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Our basketball program had always had a great
respect for Kevin’s teams and the program he had built so we
knew it would be a good hard fought battle to the end. It was
indeed a great game. Lincoln jumped out to a big half time lead
only to have Washington with a big come back taking a last
second shot attempt in hopes to win the game. Fortunately for
Lincoln, we hung on and went away with a win.
Despite the outcome of the game Kevin, his wife Jodi and I
stayed in the empty arena and talked for a long time. Both of
them were so gracious in defeat and were very happy for the
Railers. We shared a lot of basketball and family stories that
night and there is where I had the opportunity to meet Kevin
Brown as a person and not just a coach.
As time passed Kevin and I would visit often and discuss
basketball and how we do things in each of our programs. Kevin
would always say that he wanted to model his basketball program
after the Lincoln Railsplitters.
Truth be told, my staff and I always wanted to model our program
after the Washington Panthers, who were very hard-nosed, very
aggressive, very physical, very fundamentally sound and had
never quit mentality, which was the backbone to their success.
But don’t worry Panther fans, I could never convince Kevin to
commit to the Ball Press, which is the center piece to our
program. Kevin had his own center piece and that is the tough
Man to Man defense that is well known across the state.
On June 11, 2019, Kevin lost his battle to Glioblastoma, one of
the deadliest forms of brain cancer. Tonight we are honoring
Kevin and the many others who have lost their battle with any
form of cancer and for all of those who are facing cancer today.
All donations for this event will be given to the “KB Strong ~
Fighting the Fight Foundation” at the University of Illinois
School of Medicine in Peoria, Illinois to help fund Glioblastoma
research and finding a cure.
Chris Hawkins, who was Kevin’s best friend, stated to me, “I
miss his phone calls.”
I understand. I too miss those phone calls and those basketball
brainstorming sessions we often had. So tonight Railer Nation
would like to extend our deepest thoughts to Jodi, the Panther
Basketball Program and the Community of Washington on their
loss.
Donations are being accepted out in the lobby for the KB Strong
Foundation.
Please donate in honor of a great coach and better yet, a great
man - Coach Kevin Brown.
~ Neil Alexander
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