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Legendary LSU Basketball Coach Dale Brown Passes Away on FridayLegendary LSU Basketball Coach Dale Brown Passes Away on Friday
by Kent Lowe

Legendary LSU Basketball Coach Dale Brown Passes Away on Friday

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BATON ROUGE – Dale Brown, the winningest coach in LSU Basketball history, passed away on Friday at the age of 90, just days shy of his 91st birthday.

Brown earlier this week was announced as the 2027 recipient of the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award recipient.

"We have lost the most loving and most loved man any of us has ever known. Dale Brown always put others first. He always led with the heart. He was always a great humanitarian before anything else. Dale long ago fell in love with Louisiana. And the people of Louisiana loved him right back. We are forever grateful for that."

- Statement from the family of Dale Brown

The Minot, North Dakota native, who rose from obscurity to one of the Southeastern Conference’s coaching icons, was at the helm of the Tigers for 25 years from 1972-97, with 448 on-court victories. That was second at the time only to Adolph Rupp in the SEC. He was only the third SEC head coach to reach 25 years as a head coach in the league.

He began his career as a high school coach, teacher and principal before landing basketball assistant coaching jobs at Utah State and Washington State.

Over his 25 years, he won 60 percent of his games and recruited some of college basketball’s most outstanding talent to Baton Rouge.

Brown won four Southeastern Conference Championships (1979, 1981, 1985, 1991), was the SEC Coach of the Year four times (1973, 1979, 1981, 1989) and in 1981 was named National Coach of the Year.

People will always remember the Tigers return to the NCAA Final Four in 1981 and 1986 in two dramatically different ways.

The 1981 team won 31 games, including the first 17-of-18 games in the SEC, moving through the NCAA Tournament with ease, including two games in the then-Louisiana Superdome to advance to the Final Four.

In 1986, the Tigers started fast, but had a few setbacks and found themselves as an 11th seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, in a twist of fate, the Tigers were scheduled to host first- and second-round games and - for the last time in tournament history - a team would play in their home arena against higher seeded teams.

First came Purdue and the Tigers won in overtime. Then a Saturday nationally televised second round against Memphis State with LSU's Anthony Wilson pulling the ball out of a scrum to sink a bucket as the horn sounded to give LSU the win and send the LSU Assembly Center into a frenzy.

Wins over Georgia Tech and Kentucky (after two losses to the Wildcats in the regular season), would send LSU back to the NCAA Final Four as, at that time, the lowest seed to ever get to the final Saturday of play in the long history of the tournament.

The 1986 team saw the full maturation of LSU’s “Freak Defense” which baffled teams that season. With a 6-7 backup forward playing center after the loss of three centers, the "Freak" was something Brown tinkered with when a high school coach in Minot was put in play.

The freak was a combination zone and man defense, setting up in a 1-2-2 zone. If the offense started right, the Tigers played ma-to-man. If the first pass was in the middle, it was a 1-3-1 zone. If the first pass was left, the defense was a 2-3 zone trap. The next time he might flop the defense to the exact opposite setup.

Born on Halloween in 1935, during the Great Depression, Coach Brown was raised by his mother. His father abandoned the family just two days before Brown was born.

In his book “Tiger In A Lion’s Den: Adventures in LSU Basketball” written with Don Yaeger, Brown said “The older I get, the more I realize that my mother was a tremendous influence on me … I did not understand then what a struggle my mother had, and what a fabulous woman she was. I wish not that I would have appreciated her more.”

At Minot State, college athletics was on Brown’s mind becoming the first athlete in school history to earn twelve letters in four years, one each in basketball football and track. It was there in 1954, he met his future wife, Vonnie Ness.

After graduating Brown head coach at three high schools and a junior college before getting his first college assistant job at Utah State. He served there for five years before spending the 1971-72 season as an assistant at Washington State. 

When the head coaching position at Washington State came open after that season, Coach Brown thought himself a worthy candidate to get that job. Luckily for LSU Basketball fans, that call never came there, but athletic director Carl Maddox, with a lot of push from former LSU basketball player and SEC television color analyst Joe Dean, made the decision to bring the Coach to Louisiana. 

It was a long way from Minot and Pullman, Washington when Brown came to Baton Rouge to take the LSU job as a virtual unknown to LSU fans in March 1972. The man who dreamed big arrived with that dream that was perceived by many who knew the LSU basketball program as impossible.

That dream was to make basketball important in football-crazy Tigers country. When Brown was introduced as the Tigers coach, LSU fans were still remembering the Pete Maravich era. Final Fours? Rudy Macklin? Shaq? All a dream. In those years, fans had to be convinced to come to the new arena known as the LSU Assembly Center.

Brown traveled from one end of the state to the other telling all who would listen about the future of LSU basketball. Some thought him foolish. Others questioned his statements. But none who saw or heard him criticized the effort and the timeless energy.

His first LSU team shocked the basketball world by knocking off third-ranked Memphis State in Brown’s home opener in December 1972. "The Hustlers," as they were dubbed, gave the competition fits all season. They won 14 games, finished 9-9 in the league and drew praise from all around the country for their determination.

Starting with the 1976-77 season, the Tigers increased their victory total ever year for the next six season. In all, LSU would make the NCAA Tournament 13 years including 10-straight Tournaments (1984-93).

In his career, Brown coached six all-Americans – Al Green (1979), Durand “Rudy” Macklin (1980-81), Ethan Martin (1981), Howard Carter (1982-83), Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (then known as Chris Jackson, 1989-90) and Shaquille O’Neal (1991-92).

Brown was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.

The court at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center was officially unveiled for Dale Brown in January of 2022.

Besides his wife, Vonnie, Coach Brown is survived by his daughter, Robyn, and son-in-law Chris Prudhomme and grandsons Christopher, Peyton and Cameron. 

Funeral arrangements are pending. 

 

 

“There has never been, nor will there ever be another coach, particularly as it relates to basketball that fought for change, created change, impacted people, changed lives and left a legacy of giving than Coach Brown. He made basketball at LSU a consistent player on the national stage and every basketball coach since will be forever compared to the standard he created. LSU has lost a huge part of its athletic legacy with his passing.”
- Former LSU Head Basketball Coach John Brady

“Coach Dale Brown was so much more than my coach, boss and mentor -- he was like a father to me. He taught me lessons that went far beyond the game of basketball, preparing me for life with his wisdom, leadership and unwavering believe in me. I'm forever grateful. You will be deeply missed, Coach. Love you."
- Former LSU player, Head Basketball Coach Johnny Jones