Over 12 months have passed since Jamal Brown was unceremoniously fired as South Carolina State men's basketball coach after just one season.

Now it appears Brown is headed back to the sidelines at another Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference school. On Friday, new Maryland-Eastern Shore head coach Frankie Allen said he plans to bring Brown aboard as his top assistant.

"I know of his abilities and I know of his character and I think he's going to be a tremendous asset to me because he's a guy that understands, knows how to teach the game," Allen said. "He knows how to recruit, relate well to the players. It's an opportunity for me to get an experienced number-one assistant and we'll work well together."

Brown is expected to begin his new duties April 21 as he looks to help turn around a Hawks' program seeking its second winning season in Division I and first since the 1993-94 campaign. The 33-year-old North Charleston native brings extensive experience as an assistant coach from his days at S.C. State, where he was a part of five NCAA Tournament teams as a player and coach, and later Tennessee State. He served in both places under his college coach Cy Alexander, a close friend of Allen.

Brown is also looking to revive his career following a tumultuous 13-17 campaign at his alma mater, where he was fired in March 2007 for what school officials saw as violations of the university's obligations under Title IX. The charges were connected to allegations regarding an "unprofessional relationship" with a female team trainer.

After his dismissal, Brown sued the university looking to recoup the salary lost from the three years remaining on his contract. The status of the lawsuit was not available at press time.

Allen insisted he had no trepidations about hiring Brown based on their longtime frie-ip. The UMES athletic administration also gave their blessing to Allen's wishes after conducting its own probe.

"We discussed those things," he said. "The university administration and the athletic administration followed up and talked to people. I know JB and I know his family and we're just going to move on and it's going to be great. No hesitations, no reservations. We've got the go-ahead to join the staff and it's full steam ahead. He's going to help us in a lot of areas."

Allen also pointed to Brown's recruiting prowess and sees this as UMES looks to battle MEAC rivals like Coppin State, Morgan State and Delaware State as well as other large Division I schools for the top area talent.

"I've been pretty successful in rebuilding programs ... and I'm excited about the challenges," Allen said. "We've got to get out and work a little bit harder and pray a little bit harder to land the talent that will move us forward."

n T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547.

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