Larry Brown has transformed SMU’s national profile by recruiting back-to-back McDonald’s All-Americans in Keith Frazier and Emmanuel Mudiay.
Brown also managed to keep SMU among the final three for Andrew and Aaron Harrison before they chose Kentucky.
With the Mustangs now ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 1985 and riding a wave of national attention, Brown believes an NCAA championship is within reach in the coming years.
“When we got here I told these guys, ‘Why not try to win a national championship?'” Brown, 73, told SNY.tv hours before his Mustangs beat Rutgers, 77-65, at the Rutgers Athletic Center behind Nic Moore’s 21 points.
“We’ve got these great players in our state. I was hopeful we could recruit nationally, I didn’t know to what extent. I’ve been shocked at the way we’ve been received. Keith coming and Emmanuel coming and the Harrison twins. I knew they weren’t coming, but the dad put us on his final three and that gave us a huge lift. So with all those things happening, I guess we’re ahead of schedule. I’m really not surprised. I thought some day we’d really, really be good.”
On the recruiting front, Brown and his staff are focusing on another McDonald’s All-American, Texas native Myles Turner, as well as several of the top underclassmen in the New York/New Jersey area.
The 6-foot-11 Turner out of Euless (TX) Trinity is an in-state kid Brown would love to add, even though SMU is not officially on Turner’s list, which consists of Duke, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Kentucky, Kansas, Texas and Arizona.
Turner has taken official visits to Ohio State and Oklahoma State, but may turn up at SMU’s game with Houston on Wednesday.
“We may go to the game,” David Turner, Myles’ father, told SNY.tv Friday, adding that SMU was “in the conversation” for Myles but not officially on his list.
Turner is expected to use the McDonald’s All-American and Nike Hoop Summit games to help make his choice.
Meantime, Brown and his staff are recruiting several of the top underclassmen in New York and New Jersey and are using the trip to Rutgers to recruit.
Brown may be in attendance Saturday night at Kean University when Roselle Catholic takes on Kevin Boyle and Montverde (FL) Academy in the Metro Classic.
SMU has offered RC junior guard Isaiah Briscoe and junior forward Chris Silva, and both may be at the Rutgers game.
“Coach Brown has been very interested in both Isaiah and Chris for awhile,” RC coach Dave Boff said. “They are big targets for him in the 2015 class.”
Brown and SMU are also involved with stud 2016 Gill St. Bernard’s guard Tyus Battle, who also has Duke, Syracuse, Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana among his suitors; 2015 Our Savior New American forward Cheick Diallo; and 2015 St. Anthony forward Markis McDuffie. They may see McDuffie and St. Anthony this weekend, too.
“I have a lot of respect for the coaches,” Brown said, speaking generally of the coaches in New York and New Jersey. “I’m a huge Bobby Hurley fan. I like the coaches in the East. I think they do a great job with their kids. The fact that we play Temple and we play Rutgers now and we play Connecticut, I don’t see any reason why we can’t try [to recruit the area], but obviously the competition is unbelievably difficult.
“But I want us to be relevant where there’s a good student-athlete if the kid thinks that he has a chance to get better and he wants to be coached. But I’m not naive, there’s a lot of great options for these kids and I appreciate that.”
In the meantime, SMU seems destined for the NCAA Tournament this season after posting home wins over fellow American members Cincinnati, UConn and Memphis.
An NCAA championship might be a long shot this year, but make no mistake, Brown is working to make it possible.
