CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State Baseball team and head coach Chris Klimas have announced the retirement from coaching for Assistant Coach Robert Brown, who is the longest serving member of the RSU Athletics Department.
 
Brown, who joined the RSU Baseball Coaching Staff in 2005 when the program was a club team, has been with Rogers State for over 16 years, including all 15 years as an intercollegiate program.
 
"As difficult as it is to say 'good-bye' to Brownie, we are so happy for him as he transitions into this new phase of his life," said Klimas. "When anyone thinks of RSU Baseball, they immediately think of Robert Brown and all he has meant to this program over the past 16 years." 
 
Brown has served on staff under both head coaches, Ron Bradley for nine years and Klimas for six years, in RSU Baseball history, seeing the rise of Baseball to a national level from the club program and then its NAIA Independent days in the infant stages of the program to a Sooner Athletic Conference Championship in 2011.
 
"Coach Brown believed in RSU baseball and what it could become before we ever won our first game," said Bradley. "He volunteered countless hours in those early years and was instrumental in helping us establish a winning tradition. He is one of the best pitching minds and the most loyal assistant coach I've ever known. I'm grateful for his many years of dedication and the lasting impact he made on Hillcat baseball."
 
Brown helped lead the Hillcats to multiple trips to the NAIA World Series, including a runner-up finish in 2012, and then through the transition to NCAA Division II.
 
In four of the last five years in the Heartland Conference, the Hillcat pitching staff finished in the top 3 in team ERA and the Hillcat bullpen led the Heartland Conference in ERA in 2018 under Brown's guidance.
 
"As a long-time assistant coach, I recognize that loyalty is the most important quality in an assistant, and that is what Robert does best," added Klimas. "I could not have asked for a better man and coach to work beside for my first six years at RSU and all he has meant to my development as a coach."
 
In his last full season with the Hillcats, Brown helped guide Rogers State to a Heartland Conference Championship and the program's first NCAA Tournament berth.
 
Brown's tutelage of the Hillcat Pitching Staff has led to the development of 15 all-conference selections, six all-region selections, an MLB draftee and a three-time All-American selection in Rusty Huber.
 
"Much of the success that RSU baseball has enjoyed as a program is due to the foundation that he helped build from a club team, to a nationally-recognized NAIA program, to our Heartland Conference Champion/NCAA Tournament team in 2019," said Klimas. "He will always be part of the Hillcat Family and have a special place in the hearts of anyone that has been involved with our program."
 
Brown has also guided Hillcat pitchers who have won several academic honors, including the first-ever Academic All-American in RSU history with Tyler Whitaker being named to the first-team in 2008.
 
 "During Coach Brown's time with the Hillcats, he has embodied so much of what you want out of a coach," said Athletic Director Chris Ratcliff. "He is a dedicated, passionate and loyal man and coach who gave so much to the student-athletes, his fellow coaches and the athletic department. Coach Brown helped build the athletic department from the ground up and has directly worked with over 250 student-athletes, helping to shape young men for more than a decade. We want to thank Robert and his wife Cheri for their commitment to the Hillcats. They will always be a part of the Hillcat Family."
 
In total, Brown has helped oversee and guide the Hillcats to 430 career wins, including 22 postseason victories and a pair of conference championships. Prior to his time at Rogers State, Brown also coached at the NCAA Division I level with Radford University and was the head coach of the Waynesboro Generals in the Valley League for two seasons.
 
The Rogers State Athletic Department would like to thank Brown for his commitment and dedication to the Hillcats over the last 16 years.