"I don't know what conferences are like anymore until I pick up the paper," Brown said. "I don't know what's going on. I'm really concerned about kids. Our school is a difficult school academically. It is a challenge for anybody. Now we go to Providence, Seton Hall, Villanova, St. John's, Georgetown. That's very difficult for a kid. I don't even know where it's going."
Brown knows where it started, though. He was close with Dave Gavitt, the man who founded the Big East and led it to the top of the college basketball world within a decade of existence.
"To me it's sad," Brown said of the Big East losing so many of the schools that made it a powerhouse so quickly. "I was with Dave Gavitt with the 1980 Olympic team that didn't get to go. I know the pride he had in putting that league together. Even though you still have great schools with great tradition. I don't know. I can't get a handle on what's going on. It's a lot of money and most comes from football but it seems to me you have to worry about kids going to class, to have a chance at being successful. It's tough.
"We will have played seven games in 14 days after today," Brown said, "then we go to finals. It's not easy for these kids with their schedules, study halls, tutors, all the responsibility they have. I hope people don't forget about them."
Story also picked up by the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/hall-of-famer-larry-brown-brings-his-smu-team-to-his-native-long-island/2012/12/01/7441c816-3bdd-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html
