When I interviewed SMU coach Larry Brown early this season, the team was just a few weeks away from moving back into Moody Coliseum, after a $47 million renovation. I asked him about its effect on the program.
You know, Moody was great before. The only thing missing was the fans. But I’m hopeful we’re going to have a better team and get the students more involved. Since we’re the only Division I team in Dallas, you’d like to have people in the community want to follow us. But that’s on us. It’s not on the people. We’ve gotta be a good enough team and play the right way, where people want to see us play. That’s our goal.
I don’t want to outfit Brown in a flight suit and put him in front of a “Mission Accomplished!” banner just yet, but the team was already selling out Moody before its first win over a top-10 ranked opponent since 1987, and fans are now camping out for tickets. So, he’s pretty close. And wait until Emmanuel Mudiay hits campus next season.