Just back from the funeral of Dean Smith, his former mentor at North Carolina, Larry Brown spoke with the media on Friday at SMU's practice gym.

Here's some of what Brown had to say about Saturday night's UConn-SMU showdown -- an ESPN College GameDay feature (not to mention a meeting of the frontrunners for AAC player of the year)::

(on Kevin Ollie leading UConn to a national title last April ... and an amusing comment about Allen Iverson)



Brown continued:

"I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Nobody’s like Allen. Allen Iverson, every day I think about him and realize what he accomplished. There will never be another one like him. But I have a lot of admiration for Boatright. He’s such a competitor. Allen was a great competitor. He’s got a will to win. Our little kid (Nic Moore) has a lot of the same qualities. It’ll be fun watching them going after each other.”

(on Saturday night's bout being a College GameDay feature on ESPN)

“I’m a big fan of GameDay. The people that are here, and Jay Bilas, Seth (Greenberg), Jason (Williams) -- it’s hard for me to talk about Duke guys -- but they do a wonderful job for college basketball. I think it’ll be neat for our students. We didn’t know how to storm the court when we beat Connecticut. I’m sure we won’t know how to act with GameDay here, but hopefully we’ll be good enough where this will be an annual occurrence.”

(on UConn this season)

“They were great last night. They would’ve beaten anybody, I think. They’ve got the best shot-blocker in the country ... God, he’s unbelievable. (Daniel) Hamilton is one of the best young players I saw. They’re pretty versatile. Then they’ve got Boatright. You’ve got a kid that’s won before. When things go bad, you can look to him, he can bail you out on the offensive end. And then on the defensive end, you’ve got somebody that goes after every shot. I was walking today with some of my staff. If you ask me to take one guy in our conference, besides some of the kids you hear mostly about, I’d take that center who corrects everything, every mistake you make. And he plays with passion. I think they’re only gonna get better. Hamilton’s still young, and he’s figuring it out. I like their team.”

“I think you need shot-blocking in college. With the 3-point line, everybody has to extend. You’re gonna make mistakes, and you’re gonna need somebody to protect. I think that’s a real big factor for their success. And he even made a couple of jumpers last night.”

STERLING BROWN:

“They’re gonna come in angry, we’re gonna come in angry, too. We beat them twice, we didn’t make the tournament. That’s our ultimate goal this year, to make the tournament, so they’re just another team in our way.”

(on Boatright)

“Whoever’s guarding him, Ryan (Manuel), Nic (Moore), whoever’s guarding him is gonna have to stick him tough. We’re gonna have to stop him and get to the shooters.”

CANNEN CUNNINGHAM:

“They played really well against Tulsa. I don’t think they’re better than us. We’ve just got to get better today in practice, prepare for the game and see who can get it tomorrow.”

(which team has the bigger target on its back Saturday night?)

“I think we are, just because we just took first place in the league and everybody’s trying to get to the tournament. Right now, we’re in a better position than them to get to the tournament, and they need some big wins. So I’d say it’s on our backs.”

Some video and quotes after UConn's practice today, in advance of Thursday night's key clash with Tulsa at the XL Center:

KEVIN OLLIE:

“You don’t get a better chance than this. To have Tulsa, then come and play SMU -- great teams on the plate, No. 1, No. 2 in our league, and especially in the RPI. To get a good win like this would be great. Both teams are in the Top 50 RPI ... It’s a great opportunity for us. Hopefully, we take advantage of it.”

(on Rodney Purvis vs. Tulane)

“He missed a couple of layups in transition, but I love how he responded and came back and made some great plays. Kinda went on his own 7-0 run to salt the game of way. Him being aggressive, taking it to the rack like that, is exactly what we want to see.”

(on Purvis's defensive ability)

“When he gets down in his stance, it’s hard for people to get by him. One-on-one defense, when he really puts his mind to it, he’s a terrific, terrific defender.”

(on Jerry Tarkanian, Dean Smith)

“I knew Jerry Tarkanian a little bit more than Dean. I didn’t ever really get a chance to talk to Dean Smith. The latter part of his career, I was still in the NBA. I had a chance to get recruited by ... UNLV, had a chance to talk to Tark. It’s unfortunate. I love those guys to death. They’ve done a lot for our profession and really allowed us to do what we do now. They paved a great way for us. And they always cared about their team and their student-athletes. It’s two guys we’re really gonna miss in the game, and my heart goes out to their families.”

