By Barry Lewis
Central assistant coach Levi Brown is retiring at age 70 after helping teams win nine state basketball titles.
And this time, he really is retiring. Four years ago, he planned to step away after nearly dying from meningitis.
His nephew, Central head coach Eli K. Brown III, however, persuaded him to return after Levi’s replacement left for another job just before the next season started.
“When I came back I was still weak and fought through it,” Levi said. “I’m proud of that I was part of the Central Braves winning the 2015 (Class 4A) state championship. It was really special.”
Levi’s contributions were huge in the title run, according to Eli.
“His advice to me after the 2014 season ended was to make sure they (their players) understand winning a championship starts not when the season starts, but now (April) and they took that mentality,” Eli said. “There were times that season, the smallest adjustment that he would give me would just magically work.
“Everyone talked about how that team was really good at switching defenses, but that was Uncle Levi, telling us we have to keep them on our toes. We used the 1-3-1 a lot, that was his favorite defense. Those were the things he brought to the table with us that year and all seven years. It has just been a blessing to have him here, and the championship was even more special when I think he almost wasn’t a part of it.”
Eli said Levi promised him three years as an assistant when Eli became head coach in 2010. The Braves have been to five state tournaments in the past eight years.
“Uncle Levi kept me level-headed, he kept me out of a lot of quick-trigger actions,” Eli said. “He helped me become more poised and more efficient in what I did here. Being young at 28, I needed that. Having him here with all that championship experience went a long way. He would tell me, champions don’t do this, they do that, they start on time, be on time, end on time — be prepared, be organized {span}—All those things are what he gave to me.
“I knew he had my best interests and he wanted to help me. Advice like talking to officials, making sure you’re not demeaning him, you can’t treat all the kids with the same glove. He was the buffer.”
Levi said about his advice to his nephew, “I knew that he needed that. With my basketball experience, and being his uncle, I knew he would listen to me more. He needed that, he needed someone to watch his back.”
Eli is campaigning for Levi to be inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association and Tulsa Public Schools halls of fame.
“He’s had an amazing career coming from humble beginnings,” Eli said.
Those beginnings included being born in a sugar cane field on a Louisiana plantation. He later became a basketball standout at Cohn High School in Port Allen, Louisiana, and earned a scholarship to Texas College in Tyler.
After graduating there along with his twin brother (Eli’s dad) in 1970, they moved to Tulsa in 1970. Levi was a teacher at Hamilton Junior High, where he spent 19 years and later 18 years at Gilcrease Junior High.
In 1979, Levi joined Mike Mims’ staff as a basketball assistant at Booker T. Washington and enjoyed his first gold ball there in ’81. Levi was an assistant for BTW head coach Nate Harris for seven other state titles, which included four in a row from 1984-87. Brown, who was one of the best-dressed coaches in high school basketball, coached six NBA players from Tulsa, including Wayman Tisdale, Richard Dumas, Etan Thomas and Ryan Humphrey, plus several others who played in the NFL.
Besides the state titles, Levi’s most memorable basketball experience was assisting Harris as a coach in the 1996 McDonald’s All-American Game in Pittsburgh. One of the players on their team was Kobe Bryant.
Levi recalled, “Doing drills, I was pretty hard on the kids. One of them said, ‘School’s out, are you a drill sergeant?’ I said, ‘No, but you needed this, you’re playing in college in four weeks.’ I will never forget that.”
Shaheen Holloway, who went on to play for Seton Hall but didn’t make it to the NBA, was the game’s MVP.
“With Kobe, I didn’t see at that game but we know the end results now,” Levi said. “It seemed like he was just going through the motions. The kids who really impressed me were the point guard (Ed Cota) who went to North Carolina, and Shaheen Holloway.
“I also was impressed with Tim Thomas (who played 13 years in the NBA). He was a man-child, a very powerful guy, who was built just like LeBron James.”
Others on that team included longtime NBA veterans Richard Hamilton, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O’Neal.
Levi’s decision to step away from coaching comes after the death of his wife, Zelma, who passed away from cancer last Dec. 28, after they had been married 47 years. Zelma also was a longtime teacher.
“It’s the right time,” Levi said. “I don’t have that same feeling anymore. Being around kids kept me young. I don’t have any regrets. I’ve been blessed. I did exactly what I wanted to do. I had the opportunities to be a head coach, but I was in one of the best situations you could possibly be in being at Booker T. Washington High School.”
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