Dale Brown, LSU's Winningest Coach With 448 Wins and Two Final Fours, Dies at 90

Photo: LSU Athletics. Dale Brown, LSU men's basketball head coach from 1972 to 1997.

Dale Brown, the coach who won 448 games at LSU and took the Tigers to the 1981 and 1986 Final Fours, died Friday in Baton Rouge at 90, just days short of his 91st birthday. LSU announced the death two days after Brown was named the 2027 recipient of the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award.

Those 448 wins came over 25 seasons, from 1972 to 1997, all at one school. LSU said that made Brown second only to Adolph Rupp among SEC coaches at the time, and that he was just the third SEC head coach to reach 25 years in the league. He won 60 percent of his games, per LSU, along with four SEC titles (1979, 1981, 1985, 1991) and four SEC Coach of the Year awards (1973, 1979, 1981, 1989). In 1981 he was named National Coach of the Year.

The early years

LSU hired Brown in March 1972. A native of Minot, North Dakota, he had worked as a high school coach, teacher and principal before assistant jobs at Utah State and Washington State, per LSU. His first team, nicknamed The Hustlers, beat third-ranked Memphis State in his home opener in December 1972. It won 14 games and went 9-9 in SEC play.

Starting with the 1976-77 season, LSU said, the Tigers increased their win total for six straight seasons. In 1981 the Tigers won 31 games, played two NCAA Tournament games in the Louisiana Superdome and reached their first Final Four since 1953, per LSU and Tiger Rag. Indiana beat LSU 67-49 in the national semifinal, per Sports Reference.

The 1986 run

LSU started fast in 1986, had a few setbacks and entered the NCAA Tournament as an 11 seed. The Tigers were scheduled to host first- and second-round games, which LSU said was the last time in tournament history a team played in its home arena against higher-seeded teams. LSU beat Purdue. Against Memphis State, Anthony Wilson pulled the ball out of a scrum and scored as the horn sounded to win it.

LSU won four straight, Purdue, Memphis State, Georgia Tech and Kentucky. LSU said that made the Tigers, at that time, the lowest seed to reach the Final Four. Louisville beat LSU 88-77 in the national semifinal, per LSU, and went on to win the title.

Talent and tournament appearances

Brown coached six All-Americans: Al Green, Rudy Macklin, Ethan Martin, Howard Carter, Chris Jackson (later Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf) and Shaquille O'Neal. The selections span 1979 to 1992. LSU made 13 NCAA Tournaments under Brown, including 10 straight from 1984 to 1993.

Honors

Brown went 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 unveiled in his name in January 2022. On Wednesday, he was announced as the 2027 recipient of the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award.

His family's statement, released by LSU, called him "the most loving and most loved man any of us has ever known" and said "Dale long ago fell in love with Louisiana. And the people of Louisiana loved him right back."

Sources

• LSU Athletics: Legendary LSU Basketball Coach Dale Brown Passes Away on Friday
• AP News: Longtime LSU basketball coach Dale Brown dies at age 90
• ESPN: Dale Brown, LSU's winningest basketball coach, dies at 90
• Tiger Rag: LSU basketball coaching legend Dale Brown has passed away at age 90
• Sports Reference: Indiana vs. LSU, March 28, 1981
• LSU Athletics: Eventual Champion Louisville Blocks Tigers' Way, 88-77 (1986)