(on what Huskies must do better this time vs. Tulsa)

“We’ve got to keep them off the free throw line, gotta cut down our turnovers, got to be more efficient on the offensive end. I could keep going down the list. We can’t have live turnovers, and we’ve got to do a better job boxing them out. They had 17 offensive rebounds. That’s the combination for a loss, with stats like that. Hopefully, we’re a better team, and we can correct some of those things that are just effort plays -- boxing out, rebounds, 50-50 balls, eliminating the turnovers. Those are the small things we’ve got to do for us to win against good competition.”

(on if Sam Cassell, Jr. has shown any progress lately. Cassell is still on crutches)

“Not really. We have an MRI next week, but it’s still kind of swelling up. He is working on a bike a little bit more, so he is moving around a little bit. Still no significant process. We’ll see the MRI results next week. Hopefully, we see that stress fracture calming down a little bit.”

“Hopefully, we can. Hopefully, we’ll be playing deep in to March and April. Then, I know it’ll be a possibility to come back. But it’s hard to say now, with eight games left on the schedule. I know he’s not gonna be back in a week or two.”

PURVIS:

“It’s been really, really, really tough for me. I’m one of the guys who really gets down on myself when I’m not doing so well. He stays in my ear all the time. The main thing is staying focused, through the highs and the lows.”

(on the Jan. 13 loss at Tulsa)

“We didn’t show much toughness down there. We didn’t hit them at all. We got off to a terrible start. The main thing with Tulsa, we’re coming out with a lot of energy. I think they’re one of the best transition teams in the country. They play four guards, as well, so it’s gonna be a really good game. The main thing for us is getting back in transition and playing with a lot of energy and passion.”

“Coach Ollie stays on me a lot, about having a quick memory, getting things out really quick, even if I mess up. Just forget about it, ‘cuz it’s behind. He always says the good ones bounce back after bad things. I was just happy I was able to show a little toughness, because that was a tough period. Four minutes, and I missed two easy layups, and I think we were down. I just stayed positive, my teammates continued to encourage me, and I was able to go out there and help my team get a win.”

BOATRIGHT:



“It’s the last home stretch, we’ve got to win all our games. We’ve got a huge two-game stretch right here coming up. We want to be in that tournament, we’ve got to take care of these wins.”

“Everything. We played a horrible game up there. We played sluggish, took bad shots, didn’t make shots, didn’t play defense, they beat us in transition ... they beat us down real well. It’s got to be a whole different game.”

“I didn’t come back to play in the NIT. I know what it takes to be where we were at last year. I know what it takes to get into the tournament, with the predicament we’re in right now. I’m just trying to express to these

Not a whole lot new. Georgetown out, Oklahoma State in. Thought about Murray State (always like to look out for the little guy). Would've put in Tulsa had it defeated SMU on Saturday night. Syracuse's absence is self-imposed. And we bumped up Carolina a notch out of respect to Dean Smith (not the real reason).

1. Kentucky
2. Wisconsin
3. Duke
4. Virginia
5. Gonzaga
6. Villanova
7. Arizona
8. Kansas
9. Louisville
10. Iowa State
11. Northern Iowa
12. Utah
13. Notre Dame
14. Wichita State
15. Baylor
16. West Virginia
17. North Carolina
18. Maryland
19. SMU
20. Butler
21. Oklahoma
22. Ohio State
23. VCU
24. Oklahoma State
25. Rhode Island

Just chatted briefly by phone with Jim Calhoun, who was profoundly influenced by Dean Smith over the years.

Here's some of what Calhoun had to say about Smith, who passed away Saturday evening at age 83:

"He showed me the difference between a team and a program. A team is one year, a program -- in his case, the University of North Carolina -- continues to go on forever. He's just a special guy. To the outside world, he was about Carolina, but he was a great ambassador, much involved with civil rights. People who competed against him understood you were going against a very special guy."

"The world benefitted from what he did with Carolina basketball. He was a great gentleman, one of those clear icons."

