model for me who encouraged me to go to college. If she had been a lawyer, I’d be a lawyer. If she’d been a jet-skier, I’d be jet-skiing on Lake Mead right now. She’s always been there for me.”

Smith said she took an interest in all her athletes but saw something special in Brown beyond physical talent.

“Renee was an energetic, bright young woman but also humble and friendly,” Smith said. “I knew she was going to be successful at whatever she did. I never once thought she owed me anything. She’s just a gracious and loving person, and I’m honored she remembered me and still feels a connection to me.”

After graduating from Basic, Brown played basketball for UNLV, where she graduated with a master’s degree in education administration.

She began her teaching and coaching career in Las Vegas at Helen C. Cannon Middle School before moving on to high school coaching at Bonanza, Clark and Chaparral.

She went on to coach at San Jose State before moving to Stanford, where she was an assistant coach for the national championship team in 1992. When Brown was offered the WNBA job in 1996, she said Smith was the first person she called.

“I liked coaching so much, I wasn’t sure if it was the right move for me,” Brown said. “I called Matti and she, ŒNo way. You have to do this.’ She helped me see what a perfect fit it would be.”

WNBA President Donna Orender said Brown has been indispensable in her 12 years with the organization and excels in her roles as a liaison between players and the league.

“Renee is a founding mother of the WNBA. She’s been here since the beginning and she continues to contribute to this day,” Orender said. “Her strength is definitely in player relations. She was a player and a coach. She knows what it’s like to be out there on the floor and the players respond to that.”

Jared Harmon is a reporter for the Home News. He can be reached at 990-8922 or [email protected].