Larry Brown To SMU: Former NBA Coach Reportedly Set to Coach Southern Methodist University

USA Today is reporting that Hall of Fame basketball coach Larry Brown has reached an agreement to coach Southern Methodist University for the 2013 season.

While the deal hasn’t been officially inked just yet, ESPN’s Andy Katz insists the only holdup involves Brown’s assistants – one of which is reportedly Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich.

A source close to Brown told Katz that Jankovich is waiting to get a written contract that guarantees he would be the next head coach after the 71-year-old Brown’s departure. Brown did say he has no timetable, is healthy and would coach as long as possible. That’s why Jankovich would need assurances that he would be the next head coach even if that was three or four years away since he has a good job and a potential Missouri Valley title team returning, the Sports Network wrote.

If the reports are true, 71-year-old Brown would replace former SMU coach Matt Doherty (80-109), who was fired March 13 after six seasons of missing the NCAA tournament.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Brown, hasn’t coached college basketball since 1988 – the same year he led the Kansas Jayhawks to a NCAA championship. Following their national championship title, Kansas was subsequently placed on probation and was banned from the NCAA tournament the following seasons for violations committed when Brown was the coach.

Since then, Brown has coached seven NBA teams — most notably the Detroit Pistons, who won an NBA title in 2004 — with the most recent being the Charlotte Bobcats in 2010.

The aging coach is the only person to win titles at both the collegiate and professional levels. For his NBA coaching career, Larry Brown has a total record of 1098 wins and 904 losses.

via ESPN