at Kansas, Earl admitted that an LSU assistant coach gave him money when he was at LSU. The NCAA quickly began an investigation. It found no evidence that Brown or his assistants paid Earl, however it did find that a former booster paid Earl about $5,000 while he was attending LSU. LSU was placed on probation in 1998. After the incident, many Brown and LSU supporters were angry with the NCAA's decision. They were convinced that the NCAA unfairly came down hard on LSU only because Brown had long been a thorn in its side. They were also angry that Earl received immunity for his testimony regarding receiving money from a booster connected to Brown, never had to repay the money, and would eventually regain the eligibility he lost when he transferred from LSU. In August 2007, Earl made comments that suggest that the witch hunt theory may have been true. Retirement from LSU: 1997 After his departure from LSU, Dale Brown kept a low profile in his involvement with LSU athletics. He stayed in Baton Rouge after his retirement and created his own business, Dale Brown Enterprises. Brown has also worked as a college basketball analyst and is a motivational speaker and author of several books. He was also the CEO of the Dale Brown Foundation established in 1986 to help those in need. The Foundation was very active after the hurricanes devastated Louisiana in 2005. In 2001, reports surfaced that Brown was considering running for the United States House of Representatives in North Dakota. Republicans in the state tried to persuade Brown to challenge incumbent Democrat Earl Pomeroy, but he decided against it. Two years later his name surfaced again, this time as a potential candidate to run for the United States Senate in 2004 against incumbent Democrat Byron Dorgan. After several trips to Washington, D.C., he decided not to run. Brown suffered a stroke on April 24, 2003, but made a strong recovery and was back at work a month later. In 2004, former LSU athletic director and basketball player Joe Dean, who announced many LSU games as a television color commentator during Brown's tenure as a coach submitted a letter to a Baton Rouge newspaper saying that he believes that the basketball floor at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center should be named after Brown. In addition, LSU honored Brown and his 1986 team in February on