Men's Basketball | 1/15/2026 10:56:00 AM

Former Saint Francis men's basketball players Earl Brown, Bill Coyle, and Dave Koskinen were honored at the Legacy of Excellence Luncheon honoring lifetime basketball contributors by the Markward Basketball Club on Wednesday. The Markward Club is in Philadelphia, where all three players grew up and played high school basketball before coming to Loretto.

Brown is one of 14 players in program history to register over 1,300 points and 700 rebounds in his career from 2012-15. He finished his career with 1,373 points to rank 14th in program history and 792 points to rank 13th in that category. He was named the NEC's Most Improved Player in his sophomore year and was selected to the All-NEC First Team and to the NABC All-District 18 first team in his senior year. In his senior year, Brown led the NEC in field goal percentage (53.9) and ranked third in rebounding (8.0 rpg) and fifth in scoring (15.9 ppg). Brown had seven assists with his seventh assist proving to be the go-ahead basket with 43 seconds against Bryant in a 55-54 win on March 5, 2014, in the NEC Quarterfinals to help the Red Flash to its first NEC Tournament win since 1995-96. He was named to the NEC All-Tournament team in his senior year after averaging 17.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in the two games, including 23 points and 14 rebounds in the NEC Quarterfinals win at Mount St. Mary's on March 4, 2015. 

A player during the Golden Era of Saint Francis basketball, Coyle played 93 games for the Frankies from 1963-67. He was the eighth player in team history to reach 1,000 points and finished his career with 1,097 points, thanks to scoring over 380 points in his last two years. During his senior season, the Red Flash went 20-6, ranked 23rd of 192 teams, and was also one of the best defensive teams in the country, allowing 70.9 points per game. That team had wins against Marshall and Saint Peter's, who both played in the National Invitation Tournament, and the Red Flash ended Coyle's collegiate playing career with five-straight wins. Coyle played three seasons for the legendary Dr. William "Skip" Hughes and one season under John Clark. He returned to serve as an assistant coach after he graduated. (pictured on the left of the ball with John Fitzhenry on the right)

Koskinen, who was coached by another former Red Flash men's basketball player, Art Hunter, at Monsignor Bonner High School, played in 106 games with Saint Francis from 1984-87. He registered 271 points, 132 rebounds, 181 assists, and 70 steals in three seasons under Kevin Porter and one year under Jim Baron. Saint Francis advanced to the ECAC Metro postseason in its first three years. A stellar defensive player, he was named the Saint Francis Outstanding Male Senior Athlete in 1986-87.

Brown, Coyle, and Koskinen join Hunter, Jack McKendry, Bill Morsell, Joe Hazinsky, and Al Walker as former Saint Francis men's players to be honored by the Markward Club.


About The Markward Club
Founded in 1947 in honor of legendary coach and social justice champion William "Billy" Markward, who coached for 41 years at Roman Catholic starting in 1901, the William H. Markward Memorial Basketball Club - commonly known simply as the Markward Club - honors and recognizes outstanding high school basketball players in the Philadelphia area.

When Markward died, the Markward Basketball Club was created to honor his special nature and the tremendous impact he had on so many people. Each year, the club honors hundreds of scholastic and college players. The Markward Club has been honoring basketball players, coaches, and people in need for seventy-nine years. The club respects winning players, teams, and coaches, but exists to honor the spirit and character of players who gave more than they ever thought they could give.  It is what Billy Markward taught then, and continues to touch the lives of everyone connected with basketball today.  

The Markward Basketball Club is 80 years old and has honored Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Coby Bryant, Tom Gola, Guy Rogers, Jay Wright, Herb Magee, John Chaney, and Jack Ramsey. FUN FACT: Chamberlain (1959) and Gola (1955) were both territorial picks. In the first 20 years of the BAA/NBA, the league was still trying to gain the support of fans who lived in or near the teams' home markets. To achieve this, the league introduced the territorial pick rule to help teams acquire popular college players from their area who would presumably have strong local support. Before the draft, a team could forfeit its first-round draft pick and then select any player from within a 50-mile (80 km) radius of its home arena. As a result of the territorial picks being selected before the draft, these picks were not factored into the overall selection count of the draft; therefore, the first non-territorial pick of the draft was considered the first overall pick.