Torrey Pines Coach Dies in Crash

Michael (Mike) Brown, a junior varsity basketball coach at Torrey Pines High, was killed in a car accident Sunday evening on northbound Interstate 5 near Via de la Valle in Del Mar. He was 41.

A California Highway Patrol spokesman said Brown, who had a long history of heart problems, might have suffered a heart attack while driving in his Mustang convertible, causing him to lose control of the car and smash into three other cars just after 6 p.m. The exact cause of death will not be known until an autopsy is performed.

Traffic was extremely heavy from an earlier accident along I-5, but there were no other injuries in the accident involving Brown, CHP spokesman Lyn Reynolds said.

Brown, who worked as an attendance clerk at Torrey Pines and as a basketball coach, was a popular figure throughout San Diego County, and he also served as the announcer for a number of Torrey Pines’ teams.

At the University of San Diego, Brown worked as an official scorer and timekeeper for the men’s basketball and football teams for the past five years.

“He was a listener,” Anne Meigs, Torrey Pines’ athletic director said. “The kids really responded to him. They were drawn to him. It wasn’t just the athletes he dealt with. All the kids in school will miss him. We all will miss him.”

Brown was single. His parents live in Las Vegas.

A memorial service will be held at Torrey Pines this afternoon at 1:30 in the gymnasium. Funeral services are pending. Brown was to have traveled with the Torrey Pines’ varsity to a basketball tournament in Hawaii Wednesday morning.