BATON ROUGE – Longtime LSU Assistant/Associate men’s basketball coach Ron Abernathy, who with Coach Dale Brown, helped LSU to multiple NCAA Tournament berths, including NCAA Final Fours in 1981 and 1986, passed away earlier this week in Jackson, Tennessee at the age of 75.

Abernathy in March of this year had retired after a 12-year stint as the head coach at Humboldt High School in Tennessee.

He was in Baton Rouge and at the Maravich Center in January 2026 to join the 40-year reunion of the 1986 NCAA Final Four team

Abernathy was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1950, was a graduate of Morehead State University and later received his master’s degree from LSU.

Abernathy was a teacher at Shawnee High School in Louisville in 1976 when he received both the Teacher of the Year Award and was second in the state for Kentucky High School Coach of the Year. From 1972-1976, he was head basketball coach at the school.

One of his star players was a forward named Durand “Rudy” Macklin, who was being recruited by all the major schools of the day, including his hometown school of Louisville. But there was also a school in Baton Rouge named LSU in the mix. The Tigers were struggling to get a foothold in the SEC under the charismatic Coach Brown.

“Ron Abernathy coached Rudy Macklin,” Brown remembered on Wednesday. “It looked like he would go to (the University of Louisville). I called Ron cold and ask if we could come for a visit. He was the sweetest, nicest man. The (LSU players) absolutely loved him. He was a spark of positivity. Ron was a good human being. Well-dressed. A very good coach. He always had a smile.”

The 1976-77 LSU basketball media guide said that Abernathy was the staff’s “most eligible bachelor.” The guide also confirms that he was hired to help Coach Brown in all phases of coaching, recruiting and defense and that he was the sport’s first African-American coach at LSU.

With Macklin’s arrival along with Abernathy, they helped Coach Brown establish LSU as a basketball power, Abernathy was a part of 13 non-losing seasons at LSU, including 11 straight post-season tournament appearances, with nine NCAA appearances.

“Ron Abernathy was a 22-year-old physical science teacher at Shawnee High when we met,” remembers Macklin, LSU’s all-time leading rebounder and the school’s second-leading scorer. “He was appointed head basketball coach of our freshman squad. One year later, he took command of the varsity squad. He and I journeyed together on a mission in 1976 to lift up LSU’s basketball program from the bottom of the SEC to a national powerhouse!”

Macklin told Tiger Rag Magazine that it wasn’t to the players benefit to have Coach Abernathy take over when Coach Brown was recruiting because the assistant would make practice difficult, something the players pointed out about his former high school coach.

“They could not believe how tough he was on us,” Macklin said. “He was real particular about details. I can still hear him, ‘Do it again. Run that play again.’ He wouldn’t stop. He made us better players. But I remember one time, coach Brown came back to see us after practice, and we were all just exhausted. And Daddy Dale didn’t leave Ron alone with us again for a long time. He was something else. He just loved coaching.”
Brown called him the unsung hero in LSU’s emergence as one of the nation’s premier basketball programs. He was instrumental in LSU’s incredible success in the 1980s – four NCAA Regional Championship games, two NCAA Final Fours (1981, 1986), three SEC Championships and LSU’s only SEC Tournament title in 1980.

Besides Macklin, whose number is retired at LSU, Abernathy brought in players like DeWayne Scales (1977-80), sixth man Willie Sims (1977-81), Ethan Martin (1977-81), Leonard Mitchell (1980-84) and Greg Cook, just to name a few.

Abernathy coached in the 1981 Final Four season a young point guard from DeRidder, Louisiana who would sit next to him on the bench as an assistant coach during the 1986 NCAA Final Four season. Johnny Jones played under Coach Brown and Abernathy and later would serve as assistant coach under the Brown-Abernathy duo.

Jones would later embark on his own head coaching career that included a five-year stint as head coach of the Tigers. He has returned to Baton Rouge this past spring and is part of the coaching staff for returning head coach Will Wade.

“Ron Abernathy recruited me out of high school, and following my playing career, we had the opportunity to work together for several years. He was a tremendous role model who constantly emphasized the importance of representing your family, team, and school with pride and integrity.”

“Coach Abernathy believed that success began with giving your best effort, maintaining a positive attitude, and treating others with respect,” Jones said. “His tireless work ethic and unwavering optimism were contagious, leaving a lasting impact on everyone who had the privilege of knowing and working with him.

Before leaving to become the head coach at Tennessee State University prior to the 1989-90 season, Abernathy helped Coach Brown wrap up the recruiting of one of LSU’s all-time greats – iconic center Shaquille O’Neal.

Abernathy was head coach at Tennessee State University, 1989-1991, before returning to Louisiana to work for Gov. Edwin Edwards. In 1992, he served as a social worker at Pasco Middle School in Dade City, Florida. He later coached basketball again at River Ridge High School in New Port Ritchey, Florida.

In 2006, he was named athletic director at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee and also coached the basketball team, becoming the winningest coach in Lane College history. In 2012, he was teaching kindergarten at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Jackson, where he also served as athletic director and coached the boys and girls middle school basketball teams.

In 2014, Abernathy became head coach of the Humboldt High School boys’ basketball team in Humboldt, Tennessee. In 2019, “Coach Ab” was named Boys Basketball Coach of the year in Tennessee.

In his career, he has coached players from fourth graders up through NCAA Division I basketball.

He is survived by his wife Sharon, son Ron Jr., and his daughter, Charity. Funeral arraignments are pending.

“His influence extended far beyond basketball, and the lessons he taught will continue to inspire generations to come. He will be deeply missed, but never forgotten,” said Coach Jones.

(Release via LSU Athletics)

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