Roger Brown obit

 Roger Brown, a rugged rebounder on Jayhawks’ 1971 Final Four team, dies at age 73

He was not on the list.

Roger Brown, a starter on Kansas’ 1971 Final Four team, a squad that went 14-0 in the Big Eight Conference and 27-3 overall, died Wednesday at the age of 73. Brown, a 6-foot-11, 225-pound center from Chicago, averaged 11.2 points and 11.1 rebounds a game his magical senior year at KU. Led by Brown, Dave Robisch, Bud Stallworth and others, the Jayhawks in 1970-71 lost just one regular-season game — at Louisville. KU beat Houston and Drake in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional games in Wichita, then lost to UCLA in the Final Four semifinals and to Western Kentucky in the consolation game, both at the Houston Astrodome. “He was an absolutely wonderful man — kind, thoughtful, loving. We have been blessed to have him as a part of our lives,” Brown’s college coach, Ted Owens, told The Star on Thursday in a phone interview. Owens had been informed of Brown’s death by Brown’s daughter. Brown died in his hometown of Chicago after an extended illness. “I was able to get in touch with all the guys (from Brown’s years at KU, 1967-71) yesterday and all of them would talk about what a great teammate he was, how kind and thoughtful he was. He was an incredibly good man,” Owens added.

Brown at 6-11 and Robisch at 6-10 were quite a duo on the court — and best friends off the court. “Roger and I came to KU in September 1967, which translates to a 56-year friendship,” Robisch told The Star in a message. “He was a great teammate, a great player and most importantly a great friend. We had a special bond based on trust, love and family values. A tough loss.” During Brown’s sophomore year, KU went 20-7 and played in the postseason NIT, where the Jayhawks lost to Boston College in the first round. The Jayhawks did not play in the postseason his junior year. Freshmen were ineligible during Brown’s KU career. Brown, a fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1971 NBA Draft, played for the Lakers, Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls in the NBA and Carolina, San Antonio, Virginia and Denver in the ABA. His most productive time in the NBA came after signing with the Detroit Pistons in January of 1976. He spent the remainder of that season and the following 1977-78 season with Detroit, backing up Hall of Fame center Bob Lanier and helping Detroit to two playoff berths. Brown followed former Pistons coach Herb Brown to the Western Basketball Association and the Tucson Gunners for the 1978-79 season. He was named third-team all-WBL for the league championship team. He played four games with his hometown Chicago Bulls in 1979 to end his pro career.

“His senior year … it was a great year. Fred Schaus, the general manager of the Lakers came to see our team. He actually came to see Dave Robisch,” Owens told The Star on Thursday. “Fred ended up also being impressed with Roger. I can’t remember how many rebounds Roger had, but he dominated both boards. He made such an impression the Lakers drafted him,” Owens added of Brown, who stands today as 24th leading rebounder in KU history (640 rebounds). His 11.1 rebounds per game in 1970-71 ties him for 13th on KU’s single-season rebound list. Brown, a rebounding machine, had double-digit rebounds in 27 of 30 games in 1970-71. He had 21 rebounds against Houston at Allen Fieldhouse. After the game Houston coach Guy Lewis compared Brown to UCLA’s Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). He had 20 rebounds against Iowa State, 18 vs. Loyola and 16 against Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Colorado, Missouri and Western Kentucky. In January of 1971, Brown scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a 90-55 win over Oklahoma State at Allen Fieldhouse.

Brown through the years was complimentary of his college head coach Owens and Jayhawk assistant Sam Miranda. “Coach Miranda said (during the recruiting process) he was going to be out there every day working with me,” Brown told “David Garfield’s Hoop Heaven” during an interview in 2002. “I didn’t take him seriously. I just took it in passing, but when I got to KU and realized how intense he was as a coach and that he was true to his word, I said, ‘OK, then.’ “He spent a lot of time with me and Dave (Robisch) every day. I think that was a big factor in my development. I think that was a major thing that he gave attention to all the players, especially the big men. I think that was instrumental.” The 70-71 Jayhawks were led by Robisch and Stallworth, who averaged 19.2 and 16.9 points per game respectively. Brown and Pierre Russell were also double-digit scorers at 11.2 and 10.3 points per game. Aubrey Nash and Bob Kivisto also were major contributors on a team that included Mark Williams, Randy Canfield, Greg Douglas, Mark Mathews, Jerry House and Neal Mask. Popular with KU’s student body, that 1971 Final Four team is known as one that helped ease tensions on KU’s campus during the Vietnam War, a time of campus unrest. “It was an interesting time on campus,” Owens recalled in a 2002 interview with the Lawrence Journal-World. “All the social revolution ... the chancellor (Laurence Chalmers) at the time told me that the team brought everyone on campus together with a common interest that helped us through a very difficult time. “We helped heal the campus. I remember quite early in the season, people started passing out buttons saying, ‘Houston in March.’ The goal was to play in the Astrodome. They had buttons for all the players: ‘Better Buy a Bud (for Stallworth)‘ and ‘Rebound With (Roger) Brown,’ things like that,” Owens added.

The team in fact was nicknamed the Cardiac Kids for prevailing in so many close games. KU won in overtime at Missouri, in overtime over Oklahoma at Allen Fieldhouse, by one point at Colorado, three at Oklahoma and five points at Kansas State. KU won its final four league games against Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri and Nebraska by a total of 10 points. Brown in 2002 who was working for the Chicago Board of Education said: “To go undefeated in itself involves mental preparation because when you are winning other people are trying desperately to beat you. It becomes the important game on their schedule. To be perfect ... you have to win tough games. You have to win some games on the road.” Some have called the 70-71 Jayhawks one of the best teams in school history. “That always can be debated,” Brown said of ranking teams in KU history. “When we get together, of course our group believes we were the best. It’s always a big argument, but I’ll take my group of course.” Of the 1970-71 Jayhawks, Owens told The Star: “That is one of our greatest teams. It was a little bit of an unusual team. We played two big guys at same time. Dave was such a good scorer and Roger such a good defender and rebounder. It was such a nice combination. “It was a really good defensive team and rebounding team. A lot of scoring came from David and Bud, but the rest of them were lockdown defenders. It was such a blessing to have that 50th (Final Four) reunion a couple years ago (in 2021). It was a close team in which everybody loved each other.”

 

Career history

1972    Los Angeles Lakers

1972–1973            Carolina Cougars

1973    San Antonio Spurs

1973–1974            Virginia Squires

1975–1976            Denver Nuggets

1976–1977            Detroit Pistons

1978–1979            Tucson Gunners

1979–1980            Chicago Bulls

Career highlights and awards

ABA All-Star (1976)