LSU Basketball Pioneer Dale Brown Dies at 90, Two Days After Award Selection

Dale Brown, the former head coach of the LSU men’s basketball team, died on Friday, Oct. 23. He was 90 years old. Brown served as the program's head coach for 25 seasons, spanning from 1972 to 1997.

During his tenure, Brown recorded 448 victories, a record that remains the highest in LSU history. His teams won four Southeastern Conference regular-season championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament on 13 occasions. The Tigers reached the Final Four in 1981 and 1986 under his leadership.

The news of his death arrived just 48 hours after LSU announced that Brown had been selected to receive the 2027 John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award. The honor recognizes his long-term impact on the sport of college basketball.

Brown coached several players who went on to professional success, including Shaquille O'Neal, Rudy Macklin, and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, who was formerly known as Chris Jackson. In 1981, the Associated Press named Brown the National Coach of the Year. He also received SEC Coach of the Year honors on four separate occasions.

Brown’s family issued a statement describing him as a man who prioritized others above all else. They noted that he "always led with the heart" and was a humanitarian before anything else. The family stated that he fell in love with Louisiana and that the state's people loved him right back.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry posted on X that Brown put LSU basketball on the national map. Sports journalist Marc J. Spears also took to social media to call Brown an extraordinary human and thanked him for his wisdom. In a 2025 interview, Brown recalled a game against top-ranked Kentucky where all five starters fouled out. He told his remaining players, "From now on you are not substitutes, you are backups," and the team won the contest.

Brown was born in Minot, North Dakota, on Oct. 31, 1935. He died eight days before his 91st birthday. LSU renamed the court inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in 2023 to honor both Brown and Sue Gunter.