SMU Basketball Banned From Postseason, Head Coach Larry Brown Suspended Nine Games

Coach Larry Brown also will be suspended for 30 percent of his team’s games, ESPN’s Andy Katz is reporting.

The NCAA has come down hard on SMU basketball for infractions including academic misconduct and a “lack of coach control” by Larry Brown.

However, according to Goodman’s source, Brown failed to promptly report the violation and was not clear about the details of it when the NCAA interviewed him. After the player enrolled in the course, a former administrative assistant received the student’s online credentials and completed all of his course work. “An institution’s head coach shall promote an atmosphere of compliance within his or her program and shall monitor the activities of all institutional staff members involved with the program who report, directly or indirectly, to the coach”.

Boeheim, and now Brown, have been treated more harshly than a number of coaches who knowingly committed or participated in NCAA violations. He needed all of two seasons to make the Mustangs relevant, three to get them into the NCAA tournament for the first time in 20-plus years. The NCAA says Brown initially lied to investigators about his knowledge of the situation.

The basketball team will lose nine scholarships over the next three seasons.

“Now, this might sound so silly, when all these allegations are read, and when (enforcement staff) was basically taking the position I didn’t do the right thing, I can’t argue with that”, Brown said, according to the NCAA.

Students at Southern Methodist University were disappointed Tuesday after the NCAA handed down sanctions against the men’s basketball and golf teams.

The school said it was studying the report and would decide within two weeks whether to appeal. At UCLA, where he coached from 1979-81, a 1980 title game between the Bruins and Louisville was vacated after he left the team for an National Basketball Association gig because it was discovered he played two ineligible players. The NCAA could also choose not to assess any penalties. Going into this season, SMU is ranked 21st in a preseason Top-25 poll on ESPN and many were predicting a huge year from the Mustangs that could have resulted in a deep run.

Brown, a Hall of Famer has coached New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Bobcats and Los Angeles Clippers.