Five: The Night Dale Brown S Bench Met the Best

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 boys: 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 basketballhistory 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.