Coaching Legend Larry Brown Will Take Over At SMU

DALLAS -- SMU announced Thursday that Hall of Famer Larry Brown will become the Mustangs' next men's basketball coach."I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to coach at SMU," Brown said in a statement released by the university. "I've built so many relationships in the basketball world and my success has been due to the coaches I've played for and the players I've coached. I always thought of myself as a college coach and this gives me a wonderful chance to get back where I started."

Many of you may not have noticed last week, but basketball coaching legend Larry Brown is back in the college game. At the age of 71, he is the new head coach at SMU.

Brown has had a remarkable career, but he is truly a coaching gypsy. He has been everywhere. In college he has coached at UCLA and Kansas. In the NBA and the old ABA, he has coached the Carolina Cougars, Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76'ers, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks and Charlotte Bobcats.

He is the only coach in basketbal history to win an NBA championship and an NCAA championship. He won an NBA title coaching the Pistons in 2004. He won an NCAA title at Kansas in 1988. He also took UCLA to the NCAA finals in 1980 where they lost to Louisville.There have been issues. When he won the 1988 NCAA title at Kansas, the Jayhawks went on a major probably seven months later. They did not have to vacate their title, but they did admit to major violatioins. Roy Williams came in from North Carolina to clean up the mess after Brown left for the NBA and San Antonio.

Brown is a basketball Hall of Famer, having been inducted in 2002. As a player, he played on the 1964 U. S. Olympic team that won a Gold Medal in Tokyo.One thing that Larry Brown has not done in his career, is to coach in our state. That will change next winter. SMU will be in Conference USA for one more season before heading to the Big East. As a result, Brown will coach the Mustangs in Huntington next season when the Mustangs play at Marshall. His appearance in Huntington will make that game an event.

Brown has a reputation for impressive turnarounds and often messy departures from teams. When Michael Jordon hired him in Charlotte, Brown had been out of coaching for two years after going only 23-59 in his only season in New York and being let go by the Knicks.His longest tenure with any team was six seasons with Philadelphia. He had left the 76ers with two years left on his contract to go to Detroit.He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 2002.Brown has his work cut for him at SMU. The Mustangs are not very relevant in college basketball, but Brown's presence could change that. He does provide some sizzle.If his past history is any indication, Brown's stay in Dallas may not be that long. But it should be long enough for us to see him in our state in the winter of 2013.