Sherwood Brown returns to FGCU for his Hall of Fame induction

Sherwood Brown raked in the accolades during his time with the Florida Gulf Coast men’s basketball team. Starting as a walk on, he emerged into a Atlantic Sun Player of the Year and a star on the historic “Dunk City” team. Now, Brown is a part of the FGCU Athletics Hall of Fame.

He traveled from Iraq, where he’s playing basketball professionally, to be inducted in person during Saturday’s ceremony.

“Once I got that information, oh my God I couldn’t sleep for the next three days,” Brown said. “I was just figuring out, my next step how am I going to get there cause I couldn’t miss it.”

This was truly a homecoming weekend for Brown, who returns to campus for the first time since graduating in 2013.

Brown said, “I went to the basketball coaches’ office. That wasn’t even there when I was here. I went to the weight facility that wasn’t even a weight facility for just athletes at that time. It was for all the students.”

A lot of the changes around campus can be traced back to that “Dunk City” team in 2013, which became the first No. 15 seed to make the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. That run put the university on the map.

“That was one of the reasons why I came here was to help build something,” Brown explained. “And I didn’t think it would get to this level but it’s just so amazing to know that I kind of left my footprint.”

With Brown back in Southwest Florida, he got to see and hear from familiar faces, including his former head coach, Andy Enfield.

Enfield, who’s now the head coach at Southern Methodist, said in a pre-recorded video during the ceremony, “Congratulations to Sherwood Brown being inducted into the FGCU Hall of Fame. What an accomplishment. Sherwood Brown was an incredible competitor. He was the heart and soul of our Dunk City team.”

“I haven’t spoken to Coach Andy in like 10 years,” Brown said regarding the video. “So just hearing from him saying those things about me is just it meant a lot. I need to get in touch with him.”

For Brown, the memories and the people make this place home.

“Sometimes when you stay away from some place for a long period of time you forget that feeling,” Brown explained. “Soon as I got here, soon as today, I remember now I got to come back more often.”

Joining Brown in the Class of 2025 include: Sarah Hansen, the all-time leading scorer for the women’s basketball team, Ashley “Cecil” Spencer from softball, Jason Peacock from baseball and Butch Perchan from the athletics administration.

While the entire “Dunk City” team was enshrined in the inaugural class in 2022, Brown is the first individual player from that team to enter the FGCU Athletics Hall of Fame.