LSU Basketball Coach Dale Brown, Who Won 448 Games, Dies at 90
Brown led the Tigers for 25 seasons and was named to the 2027 John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award two days before his death.
By Tariq Mahmoud ·
Dale Brown, who coached LSU's men's basketball program from 1972 to 1997 and won 448 games, more than any other coach in school history, died Friday, Oct. 23. He was 90. The death came two days after LSU announced he had been selected for the 2027 John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award, which recognizes accomplishments and influence in college basketball.
During Brown's 25 seasons, LSU claimed four Southeastern Conference regular-season titles, appeared in the NCAA Tournament 13 times and reached the Final Four in 1981 and 1986. He arrived in Baton Rouge in 1972 and traveled across Louisiana promoting the program and urging fans to support the Tigers. In 1979 the team won its first SEC regular-season championship since 1954, and two years later advanced to the Final Four.
Players he coached included Shaquille O'Neal, who later entered the NBA Hall of Fame, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, formerly known as Chris Jackson, and LSU standout Rudy Macklin. Brown was named Associated Press National Coach of the Year in 1981 and SEC Coach of the Year four times. He is a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame.
In a statement, Brown's family said, "We have lost the most loving and most loved man any of us has ever known." The family said he "always led with the heart" and was "a great humanitarian before anything else." Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry posted on X that Brown "put LSU Basketball on the map" and that his impact would be felt for decades. Sports journalist Marc J. Spears called him "an extraordinary human."
In a 2025 interview with WAFB investigative reporter Chris Nakamoto, Brown recounted a Baton Rouge game against undefeated top-ranked Kentucky in which all five of his starters fouled out. He told his remaining players, "From now on you are not substitutes, you are backups," and LSU went on to win. Brown credited his mother with teaching him to do what is right and stand up for it, and recalled her warning that spending too much time polishing one's image tarnishes character.
LSU named the court inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Dale Brown Court in 2022, and renamed it Dale Brown/Sue Gunter Court in 2023 to honor both former LSU coaches. Brown was born Oct. 31, 1935, in Minot, North Dakota, and died eight days before his 91st birthday.
Source: FOX 8 WVUE (fox8live)
