Brace yourselves sports fans, Larry Brown could very well be the next head basketball coach for the SMU Mustangs.
Many reports citing “close sources” to the SMU community are confident Brown will take the vacant head coaching position. Yet, after over a month of coach searching, many are not convinced he is the right guy.
Brown has a history of being, in many ways, a coaching legend. At 71, he remains the only man to win an NCAA title and an NBA championship. Brown also expressed interest in wanting to return to college basketball just a few short weeks ago.
With ties to just about anyone that is anyone in the basketball arena, as well as a history with NBA teams in rebuilding stages, and a willingness to be back in the game, it seems odd that many are against Brown taking the reins.
Several sports news sources have published their opinions about Brown to SMU. All have a couple concerns in common: that his recruiting skills would lack and that he is not a long-term commitment.
These concerns are backed by his history of Brown being a “nomadic” coach. Yahoo reported, “nomadic Brown isn’t likely to stay very long anyway,” and “Brown’s staff would likely have to do the bulk of the recruiting since he hasn’t coached in college basketball since 1988.”
However, hiring Brown has several positives that are being overshadowed by uncertain concerns. For starts, ESPN writes in College Basketball Nation Blog that he “brings the namiest of coaching names and the buzz to a long-dormant program like SMU so desperately needs as it moves to the Big East.” He also brings willingness to get back into college basketball. A willingness that the SMU basketball program needs as it looks to rebuild a somewhat stagnant team. While Brown has not been in the college basketball arena since ’88, he brings experience that is second to none in the industry.
“Larry Brown to fill vacant coaching position at SMU” has not yet made headlines, but it is not something intangible but rather something that could very well happen in the near future.
