It’s a tossup who’s going to miss Dale Brown more: Louisiana State or every reporter’s starving notepad.
Brown is retiring after 25 fire-and-brimstone seasons at LSU, where he led the Tigers to 13 NCAA tournament appearances, advanced to two Final Fours, became the winningest coach in school history, and the second winningest in Southeastern Conference history. He was college basketball’s Dylan Thomas, raging against this and that, fancying himself as the game’s moral center. As one reporter once put it, you didn’t so much interview Brown, as much as you grunted at the right places.
For instance, there were the notes from a bizarre phone interview conducted four years ago. In no time flat, Brown was at his storytelling best, as he talked about a friend of his, a former basketball coach of the Iranian national team who was imprisoned in Tehran for refusing to spit on the United States flag. The coach later escaped (but not before witnessing a series of too-gory-to-tell atrocities), fled to the Iranian underground, somehow made his way to Los Angeles, and eventually contacted Brown.
Who knows if any of it was true, but the tale was a lot more interesting than the question about the zone press.
Brown, 61, led the league in interesting. He traveled all the time, once surprising an Atlanta sports columnist with a postcard from Crete.
“Here I am, thinking of you,” wrote Brown.
In single conversations, Brown could find room for Sirhan Sirhan, Mother Teresa, Bunky, La., Lou Rawls, Jesse Owens, Gandhi, and “El Sicko” (Adolf Hitler). At his retirement announcement last Thursday, Brown squeezed in the names of Martin Luther King Jr., Walt Whitman, Jonas Salk, Pope John Paul I and Pope John Paul II which, come to think of it, isn’t a bad starting five.
Despite averaging about 18 victories a season, Brown is considered more recruiter than coach. I’m not so sure. During his career, he signed Shaquille O’Neal, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Randy Livingston, Stanley Roberts, and Ronnie Henderson, but Brown’s finest moments came in 1986, when he coached his fifth-place SEC team to a Final Four appearance.
Brown wasn’t afraid to be different. “The unique attracts me,” he once said.
Maybe that’s why he arranged for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to spend a day teaching Shaq the skyhook, or why Julius Erving was asked to tutor the Tigers on handling fame, or why Brown brought in Bill Walton for a week and said, “There are no limits on what he can tell you guys, even if it’s totally contrary to what I’ve been teaching you.”
One last Brown story:
During a 1983-84 practice session, Brown abruptly stopped a scrimmage after Don Redden missed a 16-footer from near the corner. This was just after Brown had lectured the Tigers on poor shot selection.
“Just for fun, let’s see how many of those shots you can make in five tries,” Brown told Redden.
Redden made four of five.
Brown stuck a defender on him.
Redden made four of five.
“Well, my point is lost,” said an exasperated Brown, storming off the court.
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The same won’t be said in March, when Brown leaves the court for the last time. Admire him or despise him, Brown will leave a sizable–and unique–imprint.
Brown Goodbye Tour–Part II: Parting shots by the mouth that roared. . . .
On his resignation announcement: “I feel exuberant. I feel like a weight has been taken off.”
On changing the system: “I don’t think we’re ever going to see this and, to some, it may shock because I’ve always fought for players’ rights and giving them what they deserve . . . but I’m not too sure we shouldn’t do what the Ivy League does. I know to some that may seem, `Wow, is that a turnabout,’ but I think everybody is getting selfish and greedy. So maybe go to the non-scholarship programs, period. Maybe we would get more athletes-students.”
On the NBA: “Right now, colleges are nothing more than parade grounds for the pros. (NBA Commissioner) David Stern today, in his office building in New York, I’m sure is smiling, thinking, `Hey, we don’t have to put out any money. We can use that as a training ground.’ “
On illegal payoffs: “Some kids, I’m sure, going to the CBA couldn’t get what they got illegally under the table at some schools.”
On recruiting: “As fast as Captain Marvel could say, `Shazam!’ it all changed. All of the sudden there were too many deals to be made. When kids had agents . . . when AAU programs were putting the fix on you to give them money to run their programs for the summer . . . when kids are flown all over the country to Las Vegas in lavish style . . . when the all-star summer camps are so demeaning to go to. All of this has contributed to these (players) feeling special.”
