SMU coach and North Carolina alumnus Larry Brown is worried about the implications of the academic scandal at his alma mater.
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Larry Brown goes back a long way in coaching—almost 50 years, back to his first gig on the bench as an assistant to legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith in 1965.
Brown played at North Carolina for a pair of Hall of Fame coaches, Smith and Frank McGuire, and the current SMU coach told ESPN.com he is quite concerned about the academic scandal that North Carolina is currently embroiled in.
"“Absolutely I’m worried about it,” Brown said. “What’s troubling me the most is that some of that stuff dates back to Coach Smith and we all know the character of that man.”"
An internal review at UNC released last month found that more than 3,000 students—48 percent of them “student-athletes”—benefited from phony classes in the Afro-American studies department.
The report also found that some athletes—including basketball players—were steered toward those classes in order to maintain their eligibility.
The NCAA is investigating and has begun interviewing people about the scandal.
"“My daughter took some of those classes,” Brown said. “If you look around, there’s not a school in teh country that doesn’t have classes like that. How many kids are taking online classes these days? That’s not an excuse. I’m just saying there are classes like that that are legitimate.”"
It’s probably worth pointing out that two schools Brown coached previously wound up on probation after he left.
While Brown insists he was found to be not guilty of any wrongdoing at UCLA, which ended up on probation for three years—including vacating its 1980 Final Four appearance—for recruiting violations while Brown was there.
Kansas was hit with two years of probation after the basketball program under Brown was guilty of improper recruiting contacts and improper travel payments.
The penalty prevented the Jayhawks from defending its national championship in 1989.
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