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Larry Brown in contract talks with SMU

Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown is making progress in contract talks to become coach at Southern Methodist University, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

No agreement was imminent on Monday night, but Brown's representatives were discussing financial parameters of a long-term deal.

Brown, 71, has already begun working to assemble a coaching staff with assistance from Kentucky coach John Calipari and Creative Arts Agency agent William Wesley.

One of Calipari's assistants, former NBA point guard Rod Strickland, has been discussed as a candidate to join Brown if he gets the SMU job, sources said. Brown knows he needs a significant pool of money to invest in top-tier assistant coaches.

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Brown met with SMU officials in Dallas and left campus Monday.

Despite engaging SMU in contract talks, Brown hasn't stopped his pursuit of the Portland Trail Blazers' vacant general manager position, sources said. Brown's true desire is to coach the Blazers, but he's trying to get team president Larry Miller to take him seriously as a front-office executive. There has been contact between the two sides, but mostly one-sided from Brown, sources said. Brown is still trying to land a formal face-to-face meeting with Blazers officials, and clearly he hoped the leverage from an SMU offer might help him.

Brown was fired by the Charlotte Bobcats early last season. He's tried unsuccessfully to get back to the NBA as a coach. He's shown interest in several college jobs in recent years, but has been rebuffed. SMU is leaving Conference USA to join the Big East next season. Brown hasn't coached in college since leaving Kansas for the San Antonio Spurs after the Jayhawks' national championship season in 1988.

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