Dale Brown Court ... and the Battle for Human Dignity

by Trent Angers

The biography of renowned former LSU basketball coach Dale Brown, focusing on his role as leader of the successful decades-long campaign to reform the NCAA rule book. Proclaiming for years that "the NCAA legislates against human dignity," his tireless efforts are today benefiting some 500,000 student-athletes per year across the United States--making him a true national hero. A civil rights leader and humanitarian, Brown was finally honored when the LSU basketball court was named for him in 2021. The book solves the mystery of how and why the honor was withheld for many years by the deep state of LSU athletics. The winningest men's basketball coach in LSU history, Brown is the coach who first recruited NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal.

296 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Andrew Epperson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, I’m always very impressed by local authors who write nonfiction works. This book about Dale Brown was thoroughly researched, and in briefly meeting the author at the Louisiana Book Festival, I could sense the passion he had for this. Job well done!
I think I learned more about the NCAA rule changes from this book than I had previously, but there are some issues I have with the book. Because it is an unapologetically pro-Brown book (and it seems he really is a great fellow), the documentation of history in these pages clearly is skewed to make it appear HE was the principal driving force behind these changes. I’m not saying he didn’t play a role, but many coaches across the country pushed for these changes, and ultimately the NCAA selected some to change. I also thought the accusation of political interference into the court’s naming did not add up. LSU is a proud institution with many championship teams, and Brown’s inability to win a title is something to consider, though the author wrote that he did not think so. For comparison, legitimate political interference kept Nolan Richardson’s name off the court at the University of Arkansas, and he DID win a championship.
The attempt to belittle Sue Gunter’s career when compared to Brown’s had some solid arguments when taken at face value. The fact remains, neither won a championship, and Gunter coached women’s basketball at a time when multiple social misogynist factors and a lack of attention plagued women’s sports, so to say she did not deserve an honor because she didn’t sell as many seats as Brown falls flat to me. To call it “politically correct” makes me assume the author would not have gone with that whatsoever, which is fine considering this was not an unbiased book, but I don’t think the argument was fair.
Solid book learning about a pretty good basketball coach!

[Gregory Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished Dale Brown Court. I’ve been a season-ticket holder since 2023—the McMahon era. I noticed this book on a shelf behind the bar at Pizza Byronz last year and figured I should check it out. Also an LSU journalism school graduate, I was proud to read this. It’s a page-turner that helped me get caught up with some of the LSU basketball politics and history that I was unfamiliar with. Now I want to read The Hugh Thompson Story by Angers. I also want to read The Power of Positive Thinking by Peale because it’s mentioned to have influenced Dale Brown.