Five: The Night Dale Brownʼs Bench Met the Best

by Sonny Marks

February 11, 1978. All five LSU starters fouled out against the greatest college basketball team in the nation, the No. 1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Left on the floor for the Tigers in overtime were a walk-on, a black Jewish freshman from New York, a senior with a bum knee, and two white one, a dentist's son from New Orleans, and the other one a 7-foot surfer dude from Florida. On the bench coaching them was Dale Brown, a wild man from North Dakota. In a rivalry and a game that involved roughness on and off the court, self-gratification, race relations and international folk dance, the largest crowd in LSU basketball history watched one of the greatest upsets, and a turning point for two basketball programs.

About the Author
A former full-time newspaper journalist, Sonny Marks practices law in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he lives with his wife Louise.

168 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2010