Former Cal Guard Joel Brown Signs Deal With Ottawa in Canadian Pro League

Brown played four seasons with the Bears, earned his diploma, then spent 2023-24 at Iona.

Former Cal guard Joel Brown / Photo by Richard Mackson, USA Today

Former Cal guard Joel Brown, who played at Iona last season after earning his diploma at Berkeley, has signed a free-agent contract with the Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League.

"I’m really excited to start my professional career with the BlackJacks family. I am looking forward to this new opportunity! I can’t wait to get started with my teammates and the coaching staff,” Brown said in a statement released by the team.

A native of Canada, Brown averaged 4.8 points and 2.8 assists in 122 games, including 93 starts, over four seasons with the Bears. After Mark Fox was fired following the 2022-23 season Brown moved on as a grad transfer to Iona.

He had his best season in 2023-24, starting 31 games for a Gaels’ squad that went 16-17, including 10-10 in the Metro Atlantic conference. He averaged career bests of 7.6 points and 3.5 assists, shot 49 percent from the field and 37 percent on 3-point attempts.

The 10-team CEBL will begin its sixth season next month, with Ottawa in its fifth year. The Scarborough Shooting Stars are defending champs and other cities fielding teams are Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Niagara, Brampton and Saskatchewan.

Ottawa finished 12-8 and second in the Eastern Conference a year ago.

Brown, who earned a business administration degree at Cal, scored a season-high 21 points for Iona on March 3 against Marist. He put up a career-high 22 points for Cal vs. Oregon State in his second-to-last game before transferring in 2023.

He flirted with a triple-double that same season against Washington State, totaling 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. 

Prior to arriving at Cal, Brown attended Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, winning a national championship in March 2018. He also played on the Canadian U18 national team at the 2018 FIBA Americas Championship, contributing 7.0 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.8 rebounds to help Canada reach the gold-medal game against the United States.

The BlackJacks open their 2024 season on May 26 against his hometown team, the Brampton Honey Badgers.