(Early in Calhoun's tenure as head coach at Northeastern, he and his staff went to Chapel Hill to see how Smith ran his program)

"We were watching their program, the way they do business -- Eddie Fogler, Roy Williams, Bill Guthridge and, of course, Dean. The way they interacted with the program, altering things -- running, pressing, especially running -- but just the way their program was handled. It was pretty special."

(on joining, even surpassing, Smith in the college basketball record books)

"My dad said you're known by the company you keep. When my name was beside (Smith's) -- Dean Smith was great, great company."

Let's take a moment to appreciate the terrific job Kevin Ollie has done as UConn's head coach since taking over for Jim Calhoun prior to last season.

“You could just see the confidence his team has played with,” said Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, a longtime friend of Ollie’s who’ll match wits with him in Friday night’s Sweet 16 battle at Madison Square Garden. “Even last year, when they couldn’t play in the postseason, just to see what he was starting … It’s hard to do. People don’t really realize how difficult it is to replace a legend like Jim Calhoun.”

St. Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli echoed those sentiments last week.

“You’re replacing a guy that’s hung all those banners, who’s in the Hall of Fame,” Martelli noted. “Sometimes, guys from the NBA don’t always get college basketball. But Kevin Ollie … he gets it.”

Ollie’s not the first coach to have immediate success after taking over for a legend. Mike Davis replaced Bob Knight at Indiana in 2000 and, the following season, had the Hoosiers in the national championship game. Four years after that, however, he resigned. Bill Guthridge took over for Dean Smith in 1997 and led the Tar Heels to the Final Four that season and again two years later before retiring.

Here's guessing Ollie has a bit more staying power than Davis and Guthridge.

I spoke with Davis, who's now in his second season as head coach at Texas Southern, by phone on Tuesday night. From afar, he's been very impressed by what Ollie's done.

“I think he’s done a terrific job,” said Davis, "especially coming into a situation where they couldn’t go to the postseason the first year, and having really good players stay and play for him. That speaks volumes for him and his team.”

Davis’s situation was a little different than Ollie’s. Knight was fired just before the start of the 2000 season as a result of numerous issues, including choking a player at practice. Calhoun, of course, simply retired.

“It’s always tough (replacing a legend),” Davis continued. “You’re never going to replace him. Normally, it’s the guy after you that’s able to coach the team (better).”

Davis added that he didn’t really feel pressure at first, everything happened so quickly. But once he realized the demands at IU – anything short of a Sweet 16 was considered a massive failure – the pressure really got to him. He resigned after six years on the job. After six more seasons at Alabama-Birmingham, Davis is now in his second season as head man at Texas Southern, whom he just led to an NCAA tourney appearance.

He's never met Ollie, but keeps an eye on the job he's doing.

“As a player, he was a guy that always made the team because of his work ethic,” Davis noted. “As a coach, you see the passion and love for the players and university that he has.”

Here's our story for tomorrow's Register looking at all the positives (and a few negatives) from Ollie's first two seasons tv the helm.

*** Here's one small item that didn't make the story: per Ollie’s contract, he receives one month's annual base salary ($33,333) for reaching the NCAA tourney, one month for reaching the regional semifinals, one month for reaching the Final Four and two months for winning the national title. Thus far, he's earned $66,666, with the chance to earn $99,999 more.

Ollie also gets a $10,000 payment for an annual APR score of 930 or better in a single year. UConn is expected to get a perfect APR of 1,000 for the 2012-13 season.

Of all the head coaching jobs Larry Brown has had over the years – and there have been 13 of them, between college basketball, the NBA and the ABA – his first one very nearly was at UConn.

Brown was Dean Smith’s assistant coach at North Carolina in 1967 when Jim Hickey, the former UNC football coach who had just taken the athletic director’s job at UConn, offered him the Husky job that had been just vacated by Fred Shabel, who had left for Penn.

Brown, 26 at the time, politely declined.

“I was just a little bit nervous about me being that young,” he recalled on Friday morning, prior to leading his newest team, SMU, in practice. “It was my second year as a coach. Even though, playing for Coach (Frank) Maguire and Coach Smith and Mr. (Henry) Iba (in the 1964 Olympics), having an opportunity to coach your own team – coach let me coach the freshman team, even though I was involved with the varsity – I just thought maybe I was too young. So, I passed it up.”

