John Emmett Brady (born September 17, 1954) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach and the former head men's basketball coach at

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osa ...

. Brady was previously the head men's basketball coach at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

. On February 8, 2008, LSU dismissed Brady, and named his assistant coach, Butch Pierre, the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. On March 21, 2008 John Brady was named the 15th head basketball coach at Arkansas State University. Brady had coached the Tigers to an unlikely Final Four run in the 2006 NCAA tournament, the fourth men's Final Four in LSU history.

Early life and education

Brady was born in

McComb, Mississippi McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The city is approximately south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 12,790. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statist ...

, about south of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

. He earned his BS from Belhaven College in 1976, where he played varsity basketball. He then received his master's in Education from Mississippi State University in 1977.

Coaching career

Early career

After a year as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State, Brady began coaching in the high school ranks of Louisiana. In 1981 Brady was named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class AAA "Coach of the Year." After returning to MSU to serve eight years as an assistant under Bob Boyd and Richard Williams, Brady was named head coach at Samford University in 1992. At the time of his departure, Brady was the winningest coach in Samford history, garnering an 89–77 record in six seasons.

LSU

In 1997, Brady replaced the legendary Dale Brown as head coach at LSU. When Brady arrived, the program was under probation and stinging from a recruiting scandal. Brady's first two years were rough. In 2000 the Tigers broke through, posting a 28–6 record and an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance. However, due to the loss of Stromile Swift and Jabari Smith to the 2000 NBA draft, the Tigers could not carry their momentum to the next year, going 13–16 in 2001. Brady's team entered the 2005–06 season unranked, but were coming off a solid season in which they went 20–10 and made the NCAA tournament. Led by Glen "Big Baby" Davis and

Tyrus Thomas Tyrus Wayne Thomas (born August 17, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Louisiana State University (LSU) before being drafted fourth overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2006 NBA dra ...

, the Tigers won their first outright SEC regular season championship since 1985, and earned a #4 seed in the NCAA tournament. After wins over Iona and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, LSU defeated the #1 seed

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

and #2 seed

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

to make it to their first Final Four since 1986. Set at the RCA Dome in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, the 2006 Final Four was the first since 1980 to feature no #1 seeds (LSU, #2

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, #3

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and #11

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including ...

). Facing the #2 seed Bruins in the national semifinals, the Tigers were unable to solve UCLA's defense, losing 59–45, dropping LSU to 0–6 all-time in the men's Final Four (and 0–10 in all Final Four games, including an 0–4 mark in the women's Final Four). Despite the loss, the 2005–06 season will be remembered as one of the most successful in LSU men's basketball history. John Brady was fired in the middle of his 11th season as LSU's head basketball coach and just two seasons after the Tigers' latest Final Four appearance. In 10 seasons at LSU, Brady compiled a 184–126 record, including two SEC Regular Season Titles and four NCAA tournament appearances. On February 8, 2008, Brady was fired from LSU. Earlier news reports stated that he would coach the Tennessee game on February 9, but LSU officials stated that his termination was immediate. Brady's assistant coach, Butch Pierre, took over as the interim head coach. Brady is now the color commentator for radio broadcasts of LSU games.

Arkansas State

On March 18, 2008, Brady was hired by Arkansas State as head basketball coach. Brady won two division titles in the Sun Belt while the Red Wolves' coach, but was unable to ever get his team to the postseason and he announced at the beginning of the 2015–16 season that he would resign as coach, effective at the end of the season.

Head coaching record

Broadcasting career

Brady became the LSU Tigers basketball color analyst starting in the 2017–2018 season.

References

External links

Arkansas State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brady, John 1954 births Living people American men's basketball players Arkansas State Red Wolves men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Mississippi Basketball players from Mississippi Belhaven Blazers men's basketball players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in Louisiana LSU Tigers men's basketball announcers LSU Tigers men's basketball coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball coaches New Orleans Privateers men's basketball coaches People from McComb, Mississippi Samford Bulldogs men's basketball coaches