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NCAA basketball rumors: LIU-Brooklyn has contacted Larry Brown

By Brad Berreman

Feb 18, 2016; Hartford, CT, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs head coach Larry Brown yells from the sidelines against the Connecticut Huskies in the second half at XL Center. The Huskies won 68-62. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2016; Hartford, CT, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs head coach Larry Brown yells from the sidelines against the Connecticut Huskies in the second half at XL Center. The Huskies won 68-62. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /
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If you thought Larry Brown had to be done coaching, think again.

When we last saw Larry Brown, he was coaching at SMU during the 2015-16 season. He resigned after that season amid the fallout from NCAA violations during his tenure. The Mustangs went 94-39 in Brown’s four seasons, but a postseason ban a year ago overshadowed a stellar 25-5 record.

Brown has coached in the ABA, the NBA and in college, with multiple stops at the latter two levels. Last fall, a report surfaced suggesting Brown was considering taking a high school coaching job near his summer home on Long Island. The move did not come to fruition, mercifully, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Brown is done coaching.

According to Jon Rothstein of Fan Rag Sports, LIU-Brooklyn has contacted Brown about its head coaching vacancy. The school recently fired Jack Perri after a 20-win season, but the Blackbirds had just a 77-79 record over his five seasons as coach. In Perri’s first season (2012-13), then known simply as Long Island, the Blackbirds won the Northeast Conference tournament and participated in the NCAA Tournament’s First Four.

LIU-Brooklyn hired Perri when he was nearly 37 years old and let him go now when he’s close to 42 years old. Brown, at 76 years old (77 on Sept. 14), is obviously on the opposite end of that age spectrum. Hiring the opposite of what you had is a common theme of coaching changes in all sports, and Brown would be that in a lot of respects for LIU-Brooklyn.

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It’s hard to see Brown surpassing Perri’s success at such a small school to any degree, let alone staying around for five seasons without incident as Perri did. But here we are talking about the opening at LIU-Brooklyn, with some other far more notable vacancies out there, due solely to a rumored attachment to Brown.