LSU men’s basketball is reaching its 100th anniversary, but it’s hard to determine exactly what that means for a program with so much history — and yet so little.The word “powerhouse” doesn’t exactly coincide with the LSU program — there are no national championship banners hanging from the PMAC rafters. The Tigers are a distant 34 league titles behind the Southeastern Conference’s super-power, Kentucky. The LSU program has reached the sports’ biggest stage, the Final Four, just four times in 100 years.But there are high points. Though far behind Kentucky, LSU’s nine SEC titles is No. 2 in the conference. The Tigers’ 19 trips to the NCAA tournament rank third in the SEC, and their four Final Four appearances are tied for ninth in NCAA history.”It’s a rich tradition, but football really overshadows it,” said former LSU center Stanley Roberts. “LSU isn’t a powerhouse, but they’ve had moments.”Roberts’ words ring true with the Tigers’ painful misses. LSU has lost to the eventual national champion three of its four Final Four appearances. The 1989-1990 LSU team had four future NBA first round draft picks — Roberts, Chris Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Geert Hammink — but failed to reach the Sweet 16.The program has no shortage of legendary names, all of which have made their marks throughout LSU history. The names Jackson, O’Neal, Roberts, Bob Pettit, Rudy Macklin and Pete Maravich stack up well against the greats from schools like North Carolina, Kansas and UCLA, though they don’t have the same amount of fanfare. “When I was real young I watched Shaquille and Chris play,” said senior guard Garrett Temple. “After that they didn’t have great glory years … but in [my brother] Collis’ first year, they went to the Sweet 16, and we had a special year [in 2006] going to the Final Four.”Throughout all the success and shortcomings, no name — except maybe Maravich — coincides with LSU like Dale Brown, the only LSU coach in the Basketball Coaches’ Hall of Fame.Brown arrived in Baton Rouge in 1972 with his only head coaching experience at the high school level. The Tigers had won two conference championships and had two postseason appearances up to that point.”It shows what a great place America is,” Brown said. “That a high school coach from North Dakota with no connections could get a start here. I had never been a Division-I coach, and I’m very grateful to [then-LSU Athletic Director] Carl Maddox”Brown took LSU to 13 of its 19 NCAA tournament appearances and half its Final Fours. Maravich came before Brown, and Glen Davis and Tyrus Thomas came after, but legends like Macklin, O’Neal, Roberts and Jackson helped Brown win 448 games, capturing four of LSU’s nine SEC titles and one of just two SEC tournament titles in the process.”It was a rugged, rugged mountain to climb,” Brown said. “LSU was the last bastion of racism in the SEC — most other teams had integrated. LSU had only had one black player with Collis Temple [Jr.]. And being in such a phenomenal football state, there was just no interest. There were flashes of greatness with Pete Maravich and Bob Pettit, but no continuity.”The Tigers finished with just seven losing records in Brown’s 25 years — four of which were Brown’s last four seasons.”Playing for coach Brown was a wonderful experience,” said former forward Leonard Mitchell. “He built this program to what it is, and anything else is on top of him.”The program experienced a decade of ups and downs following Brown’s departure. John Brady led the Tigers to 184 wins, the third-highest total for any LSU coach, and added two SEC titles and the program’s fourth Final Four. But the Tigers reached the NCAA just four times in Brady’s 11 years and posted four losing seasons, although two came under NCAA sanctions placed on the LSU program.”Coach Brady wanted to make his own era and his own name,” Roberts said. “He kind of pushed history aside and didn’t welcome old players.”LSU entered its 100th year with its 20th head coach, Trent Johnson. Through 20 games the former Nevada and Stanford coach has taken the Tigers from their worst winning percentage since 1997 to a better record than the entire win total for 2008.”SEC conference means big-time athletes,” Johnson said. “The first thing I thought about was Shaq, Bob Pettit and Pete Maravich.”Johnson’s familiarity with LSU has led to a relationship that will be on full display at the 100th anniversary ceremony Saturday. “The first thing Trent told me — the first day I met him — was, ‘If you don’t embrace the past, you’ve got no future,'” Brown said. “I gave him the numbers of all of my former players, all 160. Their numbers, their addresses, their parents if they’re still alive. I think there are 154 former players committed to coming back [Saturday].”So as LSU basketball embraces its past, however storied or scant it might be, the future will be on display. According to Brown, that future looks bright.”The past is the past, and I’m focused on the future with Trent Johnson,” Brown said. “I’m elated with Trent. I think he’s destined for success here.”—-Contact David Helman at dhelman@lsureveille