Dale Brown spent 25 seasons turning LSU basketball into something people around the sport had to pay attention to, and his reach went well beyond wins and banners. Brown, who guided the Tigers to two Final Four trips and coached players such as Shaquille O’Neal and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, died Thursday at 90.
His LSU résumé is the kind that stamps a program forever: a school-record 448 wins, four SEC championships and 13 NCAA tournament appearances from 1972-1997. Brown was named SEC Coach of the Year four times and national coach of the year in 1981. He also leaves behind a court named after him, with LSU honoring him in 2022.
Brown’s family, in a statement released by LSU, remembered him as much for the person he was as the coach he became.
“We have lost the most loving and most loved man any of us has ever known,” his family said in a statement released by LSU. “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.”
That heart-first reputation followed him everywhere. Brown gave players money for food and funeral expenses, fought the NCAA over what players were allowed to receive, and backed NIL long before the term entered the sport’s everyday vocabulary. His final years at LSU were shadowed by an NCAA investigation tied to recruiting tactics that are now allowed, but he never stopped calling out the hypocrisy he saw in the system.
He also had a habit of getting under Kentucky fans’ skin, though he never lacked respect for the program. Brown believed beating Kentucky was central to LSU’s rise because, as he saw it, the Wildcats were the SEC standard and the path to being the best ran through them.
Former Cats’ Pause publisher Oscar Combs said Brown’s impact was bigger than basketball.
“Dale Brown will always be remembered for helping those who needed a lift, regardless of who they were or where they lived,” said former Cats’ Pause publisher Oscar Combs. “I loved Dale Brown and I love him today. There are tons of stories about our relationship over the years.”
Brown’s generosity showed up in personal ways, too. One longtime account traces back to when Brown was recruiting Tony PIetrowski of Corbin. At a press conference, Brown noticed a young son wearing an LSU hat, struck up a friendship and for years let him sit on the Tigers’ bench at Rupp Arena.
There were also long conversations that had little to do with basketball, both during Brown’s coaching days and after retirement. After his final LSU game in the SEC Tournament, he invited the writer and his friend Joe Hafley to his room, let him sit in on his pregame speech and handed over his coaching badge, which he still has.
This week also brought another honor: Brown was selected to receive the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award, recognizing his accomplishments and impact on college basketball.
Tributes poured in after the news of his death. John Calipari, who said Brown had treated him “like family” dating back to the 1992/93 season at UMASS, noted that Brown stayed in touch over the years and showed up at nearly every LSU game Calipari coached in that building.
“I just found out Coach Dale Brown passed away. He has treated me like family all the way back to 1992/93 with my UMASS team.
We have stayed in touch religiously over the years. He was at just about every LSU game that I coached in that building including going to dinner the night before the game.
Not only a great basketball coach but a good man. May he rest in peace,” Arkansas coach John Calipari posted on social media,
Dick Vitale remembered Brown’s personality and energy, while Pat Forde called him a singular figure in college basketball. Chris Myers of FOX Sports posted that Brown was “the most positive optimistic person I ever interviewed….” and said he left behind “a lifetime of encouraging energy” for everyone he met.
After retiring, Brown stayed active as a motivational speaker, a television basketball analyst and the founder of the Dale Brown Foundation. He had been a high school coach in North Dakota before LSU, but his influence outgrew the game. He was outspoken, charitable and impossible to ignore - and now, after a life that touched players, coaches and fans alike, he won’t be forgotten.
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