NCAA suspends Larry Brown, bans SMU from the postseason
Larry Brown's third foray into college basketball is following the exact same pattern as the first two did more than a quarter century ago.
Spectacular success, followed quickly by severe NCAA violations.
The NCAA announced Tuesday that it has banned SMU from the 2016 postseason, suspended Brown for 30 percent (nine games) of the upcoming season and stripped the Mustangs of nine scholarships over the next three seasons. Brown also received a two-year show-cause penalty for failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance.
The penalties stem from an NCAA investigation into whether former SMU assistant Ulric Maligi and a former basketball administrator helped ex-McDonald's All-American Keith Frazier with the coursework he needed to become eligible to play for the Mustangs.
The NCAA found that Maligi encouraged Frazier to enroll in an online course necessary for him to meet initial eligibility standards to be admitted to the university. Then the administrative assistant obtained Frazier's username and password and completed his coursework, enabling him to play for the Mustangs as a freshman during the 2013-14 season.
What also contributed to the severity of SMU's punishment is that Brown and his staff were allegedly not forthright when approached by NCAA investigators.
The NCAA accused the administrative assistant of initially providing false information during her interviews and later refusing to interview again or provide documents requested by enforcement staffers. Brown did not learn of the misconduct until 2014, according to the NCAA, but he did not report it to SMU's compliance staff for more than a month and he initially denied having any information for NCAA investigators.
All that was clearly enough to make the NCAA feel comfortable wielding a sledge hammer to punish SMU because these penalties are no slap on the wrist.
The postseason ban is the most painful in the short term because SMU returns three starters from last year's 27-win team and had been expected to spar with UConn and Cincinnati for first place in the American Athletic Conference. The scholarship penalties could be crippling in the long term as the Mustangs won't be allowed to have more than 10 scholarship players for three straight seasons.
SMU has 15 days to review the NCAA's full report before it must decide whether or not to appeal any of the findings or penalties. Athletic director Rick Hart called it "unfair" that SMU players won't have the chance to compete for a spot in the NCAA tournament next season when they had nothing to do with the allegations, and Brown's statement also hinted at the possibility of an appeal.
"I am saddened and disappointed that the Committee on Infractions believes that I did not fully fulfill my duties and I will consider my options to challenge that assertion in the coming days," Brown said. "I truly believe that our program has dedicated itself unwaveringly to the ideals of academic integrity and NCAA compliance. Still, there was a violation in our program and I take responsibility for that and offer my sincere apologies to the University community."
SMU president Gerald Turner threw his full support behind Brown on Tuesday afternoon in a press conference addressing the sanctions. And really, what else could Turner say? After all, he was the man who pushed to hire Brown three years ago despite his checkered history at the college level.
Brown led UCLA to the 1980 national title game, but the Bruins were put on probation for two years after the NCAA found players had received impermissible benefits. Brown led Kansas to a national title in 1988, but the Jayhawks were banned from postseason play the following year due to recruiting violations.
When SMU hired Brown in April 2012, school officials were eager to bring in a splashy name capable of raising the basketball program's profile in time for its move to the higher-profile American Athletic Conference the following year. SMU attempted and failed to land the likes of Buzz Williams, Tommy Amaker and Rick Majerus during an overly ambitious coaching search before settling on Brown as its leading candidate.
The boom-or-bust gamble paid off in some respects as SMU instantly became a factor for recruits it once couldn't get to return phone calls, reached the NIT title game in Brown's second year and ended a 23-year NCAA tournament drought last March.
But success under Brown has always led to NCAA investigators poking around on campus. And this time, the NCAA wasn't gentle either.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
