Larry Brown trimmed his roster on Friday, cutting starting point guard Jeremiah Samarrippas and centers Ricmonds Vilde and Eric Norman.

Samarrippas averaged 6.9 points and 4.5 assists in 32 minutes per game last season.

Vilde started five games, while Norman played sparingly.

Derrick Coleman has discussed joining Larry Brown’s coaching staff at Southern Methodist University.

“I’ve talked to him,’’ Coleman said. “I’m honored. It’s something I will entertain.’’

Coleman played three seasons under Brown as a member of the Sixers.

“Me and coach Brown have been friends since I played in Philadelphia,’’ Coleman said. “I have the utmost respect for him. It’s not just the game of basketball with coach Brown. It’s the game of life. Of all the coaches in my 16 years in the NBA, coach Brown and Chuck Daly were the best. It wasn’t about basketball. It was about you as a person and your family.’’

Larry Brown is confident he can lure recruits to Southern Methodist University.

“Everywhere I go to visit college kids, and I’ve had the opportunity to go everywhere and watch practice … kids are so interested in me because I’ve had an NBA background,” Brown said. “They all want to go to the NBA. … So that, in itself, is a huge advantage.

“The fact that I’ve coached a lot of great players, they’re all interested in that and want to hear all about it. You get instant credibility right away. And I think the contacts I’ve made as a pro coach and the kids that have coached with me that are now working on every level, they’re all going to help.”

Brown has emphasized the importance of recruiting the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Larry Brown has been hired by Southern Methodist University.

"I'm thrilled that they think enough of me to put me in this position," Brown said. "I realize how important this hire is, going into the Big East. But it's a thrill. I always thought of myself as a college coach. Now this gives me a chance to get back where I started."

Terms of the deal, including length of contract, weren't immediately known.

"Larry Brown is one of the top coaches in the history of the game," SMU athletic director Steve Orsini said in a statement. "He is a legend and has made every team he has ever coached a winner. As we transition into the nation's top basketball conference, the Big East, his leadership will be invaluable."

Larry Brown has not yet agreed to become the basketball coach at Southern Methodist University.

"I hope this is resolved and I can be the next coach at SMU; I'd love that," Brown said, declining to characterize where the negotiations stand. "I hope these talks are headed in the right direction and I can get to work."

Brown is already assembling his staff, according to reports.

Larry Brown said that no deal has been finalized yet to make him Southern Methodist University’s new basketball coach.

"The bottom line is, nothing's been agreed," Brown said, "but I continue to talk to SMU."

Brown’s agent has yet to begin contract negotiations with SMU athletic director Steve Orsini.

"Nothing's been finalized,” Brown said. “I don't know who put that out. Ever since my trip to Dallas, I've had a thousand people calling me for a job, I know that."

Larry Brown is reportedly open to hiring Buzz Peterson, the current UNC Wilmington coach, as an assistant, if offered the job at Southern Methodist University.

Peterson would serve as a coach-in-waiting in the event that Brown retires or takes a job elsewhere.

Brown, 71, has not coached since parting ways with the Charlotte Bobcats in 2010.

Southern Methodist University has narrowed its coaching search to Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown and Marquette associate coach Tony Benford.

Brown, 71, reaffirmed his interested in the SMU job.

"I just want to be part of this game," Brown said. "I love being a college coach. Really, the two years I coached as the freshman coach at North Carolina might’ve been the happiest two years of my life. But I love the game and I feel like I have something to give and I want to be part of it.

"I don’t know about games. I’m not crazy about coaching games, but I love practice. ... I always worry about whether my team is prepared for something that might happen, whether we did the job in practice. And that troubled me a little bit. But I love the preparation."