Fayetteville Patriots guard Devin Brown was named the 2002-03 NBDL Most Valuable Player and the league's Rookie of the Year. Brown was the unanimous selection for Rookie of the Year and received a majority of the votes for MVP in voting by the league's eight coaches.
"It feels good, but I'm not going to take all the credit for it," Brown said humbly. "I was able to come in and the team had a lot of success. Everything just worked out."
Brown played college ball at the University of Texas-San Antonio, finishing his career as the school's all-time leading scorer and as the third all-time leading rebounder.
The 6-foot-5 Brown started the season by signing with the San Antonio Spurs just days after being drafted by Fayetteville in the 2002 NBDL Draft. He quickly became a hometown favorite and played seven games with the Spurs, but was then released. Brown returned to Fayetteville and went on to lead the team in scoring, averaging 16.6 points per game.
On December 5, 2003, Brown tied the NBDL scoring record with 38 points against North Charleston. Brown helped lead the Patriots to the best regular-season record in the league and the top seed throughout the playoffs.
"These awards are well deserved. Devin has come in here and been a true professional," Fayetteville head coach Jeff Capel said. "From the first day he came to us from the San Antonio Spurs he worked hard in practice, pushed our other players to work harder and get better and he gave maximum effort when it was time to play. I can't think of anybody more deserving."
After receiving his awards, Brown walked out on the court and proved he deserved them.
Brown scored 32 points, including 28 in the second half, to lead the Patriots to a 100-81 comeback victory against the Greenville Groove on Friday night.
