Larry Brown Resigns As SMU Head Basketball Coach

Larry Brown resigned as the head basketball coach at Southern Methodist University on Friday morning, finishing off a controversial tenure at the school, according to Scott Gleeson of USA Today.

Brown reportedly requested a long-term extension from SMU that the school did not grant, leading to his decision to step down. Gleeson goes on to note that associate head coach Tim Jankovich will go on to take over for Brown.

The Naismith Hall of Famer was hired as head coach at SMU in 2012 and led the team to its greatest stretch of sustained basketball success in decades. Brown compiled a 94-39 record with the Mustangs, including three straight seasons of at least 25 wins, and led the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1993.

During that span, the Mustangs have recruited terrific players, including Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy, and nearly landed 2015 No. 7 overall pick Emmanuel Mudiay before he decided to play overseas.

Prior to arriving at SMU, Brown established himself as one of the best basketball coaches at any level, with stops at UCLA and Kansas before a lengthy NBA coaching career. Brown won the 1988 NCAA title with the Kansas Jayhawks and led the Detroit Pistons to the 2004 NBA championship, becoming the only basketball coach in history to win titles at both the collegiate and professional level.

Having a legendary coach like Brown resign would normally be a huge blow for a school like SMU. However, there was much more going on off the court at SMU that ultimately made the decision necessary.

As was the case in his previous stops, Brown was hit with an NCAA investigation and violations during his tenure with the Mustangs. SMU was the last undefeated team in the nation last year with a mark of 18-0 in late January, but they were was ruled ineligible for any postseason play prior to the season due to multiple sanctions.

Brown himself was suspended for the first nine games of the season for lack of head coaching control, and the basketball team will be without nine scholarships for the next three years.

The NCAA’s charges included academic fraud and unethical conduct, which led to the harsh penalties. Guard Keith Frazier was the focus of the investigation, as the NCAA found that an adviser completed an online course for him, which Frazier stated he was unaware of.

That was the third major violation Brown has been hit with in his collegiate coaching career, one for each school he’s been at. UCLA’s 1980 runner-up squad was found to be competing with two ineligible players, while Kansas was banned from the 1989 postseason due to rules violations.

SMU was certainly in the right to deny Brown a long-term extension, as he’s caused damage at every school he’s been at to somewhat offset the success. Brown is also 74-years-old, so it’s unlikely that will see him on the sidelines of an NCAA game again.

The good news for SMU is that it is already familiar with its next head coach, as Jankovich has been the coach in waiting since Brown was hired. Jankovich has previously been a head coach at North Texas and Illinois State, leading the Redbirds to four NIT births in five seasons.

However, Jankovich is going to face a major challenge replacing Brown in the short-term. The Mustangs will have a lot of talent that Brown helped recruit, but losing nine scholarships over three years is a massive blow for any program, particularly one that isn’t a traditional powerhouse, and SMU needs to be just about perfect to make the NCAA Tournament while playing in the AAC.

Brown turned the lowly Mustangs program around and helped put the team on the map, so his tenure certainly wasn’t a waste, even if it ended in ugly circumstances. While the team will be worse off on the court without him, denying the extension and having Brown resign was the right move for SMU.

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