ATLANTA – The Morehouse College community is mourning the loss of head basketball coach Grady Brewer '80, who passed away on Saturday, May 29 following an illness at the age of 63.

"The past several decades can only justly be described as the Grady Brewer era at Morehouse," said David A. Thomas, Ph.D., Morehouse College president. "The only thing that surpassed his presence on the basketball court was his transformative influence on Morehouse Men as a fellow student, player, alumnus, coach, teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend. Not only will his spirit continue to live on in the hearts of the Morehouse family, but his legacy will impact the sport for years to come."

"This is a very sad day for Morehouse athletics," said Curtis Campbell, director of athletics. "I have known Grady for many years. He was a great coach and an even better human being. He cared deeply about the young men that played for him and made a lasting impact on their lives— both on and off the court. He will truly be missed and remembered by many."
 
A 1980 graduate of Morehouse College, Coach Brewer served as head coach of the Maroon Tigers for the past 21 years. During that time span, he compiled a career record of 315-241. In Morehouse history, his career win total sits only behind former head coach Arthur McAfee. 

An Atlanta native, Coach Brewer played under the guidance of legendary high school coach Donald Dollar in the celebrated basketball program at Frederick Douglass High School. He was a standout basketball player while a student at Morehouse, where he was coached by McAfee. He lettered in each of his four years and started in his final two years.

After graduating from Morehouse, he served as an assistant coach at Atlanta's Booker T. Washington High School and helped lead the Bulldogs to the 1987 Georgia 4-AAAA state championship. He then served for 13 years as an assistant coach at Morehouse.

Coach Brewer is survived by his wife Loletta and three sons: Ryan, a 2010 Morehouse graduate; Xavier, a junior on the Morehouse basketball team; and Jordan.
 
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About Morehouse College
 
Founded in 1867, Morehouse College is a private, liberal arts institution and the only historically Black college dedicated to educating men. Morehouse is the nation's top producer of Black men who go on to receive doctorates and the top producer of Rhodes Scholars among HBCUs. The College was named to the list of U.S. institutions that produced the most Fulbright Scholars in 2019-2020. As the epicenter for thought leadership on civil rights, Morehouse is committed to helping the nation address the inequities caused by institutional racism, which has created social and economic disparities for people of African descent. Prominent Morehouse alumni include: Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. Surgeon General; Shelton "Spike" Lee, Academy Award-winning American filmmaker; Maynard H. Jackson, the first African- American mayor of Atlanta; Jeh Johnson, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; Louis W. Sullivan, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services; Bakari Sellers, attorney and CNN political analyst; Randall Woodfin, elected as the youngest mayor of Birmingham in 120 years; and Raphael Warnock, the first Black Senator from Georgia. For more information, visit: https://morehouse.edu.