William "Rookie" Brown (February 15, 1925 – May 22, 1971) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player in the United States' National Basketball League (NBL).Rookie Brown NBL stats
basketball-reference.com. Retrieved on July 21, 2015. He played for the

Dayton Rens The Dayton Rens were a member of the National Basketball League (NBL) for the 1948-49 season and were the only all-black team to play in a white league. This milestone came just one year after Jackie Robinson, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, brok ...

in 10 games during the 1948–49 season. He played collegiately at

Virginia Union University Virginia Union University is a private historically black Baptist university in Richmond, Virginia. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Rich ...

and

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

. Brown died in Neptune, New Jersey at age 46 from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

.Known Deceased Basketball Individuals
Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved on July 21, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Rookie 1925 births 1971 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Philadelphia Deaths from cancer in New Jersey Centers (basketball) Dayton Rens players Forwards (basketball) Harlem Globetrotters players Howard Bison men's basketball players Virginia Union Panthers men's basketball players