coach-Palm Springs, California. 1966–1971: Assistant basketball coach, Utah State University 1971–1972: Assistant basketball coach, Washington State University LSU: Early years (1972–1978) Brown came to LSU in the spring of 1972, replacing Press Maravich as head coach. The LSU program had received great notoriety during the Press Maravich era because of his All-American son, Pete. In spite of the publicity, however, LSU was still a losing program, not making any NCAA tournaments, and only one NIT appearance during the Maravich Era. Brown took over a team that finished 10–16 in the 1971–72 season and a program which had not been to the NCAA tournament since 1954, and had only four winning seasons in 18 years prior to his arrival. Brown had a winning record in his first season at LSU and he was voted as SEC Coach of the Year. The Tigers finished 14–10, with a 9–9 record in the Southeastern Conference. In his first home game, the Tigers beat #11 Memphis State 94–81, who went on to become NCAA runner-up. The Tigers were picked to finish last in the SEC, but were a surprising fifth. The Tigers regressed during his next three years at LSU, with losing records in each season. LSU stuck with Brown, who was quickly developing a reputation for his tireless efforts to promote college basketball in the football-hungry state of Louisiana. Former Nicholls State University head basketball coach Don Landry, a colleague of Brown in Louisiana, fondly remembered Brown's early years in a 2005 newspaper article "As soon as he was hired he started traveling the state and giving out nets. Wherever there was a basketball goal, he would stop and introduce himself as the new coach at LSU and hand out nets. I had never heard of such a thing and I really looked forward to meeting him after learning how hard he worked, how aggressive he was and how conscious he was of spreading the word about basketball in this state." It was this intensity and focus that helped Brown win over LSU fans, players and recruits. He also developed a reputation for being a powerful and inspirational speaker. These traits helped Brown earn the nickname that stuck with him throughout his tenure at LSU, "The Master Motivator". Brown's hard work began paying off in the 1976–1977 season. Led by the emergence of freshman Durand "Rudy" Macklin, the Tigers finished with a 15–12 record