Larry Brown interacting with UK players a NCAA no-no

Larry Brown attendance at Kentucky’s practices this week and his apparent interaction with players would seem to be a violation of NCAA rules.

According to NCAA rules, a temporary consultant can be brought in to counsel the coaches. But that consultant is not supposed to interact with athletes. That consultant cannot have on-court or off-court coaching  with players.

During Friday’s interview session, UK center Josh Harrellson said Brown had been participating in practice.

“He’ll even stop drills like Coach Cal does and put his imput in,” Harrellson said. ‘It’s great having a legendary coach here buiding us and helping us out.”

UK Coach John Calipari, who considers Brown a friend and mentor, said he invited players to seek advice from Brown about how to improve.

“Not a bad deal,” Calipari said. “He’s a Hall of Famer.”

UK spokesman DeWayne Peevy said that Harrellson was mistaken.

“It didn’t happen,” Peevy said. ” I have no idea what Josh is talking about.”

Here’s the applicable NCAA bylaw:

11.7.1.1.1.4 Use of Outside Consultants. An institution may use or arrange for a temporary consultant to provide in-service training for the coaching staff, but no interaction with student athletes is permitted unless the individual is counted against the applicable coaching limits. An outside consultant may not be involved in any on- or off-field or on- or off-court coaching activities (e.g., attending practices and meetings involving coaching activities, formulating game plans, analyzing video involving the institution’s or opponent’s team) without counting the consultant in the coaching limitations in that sport. (Adopted: 1/10/92, Revised: 3/10/04)