Brown has been coaching since 1967 and has earned respect and admiration from his players and his peers.

His "pack" — seniors Myisha Bannister and Katrina Grantham, junior Laura Hall, sophomores Aisha Jefferson and Lauren Aitch and freshman Allyssa DeHaan — have combined to give MSU one of the Big Ten's most talented and, when healthy, deepest set of posts.

"It's been a wonderful experience for me because of the type of people they are," Brown said. "They have really bonded together as a group. They have pulled for each other consistently all year.

"They consistently work together to be as good as they can be on the court and, really, off the court."

A common link

All six members of the group have battled some type of injury at one time or another. Both Aitch and Bannister have torn an ACL. The injury cost Bannister most of last season, while Aitch is still sidelined. Grantham underwent season-ending knee surgery last season. Hall is fighting through a serious left foot injury, and Jefferson spent most of last season with her left shoulder wrapped up. She underwent surgery on that shoulder and had her knee scoped before this season.

Thus far, DeHaan has been the luckiest, suffering a very mild ankle sprain before the season that cost her a few days of practice and the Green and White game.

Aitch is the only one currently on the sidelines, but she still pitches in even though she is unable to play.

"She continues to contribute to the team in all kinds of ways," Brown said. "Both vocally and spiritually and from helping me to keep track of things that we're looking for."

Jefferson said if Aitch and Hall had been healthy the entire season, we could be seeing a team that could contend for the national championship.

"Unfortunately, they're not," Jefferson said. "It forces us to get in better shape, to get better, and it gives other people a chance to step up.

"(Aitch) was getting better in the summer. It's a shame she had to go down."

One team, one goal

MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie has employed a few different starting lineups this season. Bannister, DeHaan, Grantham and Jefferson all have started games and come off the bench.

This could cause a rift in some teams, but not the Spartans.

"Myisha Bannister didn't start at the start of the year and didn't play a lot at times, but waited for her opportunity," Brown said. "She got it at Iowa and took off from there."

In the first game she started this season at Iowa, Bannister scored 12 points with seven rebounds and followed that up with career highs in both points (13) and rebounds (10) at Michigan.

Both Bannister and Grantham are seniors who play around 14 minutes per game and provide leadership on and off the court.

"They bring an understanding of the program and what Coach P wants," Brown said.

This was apparent during Sunday's comeback at Purdue when, after nearly every basket down the stretch, Grantham was running up and down the bench for high fives. After Mia Johnson's go-ahead basket, she was yelling at her teammates on the floor to get back to play defense for the final possession.

"She played Coach P," McCallie said. "I just had to sit down and get the heck out of the way."

Said Brown: "That was pretty much a display of what this team is all about."

Learning curve

DeHaan has had a lot asked of her in her first season at MSU — put on weight, gain strength, become more aggressive and, as McCallie put it at the beginning of the season, "get faster, quicker, tougher and meaner."

But with the help of Brown and her post buddies, DeHaan is quickly catching on to the college game.

"Allyssa DeHaan came in here as a highly touted freshman and has had to learn a lot, both about herself and playing at this level and working with our other posts," Brown said.

Brown said DeHaan has the chance to be the best post player he's ever coached, just ahead of Michelle Snow, who Brown coached at Tennessee and who went on to become the 10th overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft.

"Michelle did not approach a triple-double ever in her freshman year," Brown said.

In the Nov. 19 game against Texas-Arlington, DeHaan had 11 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks.

The leader

Brown has been here for Jefferson's entire tenure at MSU. In that time, she says he has become a mentor to her.

"He's like a big brother, a father, a friend and a coach," Jefferson said. "We can talk about life and not just basketball — it's a good relationship to have."

Hall said that she enjoys how truthful Brown is toward everyone.

"He tells you what you're doing right, what you're doing wrong, what you need to work on and things like that," Hall said.

All of these things probably would seem strange if you only knew Brown from watching him on the court, as he is pretty intense. But off the court, Brown is one of the most genuine people you'll meet.

"He looks like a very serious guy on the court," Hall said. "Off the court, he's very compassionate and friendly."

Hall said the post players like to have fun with Brown by trying to mimic his southern accent (which, coincidentally, is from growing up in southern Indiana).

Although Brown said they can never get the accent right, he doesn't really mind.

"They do that on their own," Brown said. "They don't really kid me about it. They talk about it amongst themselves."

"I hired him"

In his lengthy career, Brown has been around. He started at Purdue — his alma mater — in 1967. He was the men's head coach at Ball State from 1982-87 and was an assistant with the Tennessee women's program from 1995-2002. In that time, the Lady Vols went 224-29 and won three national championships. He also had stops in the Big Ten at Minnesota (men's assistant, 1988-91) and Wisconsin (women's assistant, 2002-03).

Brown decided to come to MSU in 2004 because of McCallie. And McCallie is happy to have him here.

"He's an excellent coach," McCallie said. "He's an excellent post coach, but he's more than a post coach. He's been a head coach, so he understands both sides.

"I don't want to make him seem too old, but he has sort of a grandfatherly approach in how he helps motivate players."

McCallie said Brown has the experience to know how to help his players.

"He's a coaching talent and someone who works harder than most people do," McCallie said. "I'm proud. I hired him, don't forget that!"