Larry Brown, the only basketball coach to have won both a NBA and NCAA title, might soon be trying to win a Long Island high school championship, as well.
Brown, the well-traveled basketball coach who played at Long Beach High School in the late 1950s, has expressed interest in the boys varsity coaching vacancy at East Hampton (N.Y.) High School, athletic director Joe Vasile-Cozzo said on Tuesday.
"In fairness to Larry, he has maintained that he's not sure, but that if he does do it, he wants to be in it 100 percent," Vasile-Cozzo said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "And I'm like, 'Whatever works for you, we're game.' "
Brown, 76, has owned a home there for 14 years. Brown said he's "very fond" of the East Hampton community.
"I can't believe it's gotten this far," Brown said. "I've been hearing from so many people about coming to watch practice and contribute in different ways."
Vasile-Cozzo said he spoke with Brown on Tuesday morning about the opening, which came about when their recently hired head coach, Jesse Shapiro, resigned abruptly last week. "I said I couldn't match his salary and we had a good laugh," the athletic director said.
They agreed to meet in person Tuesday night to discuss specifics, Vasile-Cozzo said. Brown said he will attend open gym the next couple of days so he can watch the players.
"I'm trying to figure things out, to be honest with you," Brown told Newsday. "I'm interested in helping kids but I don't want to do anything unless I'm 100 percent in. I don't think it would be fair to the kids."
Brown first raised the possibility of coaching at East Hampton in an interview with Kansas City Star last week.
Brown most recently coached at Southern Methodist from 2012 until he resigned last July. He built a successful program on the court, but the school ran into trouble away from the court.
Last year the NCAA placed Brown's program on probation for three years, took away scholarships and deemed it ineligible for 2016 postseason play, citing instances of "academic fraud, unethical conduct and head coach control."
Perhaps best known for his years coaching Allen Iverson with the Philadelphia 76ers, Brown has a well-earned reputation as a coaching nomad. His coaching career began as an assistant with North Carolina in 1965 and includes stints as a head coach with two ABA teams, three Division I college programs and eight NBA teams, including the Knicks from 2005-06.
"He wants to fit in," Vasile-Cozzo said. "Those were his words to me. He wants to fit in."
Vasile-Cozzo said he's already in the process of appointing a new head coach to the board of education for approval, and he said he will continue on that path regardless of what happens with Brown because, "if he walks in the gym, he's the man."
"The title, the role, I don't think any of that matters to him," Vasile-Cozzo said. "Just that if it works in his schedule. And we'll take him in whatever capacity."
Brown was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, a time when today's high schoolers probably still were wearing diapers.
"It sounds crazy," Vasile-Cozzo said. "I don't want to put him in an uncomfortable situation or make him feel bad if it doesn't work out. He's not decided at this point.
"The bottom line is he loves basketball and he loves working with kids. We would be thrilled to have him in any capacity."
East Hampton went 18-3 last season and reached the Suffolk Class A final, losing to Harborfields. The school last won a Suffolk title in 2009, when it reached the Class A state final four. The Bonackers' last state title came in 1989 in Class B.
"When I was a young kid I used to read Chip Hilton books and my dream was to be like that coach Rockwell, teach American history and coach three sports in high school and that's what I really thought was going to happen," Brown said. "Things changed a little bit.
"I'd just like to share what I know before I get too old. That's what I'm trying to figure out right now."
Although Brown says he's undecided about what he will do next, he's certain it will include teaching basketball.
"I don't want you to take this the wrong way," Brown said, "but nobody has a better background than me, when you look at who I played for, when you look at who sat beside me as a coach and you look at who I've been fortunate enough to coach and teach.
"I feel like I have so much knowledge that I want to share with other people and I don't know how to go about it right now. I'm trying to find that. I've heard from a lot of pro teams to come by. Numerous colleges have asked me to come by and speak and watch. I just really don't know. But I know I'm not going to sit by idly.
"I don't care what level it is on," Brown added. "As long as I can make players better, make coaches better, that's what I want to do. To be honest with you, I coached college kids like I coached the pros and I coached the pros like I coached college kids. I think I would coach high school kids the way I coached SMU. I'd try to teach them how to play, to respect the game and respect each other and try to get better. I wouldn't approach it any differently. I just want to help."
