Browns and staff on the recruting trail hard

[SMU 86]

And it is getting noticed. Here are some tweets.

Matthew Hatfield ‏ @hatfieldsports
Also out early this A.M. getting a glance at some prospects from Team Texas and others is new SMU Coach Larry Brown. #EYBL

Alex Schwartz ‏ @NorthstarBball
Newly minted SMU coach Larry Brown in the building.

Jeff Borzello ‏ @jeffborzello
First time I've seen Larry Brown this weekend. Rolling w/ assistants. First time I tweeted about SMU at an event. Mission accomplished, SMU.

[ponyscott]

Good finds! ...LB is probably having a ball.

[mrydel]

If one of you techies can post the article on the bottom of the front page of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette Sports section this morning you will find some positive LB talk.

[ponyscott]

If one of you techies can post the article on the bottom of the front page of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette Sports section this morning you will find some positive LB talk.

I tried and you have to have a subscription to get the article.

[mrydel]

I will see if I can figure it out. Thanks.

[mrydel]

Hopefully this works. I am probably going to jail for posting this.


Top Picks - Capture Arkansas

Home / Sports /
LIKE IT IS
Real Deal junction for old pals, coaches

By Wally Hall

This article was published today at 4:23 a.m.

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LITTLE ROCK — It was a big bear hug.

Not a one-arm-slap-on-the back type that is popular these days.

Two arms all the way around and a hearty squeeze.

The kind that might normally embarrass a man, especially in front of almost 1,000 people, including some of the nation’s top college basketball prospects.

Neither Corliss Williamson nor Larry Brown were embarrassed and neither noticed anyone else in that moment of coach-player emotion.

Williamson, who led the University of Arkansas to the 1994 NCAA basketball championship, was part of the Detroit Pistons team a decade later that won the NBA championship coached by the legendary Brown.

After the hug, in a quieter spot, they visited for several long minutes, and both men left smiling.

Both were evaluating players at the Real Deal in the Rock - Brown, 71, for SMU, where he was recently named the head coach, and Williamson for the University of Central Arkansas.

A third man, none other than Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson, smiled as the Williamson-Brown reunion took place in front of him. Anderson, who had been sharing a few nice moments with Williamson, apparently knows Brown, who won a national championship at Kansas in 1988, well, too.

The event that brought them all to Little Rock was Real Deal, or this year, Best Deal.

Coaches like UCLA’s Ben Howland, who brought assistant coaches with him, flew from Los Angeles to scout players. Top assistants like Glynn Cyprien, once at Arkansas now at Texas A&M, come early and stay late.

The likes of Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, John Calipari, John Thompson III, Billy Donovan and numerous other coaching headliners were seen at Positive Atmosphere Reaches Kids in Little Rock, and by noon Saturday, basketball fans were parking four blocks away and smiling every step on the way to see great, not good, but great basketball players.

There was no bigger rock star than Anderson, and from almost any vantage point, dozens and dozens of Razorbacks T-shirts could be seen.

Anderson graciously took time to visit with any and all who approached him.

He’s only been home for one season, but him being at Real Deal in a Razorbacks coaching shirt seemed as natural as seeing Keith Jackson in P.A.R.K., which he established and has grown to make a huge difference in Arkansas.

The players on the three courts were mostly impact players.

Bill Ingram, founder of Real Deal, was everywhere. But he took a moment from his duties - and the hellos and kudos from the country’s top coaches - and sat for a few minutes.

He was told, this one, his eighth Real Deal, is the best ever.

“Thanks, I agree,” he said. “With the coaches here, the kids play really hard.”

The coaches, at least the smartest ones, are dressed in nice golf shirts with their school name or mascot large enough to be recognized from 10-15 feet.

Those coaches position themselves in their designated seating area (end zone) close to the center of a court and on the front row.

Some, just a few, watched from the coaches lounge on the mezzanine. Maybe they didn’t understand being seen is just as important as seeing.

Anderson was on the back row when visiting with Williamson, but he slowly edged his way to the front and center.

There was a game coming up that included a sophomore from North Little Rock. Anderson neither denied nor confirmed that was one of the players he was there to watch. That’s against the rules.

Anderson plays by the rules, always has, and in coaching, getting front and center for a game that has a promising player is a rule when it comes to recruiting.

Recruiting is about relationships, and there was no doubt Anderson still has one with Williamson, and so does Larry Brown.

Sports, Pages 21 on 04/29/2012

[CoxBizGrad]

Great to have a coach that can relate to people and build trust. Bring some great kids to the Hilltop LB!

[goldenstang]

Even if this only lasts for 2 years I am getting the feeling that it is going to workout better than we could have imagined.

[SMU 86]

Drew Maddux ‏ @DrewMaddux

New SMU coach Larry Brown also at Georgia Stars vs. Mac Irban game.

[ponyscott]

Also the new jet program now has LB in Virginia from Arknsas at Boo Williams....he IS getting around:

Testudo ‏ @TerrapinNation



New SMU head man Larry Brown here checking out Boo Williams, along with Bill Self and 2 Duke assistants. #EYBL

[Mitch McConnell]

So Larry has been in

DeSoto Friday

Little Rock Saturday

Virginia Sunday


Is Jank at the duncanville tourney?

Kids may not know Larry but their parents and coaches do and they will quickly educate them on what Larry has accomplished.

Let's have some fun!

Go Mustangs!

[mustangbill67]

So Larry has been in

DeSoto Friday

Little Rock Saturday

Virginia Sunday


Is Jank at the duncanville tourney?

Kids may not know Larry but their parents and coaches do and they will quickly educate them on what Larry has accomplished.

Let's have some fun!

Go Mustangs!

Jank was at the SMU FB practice for awhile and later had a beer and burger with a few of us at TRoot. Seems like a great guy who is glad to be back in N. TX. Very intelligent and personable. We did not discuss recruiting or his plans for the weekend. Told us he had considered going to SMU law at one point in his life.