Veteran coach Larry Brown is officially the new head coach of Italian side Fiat Torino, the team announced today in a press release. Brown has been in talks with Torino for weeks and now his hiring it’s official. This will be the first experience coaching overseas for Larry Brown after a really long career between NCAA and NBA.
Brown is currently the only head coach to have won both NCAA and NBA title as a head coach and he’s a Hall of Fame member since 2002. Fiat Torino comes from a very troubling season with three different coaches and the 11th place in the Italian league. A coach with the knowledge and the experience of Brown can definitely help Torino in finding more stability and security.
Francesco Forni, the vice president of the team, commented on the hiring of Brown in this way:
We’re sure that Brown’s personality will help us in promoting basketball not only in Torino but also in the rest of Italy. He’s a master of the game and will teach us a lot, both technically and as a person
Brown’s latest experience as a head coach was with SMU, where he stayed from 2012 to 2016. In 2016 he was sanctioned by the NCAA and missed the first 9 games of the season due to an infraction.
Larry Brown has also coached USA National Team in 2004 Olympic Games. Team USA was a disappointment during that experience and finished the tournament with the bronze medal. Brown will bring with him in Torino Dante Calabria, a former North Carolina alum who played professionally in Italy for most of his career. Calabria will be one of the assistant coaches of Brown along with Paolo Galbiati, who finished last season as head coach, and Stefano Comuzzi.
