Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – As the Arkansas State men’s basketball team prepares for the upcoming season, the program has injected a massive dose of championship pedigree into its coaching staff.

On Sept. 17, Arkansas State basketball announced a bombshell of a hire with the introduction of an NBA veteran and two-time NCAA champion in Corey Brewer.

With a career defined by success at the sport’s highest levels, Brewer enters his first year in Jonesboro with a clear expectation: to translate his winning experience into the program’s second-ever NCAA tournament berth.

Ahead of his debut on the sidelines for the Red Wolves, JRN sat down with the new assistant coach to discuss his extensive professional journey, his years-in-the-making connection with head coach Ryan Pannone, and the championship mentality he intends to bring to the community.

| ADD US ON GOOGLE NEWS: Click here to see more local news from Jonesboro Right Now

His Career Before the Red Wolves

Brewer brings a player resume to Jonesboro that is rarely seen from its university athletics.

Starting in 2004, he joined up with the University of Florida Gators down in Gainesville, playing for legendary college coach Billy Donovan. Alongside future NBA stars Al Horford and Joakim Noah, Brewer helped lead Florida to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007.

After a decorated three-year college career, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft. Though tragedy struck halfway through his rookie campaign when he tore his ACL, Brewer bounced back with a prominent role in Minnesota before eventually signing with the Dallas Mavericks in March 2011. His decision turned out for the best, as he helped the Mavericks win the Larry O’Brien trophy after taking down LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.

Following his championship run, Brewer became a journeyman traveling around the NBA, providing an excellent boost as a role player across eight different franchises before retiring from the NBA court in November 2020. However, he kept his basketball skills sharp by joining BIG3 Basketball in 2022, playing in the three-on-three league up until this past August.

Even after retiring from NBA action, Brewer found himself still called to the league when he was offered a player development coaching role by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2020. He continued in that role until he was given a promotion to an assistant under the Pelicans’ head coach Willie Green, serving there until his contract concluded this past April.

Brewer and Pannone

Just as Brewer was out of his NBA coaching role, Ryan Pannone had just finished his first season as head coach of A-State. Hearing about the news, Pannone picked up the phone to get Brewer on his staff as soon as possible.

“I stalked him for about three months when he was out of a job and just patiently waited until we could get him,” Pannone said.

However, their pairing in Jonesboro had already been years in the making.

During Pannone’s time as NBA Director for The Pro Training Center, a highly-acclaimed player development organization, Brewer got to know him while working out there. Pannone eventually took a role as the head coach of the Pelicans’ G-League affiliate team before receiving a promotion to an assistant role with Green.

Even after leaving The Pro Training Center, Pannone attempted to keep Brewer around when he moved into a different position. He attempted to sign Brewer to his G-League roster before the Pelicans chose to forego that decision in favor of younger players’ development.

His first attempt may have failed, but Pannone got a second chance to bring Brewer to work with him. After his promotion to Green’s staff, the Pelicans gave Pannone the green light to pursue Brewer for an assistant role, eventually persuading him to join.

The two worked together on the Pelicans’ coaching staff until Pannone moved to a collegiate coaching job. In that time period together, Brewer noted how much his time with Pannone helped him develop.

“Pannone is a very detailed guy and so I think him being so detailed has helped me be a better player and a better coach,” Brewer said.

Even after their stint in New Orleans, their time together gave Pannone the idea to continue keeping an eye on Brewer.

“I knew before I ever became a college head coach that if I ever got a job, I wanted to try to hire him,” Pannone said.

What Brewer Brings to the Boro

What put Brewer in Pannone’s sight was his NBA journey and the experience from it, specifically how it translates to his relationship with the players and his coaching style.

On the surface level, his playing experience and resume gives him the knowledge of what goes behind a winning team. The decorated background and knowledge give him a basic connection to his players.

“I feel like I relate to players pretty well because I did play,” Brewer said. “When you play, players kinda gravitate to you because they get what you’re going through.”

However, the players see and respect more than just that from his career.

Throughout his time in the NBA, his status as a lottery pick in the 2007 draft put loftier expectations on him that he was unable to keep up with despite his excellent level of play and consistency. No matter what the perception of him was nor what the league or life threw at him, he showed perseverance.

“He was under a lot of pressure of what was considered by the outside mainstream media as a failure. How do you mentally come back from that?” Pannone said.

Through his experience under that level of outside pressure, he acts as a role model to this A-State roster in an age where many players are under even tighter scrutiny due to the internet.

“Our players are under an extreme amount of pressure, so [it’s great] just to be able to have an NBA player that had that much success and is a winner but can connect with them on that human side,” Pannone said.

With actual basketball play in mind, Brewer’s experience also helps translate to better results from his roster in practice.

“I think it really influenced [my style] a lot [with] being aggressive [and] making my teams play hard,” Brewer said. “You want them to be able to basically emulate what you want like you would want to be out there and play.”

Meanwhile on the court, Brewer’s high level of play even following the years after his NBA retirement contributes to his coaching ability as well.

“I can still play so that’s a good thing too,” Brewer said. “You can actually get on the court and show guys what you want to do.”

A Fan Favorite

Beyond his work with the players, Brewer will be an excellent figure for the city of Jonesboro.

His upbringing in rural Tennessee provides a mutual area that fans can relate to, bringing someone who came from a level of fame and wealth in the NBA to the world of a middle-class person.

“He grew up as a farmer, very poor and working on the farms,” Pannone said. “His ability to connect with our community while being a player that’s been able to win at that level, I thought it was a huge home run for us.”

More than that, Brewer has a charismatic personality that makes people want to interact with him.

“For our fans, he’s an amazing storyteller. Corey’s super engaging,” Pannone said. “I thought he’d be an ultra dynamic person for our student body and for our fans to get to know because of who he is.”

However, his drive to win for this city will be what truly makes him not only a great member of the A-State men’s basketball program, but a great ambassador for the city of Jonesboro.

“I look up at the banners [and see] they’ve only had one NCAA tournament trip,” Brewer said. “I think let’s make it two. I didn’t come here just to coach. I came to win.”

| DAILY BRIEF: Sign up for the Jonesboro Right Now Daily Brief Newsletter