Larry Brown resigning after 4 seasons as SMU’s coach

The 75-year-old is resigning as head coach at SMU after four seasons, according to multiple reports, leaving yet another team in flux as he departs amid a contract dispute.

ESPN’s Jeff Goodman reported that Larry Brown resigned because he wanted a long-term deal, but SMU wasn’t willing to offer it.

A former head coach at UCLA and Kansas, Brown went 94-39 at SMU in his four seasons, and guided the Mustangs to the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

Over his lengthy career, Brown has coached nine separate National Basketball Association teams and two separate ABA teams. After a slow start to his time in Dallas, Brown was able to lead SMU to 25 wins or more in each of the last three seasons.

Tim Jankovich will be taking over for Brown.

Larry Brown probably did what SMU Athletic Department want him to do. That was among infractions against the men’s basketball and men’s golf programs.

But Brown, who won an ABA championship with the Oakland Oaks in 1968-69, chose to resign.

UCLA was 42-17 under Brown, but the Bruins’ runner-up finish in the 1980 NCAA Tournament was later vacated by the NCAA after two players were determined to be ineligible. Jankovich has head coaching experience from his time at Illinois State and North Texas.

The Mustangs finished last season with only seven available scholarship players.

Brown served a nine-game suspension last season as a result of an NCAA penalty. Brown won the 1988 NCAA title with the Kansas Jayhawks and led the Detroit Pistons to the 2004 NBA championship, becoming the only basketball coach in history to win titles at both the collegiate and professional level.