Editor's Note: Dick Weiss, a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame, has covered college sports in Philadelphia and New York for more than 40 years. He will be providing regular commentary for the American Athletic Conference during the 2013-14 season.
PHILADELPHIA -- Larry Brown is 73-years old. But SMU's Hall of Fame basketball coach has no intention of fading into the sunset.
The nomadic Brown, who has been a college and professional basketball coach since 1972, has been on a mission to rejuvenate Mustang basketball the past two years.
The fact he has quickly made SMU relevant again with 22 wins this season and four wins over ranked teams – two against UConn and one each against Memphis and Cincinnati – comes as no surprise to those who watched him win over 1,000 professional games in the ABA and the NBA. He is the only coach to lead eight different teams to the playoffs and the only coach in history to win both an NCAA national championship, with Kansas in 1988, and an NBA championship, with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.
Brown, who was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2002, is considered one of the greatest coaches in basketball history.
When he surfaced at SMU in 2012, it was considered a dead end job with the Mustangs dragging the tail end of Conference USA.
Brown might not have been the first choice to fill the shoes of previous coach Matt Doherty. He was considered a risk because of his age and penchant for being a quick fix and then leaving for what he considered to be a better job. He had made 12 pit stops during his storied career. Penn State, fearing he might leave for another NBA job, would not even interview him. SMU president Gerald Turner had to go against the wishes of former AD Steve Orsini to make it happen.
As it turns out, Brown has been an inspired choice.
He has rejuvenated SMU and the job appears to have rejuvenated him.
“I am happy I am coaching," the white-haired Brown said. "I am 73 years old and I am allowed to do something I love. I get to be around the kids and great coaches sitting next to me. I didn't handle retirement well. I am not ready to go to Florida. I am loving what I am doing. My son is my roommate. It doesn't get much better than that. I never imagined it could be like this, for me. This is like going back to when I was a freshman coach at North Carolina. I feel the exact same way, until I look in the mirror. I still have the same passion. I love coming to practice. I love it.
“I don’t know about the need to coach again. I needed to be around basketball.”
Brown spent a year haunting Jay Wright's practices at Villanova before he got the bug again. Some SMU athletic department officials figured he would stay three years, based on his resume. Of the 10 head-coaching jobs Brown had between the NBA and ABA, which began in 1972, the longest he ever stayed was in Philadelphia — a total of six years. Of the two previous NCAA jobs he had — UCLA and Kansas — he stayed in Lawrence for five years. But he left an impression, coaching the Bruins to the Final Four in 1980 before winning it all at Kansas, back when stars like Danny Manning stayed on campus for four years.
"I think we've really hurt college basketball by allowing kids to come out early,'' Brown said. "We've hurt it because now these kids are transferring, expecting to play right away. I'm not saying LeBron shouldn't come out - he's a prodigy. But we've got to have that baseball rule and let the NCAA advise kids whether to come out. We have the best minor league system in the world, plus the kids are getting an education.''
Brown has created a new buzz and enthusiasm for SMU basketball. With the help of veteran assistant Tim Jankovich, and a staff that includes ex-NBA players Eric Snow and George Lynch, Brown has rejuvenated his roster with an infusion of talented transfers like senior forward Nick Russell from Kansas, sophomore Markus Kennedy from Villanova and sophomore point guard Nic Moore from Illinois State. He also signed freshman guard Keith Frazier, a McDonald's All American from Dallas Kimball, Brown followed up a recruiting class that was ranked 14th in the country in 2013 this November by signing 6-5 point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, a McDonald's All American and a top-five recruit from Dallas Prime Prep who spurned Kentucky for the Ponies.
“It’s not a shock that he was going to be able to get good players,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “And if he gets good players, he’s going to win. The guy is a great coach, one of the best to ever coach the game.”
Brown has a history of making players better and they all want to be touched by his magic at every level.
In this city, they still remember Brown’s coaching a 76'ers team with controversial star Allen ("Practice. We're talking about practice.") Iverson to the 2000 NBA Finals against the Lakers during the Shaquille and Kobe era. Brown and Iverson had a rocky co-existence, but Iverson played like a star when Brown was on the bench.
"I know a lot of people think we banged heads, but I know God put me here to coach him,'' Brown said. "He might not think that, but I feel that way. The more I'm away from it, people stop me everywhere and I realize the impact he had on our game and I'm thrilled he's going to have his uniform number retired.''
SMU's turnaround has been impressive, given the fact the Mustangs have not been to the NCAA tournament since 1993. There were a lot of questions on both sides when Brown took the job. But Brown has quickly changed the culture.
"It took two months,'' Russell said. "The whole atmosphere. You see us in billboards. You see us on posters. The hype is big in Dallas and it's all because of Coach Brown. We were nothing before he came.''
Brown is quickly re-adapting to college life. He is the faculty advisor for the student spirit group supporting the campus's athletics programs named "The MOB," as Brown is known as "The Godfather." He is also responsible for the creation of Moody Madness, which culminated when fans stormed the court after the Mustangs stunned Cincinnati, breaking the Bearcats' 15 game winning streak and beating a top 10 team for the first time since 1987.
“If we didn't have a good team, all we'd have is a beautiful building," Brown said. "I didn't imagine it would be like this this quickly. But I was hopeful that we could get it that people wanted to see our team play and appreciate the fact that we're playing hard and playing the right way."
All of the Mustangs' final three home games are sold out to the general public. Students are camping in tents to buy the rest of the available tickets, reserved for undergrads.
“When I first got here, it seemed like it was just our parents were here and now we’re selling out crowds,” senior forward Shawn Williams told the Fort Worth Star Telegram. “The fan support is amazing. I was pumping my gas, and someone actually knew who I was. That’s never happened before.''
You can learn more about Larry Brown tonight, Tuesday, February 24th at 10pm ET as he will be featured in a segment of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO. Watch the preview below