Dale Brown, LSU's Winningest Coach, Dies at 90: 448 Wins and Two Final Fours
Brown's death came two days after LSU announced he would receive the 2027 John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award.
By Adewale Fletcher ·
LSU men's basketball coach Dale Brown, who spent 25 seasons building the Tigers into a national contender, died Friday, Oct. 23. He was 90. Brown was born Oct. 31, 1935, in Minot, North Dakota, eight days shy of what would have been his 91st birthday.
Brown compiled 448 wins at LSU from 1972 to 1997, the most by any coach in program history. LSU took four Southeastern Conference regular-season titles under him, made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the Final Four in 1981 and 1986. The 1979 team delivered the school's first SEC regular-season championship since 1954. Brown was named Associated Press National Coach of the Year in 1981 and SEC Coach of the Year four times.
His death followed an LSU announcement two days earlier that he had been selected for the 2027 John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award. Brown coached future NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, formerly known as Chris Jackson, and LSU standout Rudy Macklin. He entered the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame. LSU named a court inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for him in 2022; in 2023 it became Dale Brown/Sue Gunter Court, honoring both former coaches.
In a statement, Brown's family wrote, "We have lost the most loving and most loved man any of us has ever known," and said he "always led with the heart." Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry wrote on X that Brown "put LSU Basketball on the map." Sports journalist Marc J. Spears, also on X, called him "an extraordinary human."
Brown arrived in Baton Rouge in 1972 and traveled the state promoting LSU basketball to fans. In a 2025 interview with WAFB investigative reporter Chris Nakamoto, he recounted a game against undefeated, top-ranked Kentucky in which all five of his starters fouled out; he told the remaining players, "From now on you are not substitutes, you are backups," and LSU won. Asked how he wanted to be remembered, Brown credited his mother for teaching him to do what is right and stand up for it.
No funeral or memorial arrangements were included in the family's statement.
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