Instead, UConn hired Burr Carlson, who was subsequently fired after two poor – (11-13, 5-19) seasons.

“I wouldn’t have been 5-19,” Brown promised.

In 1969, Dee Rowe was hired and helped lead the program back to respectability. And, of course, when Jim Calhoun took over in 1986, UConn went on to unprecedented success – three national titles, four Final Fours, etc.

For all his success – induction into Naismith Hall of Fame, only coach to win NBA and NCAA titles – Brown doesn’t look back on what could have been had he taken the UConn job.

“Nobody could’ve done what Jim (Calhoun) did, what Dee did,” Brown noted. “Except Dee played that damn 2-3 zone.”

In fact, Brown has few regrets at all when it comes to his coaching career. Still, the one thing he might have done differently is stay in the college game a bit longer.

“I’ve been so lucky,” he said. “Coach Maguire and Coach Smith and Coach (John) McLendon were really mentors for me. Coach Smith spent 36 years at North Carolina. If you go over his first five years – the scandal when he got the job, there were a lot of issues – they were not smooth for him. I would’ve liked to have been able to stay at one place. Even though I love the pros, I wouldn’t change one of those jobs for anything, I just think I’m more of a college coach. But I think as a pro coach now, you’re coaching college kids.

“I would’ve liked to have had the opportunity to have families come back, ex-players come back. That’s why I love being here now. (Saturday), we’re going to have a lot of ex-players coming back. I used to take a lot of pride in Coach Smith remembering everybody’s name, every family member’s name. There was some continuity to being a Carolina player.”

There will be a family atmosphere on Saturday against UConn. Some of Brown’s former NBA players – including Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo – are expected to be at the game. And, of course, so will UConn coach Kevin Ollie, who played with Iverson and Mutombo under Brown with the 76ers in 2000-01.

"I’m proud of Kevin, I admire what he’s done and what he’s going to continue to do,” said Brown. “But, it’s like playing against Danny (Manning), there’s no fun in that. But, the one nice thing is, when you play Connecticut, you know you’re in a big-time conference, playing against the type of team that I was hopeful we’d have the opportunity to play when we came here.”

Jim Calhoun was at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington this evening to present Dee Rowe with the Community Service Award at the 2012 Franciscan Sports Banquet and Silent Auction.

New York Giants Chris Snee, David Diehl and Kevin Boothe were also there to receive the Saint Francis Award.

Calhoun had plenty to say about the status of both himself and the UConn program right now. Here's some of what he had to say:

(What will UConn be playing for next year?)

“There’s a lot to play for … Every game that we’ve ever played, in it’s own way, has had some special importance.

(Warde Manuel said he had no doubt you'll coach team next year. Is it even worth us asking you that question anymore?)

“It’s really not worth asking … right now, everything we’re doing is planning on next year. Last year, quite frankly, after the championship, there was time to pause. ‘OK, you’re at this particular pinnacle, what do you do from here?’ But right now … I really donm’t start thinking about the road trips, etc., until August or September ... The important thing is how I feel as a coach, and am I able to give my kids everything I possibly can. The fact that I have two years on my contract doesn’t mean anything … there’s really nothing to talk about, in my mind. If I decide it’s not the year, it’s not the year.  I love the staff, love the kids coming in, love the guys coming back.”

“The first thing Warde Manuel told me was, 'I played for Bo Schembechler, who made all his decisions on how he wanted to do it.' Dean Smith did it the exact same way. He retired on Oct. 1 … My point being, I never feel rushed. I knew we had to get through the semester, we did exceptionally well, I know we had to get a few more players to add to the roster, and I know I’m talking on the phone to a lot of recruits.”

(How's recruiting going?)

“Couple kids coming up in June, I would think August would be a very big month for us. Quite a few kids scheduled for unofficial visits.”

(What's the most important thing to incoming recruits?)

“Three letters: N-B-A ... If you say to a kid, ‘I remember going down to Dalzell, S.C., No. 34 – the number (Ray Allen) wore at that time – and now we’ve got two kids in the draft, both probably lotteries, and Rudy Gay, Caron Butler, the whole thing. That seems to be the best advertisement we have going, particularly because not a lot of those kids were McDonald’s All-Americans."