Former Boston Celtic Dee Brown was back in Boston recently to lead a basketball clinic at Beaver. Brown, a Celtic between 1990-98 and the winner of the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest in 1991, put the Beaver boys’ varsity and JV players through their paces on February 4 in the Athletic Center. He also gave a pep talk to the girls’ varsity team.

Now based in his native Florida, Brown has coached two WNBA teams and recently signed on as head coach of the Springfield Armor, an NBA Development team affiliated with the Knicks, Nets and 76ers.

The clinic served as a great tonic for our league-leading boys’ varsity (10-1 EIL), coming on the heels of their tough 58-55 overtime loss to rival Pingree (9-2 EIL). The JV boys (14-1 overall) defeated Pingree, 56-44 OT. The girls’ varsity team (10-4 overall) got a chance to meet Brown and hear him speak after they finished their practicing for a big game versus Portsmouth Abbey scheduled the following day. (They lost a hard-fought game battle 49-45.)

Beaver’s Director of Athletics Sherry Levin enthused, “What a wonderful opportunity we had to meet Dee Brown and listen to his incredible message. He words of wisdom were spoken eloquently and based on years of experience at all levels. His thoughts about motivation, each individual bringing ‘value to a team’ and performing the best that you can are in sync with our philosophy. Hearing it from a player who enjoyed tremendous success in his career makes the message even more meaningful.”