Dee Brown retires, lands permanent position at Illinois

Dee Brown decided to quit basketball and will start working at University of Illinois and Fighting Illini Athletics.

Per News Gazzette, But Brown’s new “usual” did change Tuesday. Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas announced Tuesday evening Brown would join the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics on a full-time basis as special assistant to the director of athletics — the position Brown filled for six weeks this summer and the one he started full-time Tuesday morning.

“Dee has great passion for the University of Illinois and Fighting Illini athletics,” Thomas said in a release. “He did an exceptional job with us this summer, and we are pleased to expand his role to full-time capacity. Dee’s enthusiasm and desire to see our student-athletes and teams become the best will be a great driving force as we continue to improve across all areas as a department.”
Brown’s duties will be an extension of what he started this summer. He’ll represent the university at different functions on and off campus — participate in outreach efforts and fundraising — assist in recruiting, serve as a mentor for current student-athletes and develop relationships with former Illini.
Brown said the most difficult challenge this summer in deciding his next step was “taking basketball out of the equation.”

“I was still training like I was going overseas, but in my mind it was a possibility that I may stay,” Brown said. “It was a tough decision. It was mostly family based. I wanted to be around my family. I’m still playing good basketball, still competitive. I still want to play basketball, but it just came down to timing and family.”