DeAudra Brown begins her fourth season as an assistant coach under Brooke Atkinson in 2021-22.
A season unlike any other was what Brown and the rest of the Aggies experienced in 2020-21. As a result of in-state COVID-19 restrictions, NM State was unable to play any games within New Mexico state lines while also being unable to practice in full in New Mexico until late January of 2021. Even with those roadblocks in place, Brown helped guide the Aggies to the WAC Tournament once again where they moved on to the semifinals of the league's postseason tournament.
NM State was led in part by All-WAC Second Team performer Aaliyah Prince who also earned a spot on the All-WAC Defensive Team thanks in part to Brown's guidance.
The Aggies' 2019-20 season - like the rest of college basketball - came to a premature end in the 2019-20 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That season, NM State advanced to the semifinals of the WAC Tournament at the time the season came to its abbreviated conclusion. Brown helped guide Gia Pack to First Team All-WAC Honors and Soufia Inoussa to WAC All-Newcomer honors. Pack also finished her career fifth on the NM State all-time scoring list.
Brown helped lead New Mexico State to its fifth-straight WAC regular-season championship and fourth WAC tournament championship in the last five years during the 2018-19 season. It also marked the Aggies’ fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last five years. The 26 wins posted by the 2018-19 team tied the program record for wins in a season.
Under Brown’s guidance, Brooke Salas became the first player in WAC history to win the league’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the year awards in the same season. Also under Brown’s watch, Gia Pack earned First-Team All-WAC honors for the second-consecutive season while also becoming the 24th 1,000-point scorer in Aggie History. Pack also broke the WAC Tournament scoring record with 86 points in the 2018-19 Tournament.
In 2017-18, Brown helped lead the Aggies to their fourth consecutive WAC regular-season championship. Brown coached NM State to their fourth straight postseason appearance as well, with the programs first bid to the WNIT since 2010. The Aggies finished 2017-18 with an overall record of 18-13 and an 11-3 mark in Western Athletic Conference action to win the league.
Brown and NM State earned six postseason individual accolades in the WAC in 2017-18. Head coach Brooke Atkinson led the way with the WAC Coach of the Year award in her first season as the head coach. Meanwhile, Brown helped coach star junior Brooke Salas to WAC Player of the Year honors. Salas was also placed on the WAC All-Defensive Team and was named First Team All-Conference for the second straight season. Gia Pack earned First Team All-Conference honors and Monique Mills was named to the WAC All-Newcomer team.
Brown helped guide Salas to become the 23rd member of the 1,000 point club in program history. Salas accomplished the feat in a home win against Chicago State on January 6, 2018.
Under Brown's watch, NM State led the conference in field percentage (.426) in 2017-18. Individually, Salas paced the league in scoring average (19.1), point guard Zaire Williams led the league in assists per game (5.1) and Salas put together the best free throw percentage (.835) in the conference.
Brown joined NM State after two seasons as an assistant coach at Seward County Community College. In those years at Seward County, Brown helped lead the Lady Saints to a 57-11 overall record along with a pair of appearances in the National Junior College Athletic Association Region VI Tournament Game and one in the NJCAA National Tournament.
With Brown’s help, the Lady Saints also went 39-6 in conference play over the past two seasons, finishing 2nd in 2016 and serving as co-champions last season.
Brown's first season at Seward was a memorable one as the Lady Saints breezed to a 25-8 record, marking the programs 24th straight year with at least 20 wins. The Lady Saints finished as the runner-up in both their conference standings and the NJCAA Region VI Tournament where they fell in the championship game to Cowley.
In her time at Seward, Brown coached seven all-conference players with the Lady Saints and helped three sign at the NCAA Division I level. A leader off the court as well, Brown helped the Lady Saints in the classroom to an NJCAA Academic Team of the Year recognition with a 3.56 team grade point average in 2017.
In March of 2017, Brown received a huge honor as she was named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s Thirty Under 30 list. This award was established to honor 30 of the up-and-coming women's basketball coaches age 30 and under in the sport at all levels of the game.
Prior to her time at Seward County, Brown spent two years on the staff at Eastern Arizona College with fellow Aggie assistant coach Ryan McAdams at the helm.
With Brown’s help, EAC was nationally ranked for 12 weeks and reached as high as No. 5 in 2014-15. The team tallied 27 overall wins and 20 conference victories, which earned them a share of the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference title.
In 2013-14, during Brown’s first season, the Gila Monsters made the program's first trip to the national tournament after earning ACCAC Region I runner-up honors and finished with a 23-9 overall record.
As a player, Brown starred at both Saint Paul’s College in Lawrenceville, Va. and Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, N.C. She spent her first three years at Saint Paul’s and was named the team’s Rookie of the Year as a freshman and their Most Valuable Player as a junior.
When Saint Paul’s disbanded their athletics programs, Brown transferred to Elizabeth City where she played in all 27 games for the Vikings, averaging 7.4 points and 2.4 assists per game as a senior.
Brown is a native of Rocky Mount, N.C. and holds a degree in business administration management information system.
