Carson High School alumna Timi Brown stands next to her sister, Jaime, for a photo after the two were inducted into the Carson High School Hall of Fame.
Dr. Timi Brown was a part of a historic run during her time playing girls basketball at Carson High School.
Brown was inducted into the inaugural class of the Carson High School basketball Hall of Fame last year and will join the statewide history books when she is inducted into the NIAA Hall of Fame on Thursday, June 13.
Brown was a three-sport star as a Senator, but her time on the hardwood is where she cemented the initial phase of her legacy.
“I was reading the list of inductees and there were so many great athletes that came out of our state. It’s truly an honor and I’m so appreciative,” said Brown. “There are a lot of deserving folks out there. I am one of many.”
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Carson High girls basketball won three consecutive state titles (1983-85) while Brown was a featured player for the Senators.
She graduated with the second-most career points in program history, as well as the second-most career assists.
She also competed in volleyball and softball at CHS.
Admittedly, Brown says her on-court basketball days might be behind her, but her passion for volleyball and athletics, in general, has kept her competitive.
Residing in Long Beach, she still plays beach volleyball when she gets the chance.
“Basketball tends to be a little bit harder on your body. I think at some point I realized I needed to give that up just because the recovery was so hard. Volleyball is another love of mine,” Brown said.
For two years on the hardwood in high school, Brown played alongside her sister, Jaime, before the elder sister graduated in 1984, then joining the UCLA Bruins.
Timi Brown graduated two years later (1986) and went on to play against her sister in Pac-10 competition at Arizona.
By the end of her collegiate career, Brown led the Wildcats in scoring in both 1990 (450 points) and 1991 (430 points) before graduating as the program’s all-time leading scorer (1,315 points). She is now 11th on the program’s all-time scoring list.
The Carson Hall of Famer posted a 35-point outing against New Mexico State in 1990, which is still a top-10 single-game scoring total in school history.
She earned Pac-10 all-academic team honors three times, as well.
“Meeting and playing with people all over the country was amazing,” said Brown of her time at U of A. “I got to compete in the then Pac-10, which for women’s basketball was a very competitive conference. I got to play against my sister (Jaime) at UCLA, so that was kind of cool.”
REMAINING IN ATHLETICS
Most of her family still resides in Carson City and Brown says she makes time to visit whenever she can manage.
She remains in communication with several friends from high school, too.
“I do actually stay in touch with some of my Carson High teammates because they were childhood friends. I get to see them, not as much as I would like, but as often as I can,” Brown said. “Phenomenal family and phenomenal support, and I love every chance I get to be able to see and spend time with them. … Unfortunately, the job is nonstop.”
Brown had ambitions of continuing her basketball career professionally out of college, but opted for the coaching ranks at Fullerton Junior College as an assistant.
Her first head coaching job pushed her to the high school ranks at San Pasqual High School, taking the team to its first winning record in school history.
After moving back to the college level, she’s spent 30-plus years working as a coach and administrator at various institutions across the Western U.S.
Most recently, Brown left her role as athletic director at Chaffey College to become the Dean of Kinesiology, Health and Athletics at Pasadena City College in April.
A continued desire to be a voice that can help bring change led her to her new position.
“To lead an entire department has been a professional goal of mine. … I realized that at some point, I wanted to be in the position where I could be in the room with administrators to have a voice and create an opportunity of change in women’s athletics,” said Brown. “That was the one reason that I wanted to become an athletic administrator. Fortunately, I have been able to do that. Now moving into a dean’s role, it is an even higher level of conversation that goes on on college campuses.”
(Timi Brown (15) dribbles up the floor during a girls basketball game at Carson High School. Brown and the Senators won state titles in 1983, 1984 and 1985./ Courtesy Carson City School District)