Memphis basketball offers Larry Brown, 77, full-time consultant job, awaits final response

The University of Memphis has offered Larry Brown a full-time position as a consultant on Penny Hardaway's men's basketball staff, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations.

School officials are awaiting a final response from Brown.

Multiple reports state that Brown is only willing to accept an assistant coaching job. NCAA rules prohibit a consultant serving in a coaching role with student-athletes during practices and games.

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Hardaway is continuing to interview other candidates for the last remaining assistant coaching job on his staff, according to the source, including other former head coaches.

Hardaway said last week that he hoped to have a full staff by the start of college basketball's first live evaluation period, which begins on April 20.

Brown, 77, is the only head coach to win an NCAA championship and an NBA title. He has won more than 1,500 games and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.

But Brown also comes with considerable NCAA baggage. All three colleges he's worked at as a head coach (UCLA, Kansas and SMU) received sanctions from the NCAA due to his tenure there.

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Brown hasn't served as an assistant coach since spending two years (1965-1967) at his alma mater under former North Carolina coach Dean Smith. Brown revealed previously that he nearly became the Tigers' head men's basketball coach in 1979, when the university ultimately hired Dana Kirk.

Brown coached Hardaway for one season with the NBA's New York Knicks.

Last month, minutes after being introduced as the new Memphis coach, Hardaway called Brown one of the most influential coaches during his career.

"The NBA is really a business, but he kept the team close," Hardaway said. "He cared about the people. He cared about the players. And that’s what I loved about him the most.”