The Passing of One of LSU’s Greatest

By: Jim Brown

Louisiana lost a major sports icon last week. LSU coach Dale Brown, one of the winningest coaches in basketball history, passed away at 90 years old. He took LSU from the dregs of college basketball as a respected coach who posted numerous winning records. Coach Brown was Southeast Conference coach of the year or the runner-up on nine different occasions, and was national coach of the year twice.

But he was more than a basketball coach. He was a motivator and regularly spoke out about the importance of changing the social ills that face so many Americans. He traveled the world, and sought out challenges, even traveling in a small boat the whole length of the Mississippi River. He was a personal friend of Mother Teresa and close to several presidents, including George Bush. Simply put, Dale Brown was a renaissance man. He was also my close friend.

Dale knew that I was a basketball recruit at the University of North Carolina. I was the first recruit of legendary coach Dean Smith there, and Dale and Dean were close friends for many years. We always joked that we had to be related having the same last name.

Dale came to Louisiana