In terms of landing men's basketball coaches, SMU thumped TCU

Harry · April 21, 2012

Larry Brown may not stay at SMU for more than a few years, if that, but as long as he is in Dallas the Ponies have the best men's basketball program in this region. In terms of landing a "big-time" hire to fill its vacated men's basketball coaching position, SMU popped cross-town rivals TCU.

If you want to make a splash by hiring a coach, you give your athletic director a check that reads "A google" and hire a proven name.

Trent Johnson's arrival to TCU as a replacement to Jim Christian was greeted mostly with a "Huh? Who? Really?" and created zero in terms of buzz, either on campus, locally, regionally and nothing nationally. Johnson may be a decent fit long term, but in terms of the immediate his arrival wasn't much.

Larry Brown's arrival to SMU as the replacement to Matt Doherty is national news, and greeted with the type of excitement this program has not enjoyed in, well, I have no idea. Decades? Larry Brown will make SMU basketball matter.

Read more: http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/mac-engel/2012/04/in-terms-of-landing-mens-basketball-coaches-smu-thumped-tcu.html

UNTflyer · April 21, 2012

"Larry Brown may not stay at SMU for more than a few years, if that, but as long as he is in Dallas the Ponies have the best men's basketball program in this region"

:roadrage:

meanrob · April 21, 2012

I'm over the "greeted with excitement" kind of hires. You don't win, no one remembers the greeting.

NT03 · April 21, 2012

I thought Brown was perfect for SMU. Nobody in their right mind would go there and commit career suicide for that situation. They will struggle no matter who is at the helm in the big east. Phil Jackson, coach K , hologram John wooden , nobody will be winning a big east crown anytime soon in Dallas. They have some nice talent , but not big east talent. They needed someone to get them going in the right direction. Someone who knows what they are doing. Someone who is confident , someone the players & fans can trust.

The last thing they needed was fans getting upset with the losing that is to come and players losing confidence in a coach. I don't see fans losing faith or players transferring out because they think Brown doesn't know what he's doing. SMU hires anyone else and they just start this whole process all over again in a few years. This hire wasn't made for winning right now. Hire was made for 3,4 years down the line. Made for gettting thru the transition process.

A lot of people have critized this hire, but I like it. He's not going to win 20+ games. That's not what he's there for. He will surround himself with guys who can get the job done on the AAU circuit. He knows what he's doing. guy is a legend. A hall of famer.

MeanMag · April 21, 2012

Mac Engel sucks.

NT03 · April 21, 2012

I thought the Trent Johnson hire was epic fail for that kind of money.

greenminer · April 21, 2012

"Larry Brown may not stay at SMU for more than a few years, if that, but as long as he is in Dallas the Ponies have the best men's basketball program in this region"

I'm going to guess region = anything east of Arlington and south of Denton.

Rudy · April 22, 2012

Yes, a team that scores a TOTAL 25 points in a game is the best team in the region. <_<

golfingomez · April 22, 2012

I just don't think Larry brown is a great hire, kids that are in hs now might remember him as the Pistons coach, but what else?

I don't think his name is going to be as jaw-dropping as it was 20 years ago

UNT90 · April 22, 2012

What he should of said is SMU won the press conference. And that's about all.

I like the Johnson hire far more than the Brown/Jankovic hire. I don't think either are slam dunks, but Johnson makes far more sense than the panic hire at SMU. I think the best hire in metroplex college basketball may be made sometime next week (hopefully).

For a little counter balance read this.

playoffpush · April 22, 2012

I just don't think Larry brown is a great hire, kids that are in hs now might remember him as the Pistons coach, but what else?

I don't think his name is going to be as jaw-dropping as it was 20 years ago

The AAU coaches know who he is and let's face it that is who is making decisions about where these kids are going to school.

NT03 · April 22, 2012

The AAU coaches know who he is and let's face it that is who is making decisions about where these kids are going to school.

Bingo

BB recruiting is different than football recruiting, it's about the AAU coaches

rjmunthe · April 22, 2012

What a joke. The Star Telegram is the armpit of D/FW newspapers. He could've at least hired a graphic designer for his header.

emmitt01 · April 23, 2012

Here's an article that gets it.

http://espn.go.com/dallas/story/_/id/7826265/smu-mustangs-set-hire-larry-brown-botching-coaching-search

Or this one (I think it's the longer version of the one 90 found)

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaab--smu-thinks-short-term-larry-brown-hire.html

Edited April 23, 2012 by emmitt01

UNTLifer · April 23, 2012

Just read where SMU's afternoon practices will wrap up at 4:00pm next year so they can save money in feeding the players. They will bus them over to Furr's for the Senior Special and have them back on campus and ready for lights out by 8:30pm.