Pulling the pin on the NCAA: You thought Temple coach John Chaney had a meltdown when he went after then-Massachusetts coach John Calipari a few seasons ago? You should have heard him Monday talking about the NCAA Clearinghouse, which recently gave thumbs down on Owls freshman recruit Quincy Wadley.
“I just wish there was some way I could sue their ass for the dumb thing that they just did,” said Chaney of the NCAA’s decision.
Wadley, a 6-foot-4-inch guard from Harrisburg, Pa., was ruled ineligible late last week. Chaney said Wadley’s academic transcripts were judged acceptable by Temple’s admissions office; the NCAA ruled otherwise.
Mt. Chaney erupted soon thereafter, with all lava flows headed in the general direction of NCAA headquarters in Overland Park, Kan.
Once he calmed down, Chaney was asked about an NCAA Convention proposal to increase the number of scholarships from 13 to 14. Put it this way: Chaney isn’t counting on university presidents to OK the legislation.
“I just think that they’re arrogant (asses),” he said. “Believe me, I would not bet anything that they would even dare give back a scholarship back to the men.
“I don’t think they’re going to have the courage to deal with it.”
Don’t sugarcoat it, John.
Chaney, in his 24th season as a head coach, had a suggestion on how to improve the NCAA.
“I’d go down there to Kansas, and hope that they’re all in, and roll a hand grenade in the offices,” he said, before breaking out in laughter.
Numbers game: The latest Rating Percentage Index numbers are out. Kentucky is No. 1, followed by Kansas, Louisville, Indiana, Arizona, Villanova, Minnesota, Wake Forest, Cincinnati and Duke. The NCAA tournament selection committee is big on the RPI because it weighs victories and losses versus strength of schedule.
As for conference RPI, the Atlantic Coast Conference is first, followed by the Big Ten, the Big East, the Pacific 10, the Big 12, Conference USA, the Western Athletic Conference, the Atlantic-10, and the Missouri Valley Conference.
Don’t read too much into the conference ratings. The Big East is 80-25 versus non-conference opponents this season, but until last week, it didn’t have a victory againt a ranked team.
Around the country: Kentucky’s Rick Pitino, who told former player and assistant Billy Donovan to pass on the Florida job, is absolutely giddy over the Gators’ fast start. “I’m about to give him a call,” said Pitino, who watched Donovan, in his first season at Gainesville, engineer a recent upset of Arkansas. “When the talent catches up to the system, I think it’s going to be great for Gator fans.” . . . Syracuse, only 10 months removed from its Final Four appearance, is 0-3 in the Big East. That hasn’t happened since 1992-93, the year they were on NCAA probation. . . . How good is Xavier? “We’re still trying to get over the blitzkrieg,” said Virginia Tech’s Bill Foster of last Saturday’s 102-67 loss to the Musketeers. “When we hit nine of our fist 10 shots and we were behind, I knew we were in trouble.” It was the first time in six years a Foster-coached team gave up 100 or more points. . . . With Brown on his way out, LSU Athletic Director Joe Dean already has a medium-sized shopping list. Tigers assistant Johnny Jones (Brown’s choice) will get a polite, but useless interview, and then come the heavy hitters: Iowa State’s Tim Floyd, George Washington’s Mike Jarvis, Texas’ Tom Penders, Utah’s Rick Majerus, New Orleans’ Tic Price, New Mexico’s Dave Bliss, Evansville’s Jim Crews, Stanford’s Mike Montgomery and former UCLA coach Jim Harrick. Floyd coached at nearby New Orleans, but also has a new 10-year contract to squirm out of. . . . With the most recent victory, Kansas has now won 14 straight games at Kansas State. “One of the most amazing streaks I’ve ever heard of, much less been involved in,” Jayhawks coach Roy Williams said. . . . No word on the exact scheduling, but Southwest Missouri State, off to an 11-1 start, will play in next year’s Hoosier Classic in Indianapolis. That could mean Steve Alford versus Bob Knight. Alford, of course, played at IU, did his coaching apprenticeship at tiny Manchester College, and is in his second season at Southwest Missouri State.