Report: Brown returns to college ranks

Hall of Famer Larry Brown has agreed to take the head coaching job at Southern Methodist University, ESPN reported Tuesday. The 71-year-old met with university officials at the Dallas school over the weekend, telling The Dallas Morning News Monday the visit went "great" and was "more than I ever imagined." According to ESPN, sources said the school is attempting to work out a scenario in which current Illinois State basketball coach Tim Jankovich will join Brown's SMU staff as a "coach-in-waiting." Jankovich did not respond to ESPN's request for comment. Brown last coached in the NBA with the Charlotte Bobcats in 2010, and has not coached in college since 1988, when he guided Kansas to the national title. He then moved on to coach seven NBA teams over the next two decades, compiling a career record of 1,098-904. Brown, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, reached the NBA Finals with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001, and won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. SMU has been in search of a coach for more than a month after firing Matt Doherty, who failed to reach an NCAA tournament in six seasons. The university is set to spend $40 million renovating its basketball arena this summer, and will move to the Big East for all sports in 2013.