UNT90 · April 23, 2012

Or this one (I think it's the longer version of the one 90 found)

http://sports.yahoo....brown-hire.html

Thanks Emmitt, that was the article I was trying to link. It's dead on.

I don't want a name, I want a guy that can recruit and coach. It brings me back to Forrest. We know he can recruit, and he has enough assistant experience that he should be able to coach. It wouldn't be the sexy hire, but it may just be the best hire of the 3.

Edited April 23, 2012 by UNT90

UNT90 · April 23, 2012

Just read where SMU's afternoon practices will wrap up at 4:00pm next year so they can save money in feeding the players. They will bus them over to Furr's for the Senior Special and have them back on campus and ready for lights out by 8:30pm.

Yep, and those 5 pm game starts will allow people to come straight from work.

Rudy · April 23, 2012

Yep, and those 5 pm game starts will allow people to come straight from work.

They will just take their private zip line from Downtown Dallas into Highland Park.

Rudy · April 23, 2012

"Larry Brown may not stay at SMU for more than a few years, if that, but as long as he is in Dallas the Ponies have the best men's basketball program in this region"

BUT, how does he do with hookers? :unsure:

SMU2006 · April 24, 2012

I'm certainly on the fence with the Larry Brown hire, but you can't deny that there are more people talking/interested in SMU hoops in the last week than in the previous six years under Doherty. Also, if Brown can get the staff that is rumored (Jankovich as HWIC, Rod Strickland, Jorrance Howard, and Eric Snow) then we will see what kind of hire this will be. Brown has said he has been getting calls day and night from coaches who want to be a part of his last coaching staff as SMU transitions to the Big East. The first couple of years are gonna be lean but if Brown's staff can recruit then maybe this will be a good thing.

Either way what is going on at SMU is truly remarkable. 1.3 billion endowment, moving to a BCS conference, 40M renovation to Moody, indoor practice facility for football,an inner circle of alumni that allow us to pay top dollar for the best coaches/facilities in the nation, etc. I know there are a lot of people here that hate SMU for a variety of reasons, but SMU has never had a brighter future. I was fortunate enough to attend the Founder's Day celebration this weekend to get an update on the Second Century campaign which is the biggest and boldest fundraising endeavor that the univeristy has ever undertaken. It was a pretty awe-inspiring experience to see what SMU is working on.

MeanGreenHoops · April 24, 2012

Either way what is going on at SMU is truly remarkable.

What's remarkable is that you don't know what remarkable means. It's not strange or unusual (synonyms for remarkable) for people with money to buy expensive things. Seems ordinary to me.

SMU2006 · April 24, 2012

That's a pretty myopic viewpoint. So you think a quarter of a billion dollars raised in five years in "par for the course" at SMU? Its the largest and most ambitious fundraising and capital improvement effort in the history of the university. But I get it. Haters gotta hate.

MeanGreenHoops · April 24, 2012

That's a pretty myopic viewpoint. So you think a quarter of a billion dollars raised in five years in "par for the course" at SMU? Its the largest and most ambitious fundraising and capital improvement effort in the history of the university. But I get it. Haters gotta hate.

I don't hate, because I don't care. I also don't know what is par for the course at SMU because I don't pay attention. It's great for SMU and alums of the school if what you say is true, I just don't think it's remarkable for rich people to spend money. I'm also not posting on an SMU board about what remarkable things are happening at North Texas with things that aren't remarkable. And you know what, a North Texas message board is kind of myopic by definition don't you think.

Edited April 24, 2012 by MeanGreenHoops

Mean Green Matt · April 24, 2012

That's a pretty myopic viewpoint. So you think a quarter of a billion dollars raised in five years in "par for the course" at SMU? Its the largest and most ambitious fundraising and capital improvement effort in the history of the university. But I get it. Haters gotta hate.

As hard as this is to believe, SMU athletics actually does have their own message board. You should check it out brohemoth.