Larry Brown and SMU are sanctioned by NCAA

The SMU basketball team has been banned from postseason play and Coach Larry Brown will be suspended for nine games in 2015-16 for multiple rules violations, the NCAA announced Tuesday morning.

The punishment was first reported by ESPN, which says the penalty against Brown is for a lack of head coach control discovered during an NCAA investigation into whether two former employees tied to the basketball program helped player Kevin Frazier become eligible.

SMU also lost nine scholarships and was placed on three years of probation.

According to the NCAA, the reasons for punishing Brown included “not reporting possible violations in his program, initially lying to the enforcement staff during the investigation and providing no specific guidance to his staff on rules compliance.”

SMU is Brown’s third college head-coaching gig, and the other two programs -- UCLA and Kansas -- also were hit with NCAA sanctions during his watch. He has also coached nine NBA teams, including the Clippers.

The Mustangs made their first NCAA tournament in more than two decades last season after winning the American Athletic Conference in Brown’s third year with the program.

The NCAA says the problems that led to the sanctions include academic fraud and unethical conduct.

The penalties were revealed Tuesday, more than eight months after the school acknowledged an NCAA investigation.

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