EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The first black basketball player at what would become the University of Texas at El Paso and the first at a major university in the former Southern Confederacy has died.

Charlie Brown was 83. A UTEP statement says he died Sunday in Antioch, California, after a long illness.

Brown led the Miners of what was then Texas Western College to Border Conference titles in 1957 and ‘59 and was the conference’s 1957 Most Valuable Player.

He transferred to Texas Western from Amarillo Junior College in 1956, joining the Miners with nephew Cecil Brown. He remained with the Miners for the next three seasons, earning all-Border Conference honors each season, and was inducted into the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.

He is survived by his brother, Edgar.