Most men his age have settled into retirement by now, but Larry Brown isn’t into shuffleboard or Bingo and he has never lived in Florida.
The Hall of Fame coach, Long Island product and former Knicks coach spent 16 months out of basketball after he was fired by the Bobcats in December 2010 — or, more accurately, living a personal nightmare.
He isn’t the retiring type.
Brown, 73, couldn’t take being away from the game, so he went back to his roots, spending his free time attending college basketball practices at Kansas, Kentucky, Villanova, Colorado and Maryland.
“These guys always thanked me for being there, but they were saving my life,” Brown said in a phone interview. “I was the one who was benefitting. That made me feel like I wanted to get back and contribute and share the things I was taught.”
So Brown jumped at the opportunity when SMU came calling in April 2012, going back to college 24 years after he led Kansas — known as “Danny Manning and the Miracles” — to the national title.
“I look in the mirror, I know I’m 73, but in my heart I don’t feel that way,” said Brown, the oldest Division I college basketball coach, in advance of Thursday night’s game at Rutgers. “I want to coach because I love it. I don’t want to sound hokey, but when you play for Frank McGuire, Dean Smith and Pete Newell — they taught me a lot — I want to share what they taught me with a lot of people. I don’t want to stop doing this.”
Brown knew there was a lot of work to do at SMU, a basketball wasteland without much tradition, but he always has liked reclamation projects, former player Reggie Miller said, pointing to all his NBA stops with losers he turned into winners, teams like the Pacers, Clippers and 76ers.
“He goes in places, evaluates what’s there, comes up with remedies and sturdies the ship,” Miller said. “It’s in his blood. It’s almost like a drug to him, and I mean that in a good way. It’s something he needs to constantly be doing.”
“He deserves all the credit,” senior guard Nick Russell said of Brown. “His name and his reputation brings people around. It’s magical, really. The success we’ve had wouldn’t have come without him.”
His coaching style remains the same, a focus on defense, all-out effort, sharing the ball, playing inside-out. When he first met his new players upon taking over at SMU, he used his favorite phrase — “Play the Right Way” — which he repeats multiple times daily. The slogan is featured prominently on a plaque in the locker room.
“That phrase has gotten us to where we are right now,” Russell said.
Brown saw the program as Georgetown before John Thompson turned it into a national powerhouse, located in a big city with fertile talent in the surrounding area at a school looking to develop a brand, which has renovated its basketball facilities and the team’s arena, Moody Coliseum.
Aided by smart staff choices, he already has made massive inroads on the recruiting front, landing an impressive four-man freshmen class that includes McDonald’s All-American Keith Frazier. He has the No. 1 point guard in the nation, Dallas senior Emmanuel Mudiay, signed for next year, Brown beating out John Calipari and Kentucky for the highly rated star’s services.
“They really have the buzz building,” Scout.com national recruiting analyst Evan Daniels said. “Five years ago, SMU wasn’t getting Emmanuel Mudiay. Larry Brown’s not at SMU, they’re not getting him. That’s pretty cut and dry.”
Brown didn’t put a timetable on how long he plans on coaching. His son L.J. is a freshman at SMU and his daughter Madison is a sophomore in high school, and Brown said he would like to coach as long as they are in college. George Lynch, his former player with the 76ers and SMU’s strength and conditioning coach, has a good idea.
“I heard Coach Brown say he wants to coach until he dies,” Lynch said. “They’re going to have to put him in the grave coaching basketball. … Coach Brown coaches my eight-year-old when he comes into the gym.”
Brown wouldn’t commit to anything, but he doesn’t see a reason to retire anytime soon.
“As long as I feel like I’m helping kids get better,” Brown said, “I don’t see why I should stop.”