Larry Brown is back at his East Hampton home after visiting two college coaching friends "to watch and learn," but told Newsday on Monday night he isn't yet ready to make a decision about possibly coaching the East Hampton High School boys varsity basketball team.
"I've been at the University of Kentucky and the University of Illinois the past 10 days," Brown, 76, said. "I just got back and don't expect to make a decision one way or another this quickly. I don't want to commit to anything unless I can give 100 percent to the kids. That's where I'm at."
Brown's indecision, or at least the time he is taking since visiting the East Hampton players and coaches at the school's gymnasium on Sept. 20, has forced East Hampton athletic director Joe Vasile-Cozzo to consider the possibility of moving on without the Hall of Fame coach.
"I have a coaching staff in place," Vasile-Cozzo said Monday night. "They are great guys who are very open-minded about the situation."
The head-coach-in-waiting is Dan White, the former coach at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor.
"Practice starts in a couple of weeks and we are preparing to move forward without Larry," said Vasile-Cozzo, who said he has not heard from Brown since he left Long Island late last month to attend parents weekend at SMU and then travel to Kentucky and Illinois. "But we're keeping it as positive and open-ended as possible. Larry knows that whatever he wants to do, we want to have him involved."
Varsity boys basketball practice begins on Nov. 14.
