Southern Methodist University men’s basketball coach Larry Brown is resigning as coach of the Mustangs.
The news comes after SMU went an incredible 25-5 during the 2015-2016 season, but was banned from postseason play. SMU was the final unbeaten team in the country after starting 18-0 before a January loss to Temple.
Brown told the news to ESPN’s Andy Katz:
Asked by Katz why he is resigning, Brown did not offer details, saying he first wanted to discuss his decision with his players and their parents.
“I’ve got nothing else I can say right now,” Brown said.
Back in 2012, Tim Jankovich was hired as the team’s coach-in-waiting, and now he’ll take over for Brown. Jankovich has head coaching experience from his time at Illinois State and North Texas.
Larry Brown wanted a long-term deal, but SMU wasn't willing to do so. 75 years old and academic fraud investigation while at SMU.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) July 8, 2016
Tim Jankovich was hired as coach-in-waiting. Will take over at SMU immediately. Had previously been head coach at Illinois State.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) July 8, 2016
The 75-year-old Brown returned to college with SMU four years ago after a lengthy NBA career. The first couple years of Brown’s time there were clean until the NCAA began to investigate the program last year for violations involving former player Keith Frazier. That ultimately led to the self-imposed postseason ban for the 2015-2016 season.
Over his lengthy career, Brown has coached nine separate NBA teams and two separate ABA teams. The biggest achievement for Brown was winning the NBA title as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons in 2004.
On the college side, Brown has also coached at Kansas and UCLA.
Southern Methodist has not commented on the news yet.
[ESPN]
