(EXCERPT) It was a time of giants. Half the teams in the Big Eight Conference had centers who would play in the NBA — Tisdale, Missouri's Steve Stipanovich, OSU's Leroy Combs and Nebraska's Dave Hoppen.
Tisdale went against them all, plus other center stars that season in Georgia Tech's John Salley, and Carolina's Brad Daugherty and Perkins, and UNLV's Sidney Green, and Indiana's Uwe Blab.
Tisdale excelled despite the same deep pool of coaching masterminds that Trae Young faces today. Jack Hartman at Kansas State. Ted Owens at Kansas. Norm Stewart at Missouri. Moe Iba at Nebraska.
And those coaches didn't have to worry about the 3-point shot, which was three years away from being adopted for the college game. Defenses could pack the paint against Tisdale and not worry about the extra point of a deep shot.
