Minot native Dale Brown, coach who turned LSU into national power, dies at 90

Dale Brown, who guided LSU men's basketball to two Final Fours in the 1980s and transformed the program into a national power during his 25-year coaching tenure in Baton Rouge, died Friday, the university announced. He was 90. The Minot, North Dakota native guided the Tigers to the national semifinals in 1981 and 1986. They lost to the eventual national champion both times: to Indiana in 81 and Louisville in 86. The Tigers made 13 NCAA Tournaments in all during Brown's time in charge. LSU's most famous alums under Brown are Shaquille O'Neal and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly Chris Jackson), who added their names to program lore alongside Pete Maravich. But the program's greatest team successes, the Final Fours, came with future NBA players such as Rudy Macklin, Howard Carter, John "Hot Plate" Williams and Nikita Wilson leading the way. Brown came to Baton Rouge from Washington State in 1972. It was his first and, as it turned out, only head coaching job in the North Dako