Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown wants to (assistant) coach at Indiana

Longtime college and NBA coach Larry Brown apparently has an interest in coaching at Indiana. Brown is interested in being Mike Woodson’s assistant coach.

The Indiana Hoosiers have had a quiet few days in regards to the coaching search. Many continue to speculate on the favorites to land the job but no real evidence points to anyone specific. It was early Thursday morning when apparently another name entered, and quickly exited the conversation.

According to the Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Larry Brown has shown interest in becoming an assistant coach under Mike Woodson. Specifically, if Woodson were to land that job at Indiana. There have been recent rumors circulating that LIU-Brooklyn was interested in hiring him to be their head coach. Wojnarowski reports that the Indiana Hoosiers are uninterested in the coaching tandem.

Larry Brown spent 31 seasons in the ABA and NBA as head coach with 10 different teams. He spent an addition 13 seasons coaching at the collegiate level including a 1988 NCAA Championship with Kansas. Brown was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. He coached the Detroit Pistons to the 2004 NBA Championship. Many will say that Brown has achieved an array of accomplishments over his career.

Some might have a different perspective on Brown. His most recent resignation from SMU has put plenty of criticism on Brown. You may not remember but SMU Men’s basketball suffered NCAA sanctions for academic fraud and unethical conduct in September 2015. The team was banned from post-season play in 2016 and lost nine scholarships over the next three years.

It’s not the first time Larry Brown has encounter NCAA sanctions. His first came with UCLA in 1981 which caused the program to vacate 1980 NCAA title game appearance. Sam Gilbert was part of Larry Brown’s recruiting process at UCLA and their source of dispensable recruitment dollars. He was sanctioned in 1989 at Kansas for illegally recruiting players by paying for clothes and airline tickets.

It comes as no real surprise that Indiana had no interest in Brown. His most recent departure from SMU should close the book on his coaching career. The last thing Indiana wants is deja vu of Kelvin Sampson. Brown may be a Hall of Fame coach but he hasn’t stayed with a team or program long term.

"The country is littered with his resignation papers, from Los Angeles, where he resigned ahead of the NCAA posse at UCLA, to New Jersey, where he bolted after the Nets stumbled; in America’s heartland, where he departed Kansas amid more NCAA trouble; and in the South, where he decided not to join the Carolina Cougars when they relocated to St. Louis; from the West, where he left the Denver Nuggets after two years, to the Southwest, where he left the Spurs midway through the season. – Dana O’Neil, ESPN"

Mike Woodson is currently working as the assistant coach of the Los Angeles Clippers. Woodson has the Indiana connection, playing under coach Bobby Knight from 1976-1980. He spent six seasons with the Atlanta Hawks (2004-2010) as head coach and most recently two and half seasons with the New York Knicks (2012-14). Even with all that considered, it seems as though the Hoosiers have no interest according to reports.

Next: Indiana Hiring Steve Alford would be a Fred Glass Contradiction

If you were hoping for the dynamic duo of former NBA head coaches, unfortunately, it won’t be with Indiana. The Hoosiers are smart to stay away from anything involving Larry Brown in the NCAA.