Kent Brown

Led the Illinois SID office from May 2000 until his retirement from the University in June 2023. Brown started his career as a student assistant in the UI Sports Information Office during the 1986-87 school year and followed with two years as a graduate assistant. He began his full-time role in July 1989 through June 1996. Brown was sports information director at Kansas State University from July 1996 through April 2000, helping the Wildcat athletics department transition from the Big Eight Conference to the Big 12 Conference in 1996. In all, Brown has spent 38 years in collegiate athletics, with 32 of those years at Illinois.
During his career in intercollegiate athletics, Brown helped publicize teams in two men's basketball Final Fours (1989 and 2005) and 19 NCAA Tournaments, along with 17 football bowl games, including the 1997 Fiesta Bowl, 2002 Sugar Bowl, 2008 Rose Bowl, and most recently, the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl.
He was a member of the College Sports Communicators (former College Sports Information Directors of America) and served on the Board of Directors for three years. He was honored with the organization's Lifetime Achievement recognition in 2023. Brown also was a member of the Football Writers Association of America and U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He is a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Hall of Fame Class of 2024 and the state of Illinois Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025. Following retirement from his full-time position in the summer of 2023, Brown returned to Illinois in a part-time role as Athletics Historian while also serving as an adjunct lecturer in the U of I College of Media, teaching a Sports Public Relations (ADV314) class.