Between 1972 and 1997 the Southeastern Conference in basketball grew in stature from just being a premier football conference. During that time of conference growth of both prominence and popularity, the team most emblematic of that growth in national prestige was located in -- of all places-- Baton Rouge Louisiana. And the leader of this team from the sidelines hailed from the hinterlands of North Dakota. In his episode of the Historically Speaking Sports Podcast, Co-hosts Dana Auguster and Charles Combs highlight the era of LSU Tigers basketball under the direction of Head Coach Dale Brown. During his tenure with the Tigers, Brown didn't just coach basketball at LSU, he made it matter in a football crazed state and made it a national brand. He took a program that had flashes of relevance and turned into a powerhouse that would go toe-to-toe with anyone in the country. This was the era of superstars such as Chris Jackson who would later become Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, whose scoring brilliance electrified the country and garnered comparisons to Pete Maravich. It was also the era of the unstoppable force of Shaquille O'Neal, a once in a generation talent who turned LSU into must see TV. And before them there was Rudy Macklin leading the Tigers to the final four, for the first time since the early 1950s But the Dale Brown era wasn't just about wins and NBA draft picks .It was about personality, passion and conviction. Brown was outspoken, emotional, sometimes controversial -- a coach who wore his heart on his sleeve and fought fiercely for his players. He believed LSU could compete with the blue bloods of college basketball and for stretches from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s ... it absolutely did. To contact the show please e-mail us at [email protected]

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