Ten years later, we still miss Wayman Tisdale so much

[TulsaWorld]

Wednesday marks the 10-year anniversary of Wayman Tisdale's death.

From Guerin Emig...

Our minds dance and for a moment it is lovely to picture Wayman Tisdale still with us.

He’s a little bulkier than he was at Booker T. Washington or the University of Oklahoma, but that turnaround from the left block is as automatic as ever when he’s horsing around at some get-together at Nathan E. Harris Field House or the Lloyd Noble Center.

He’s a little grayer around the chin, but his head is still bobbing as his fingers tease the bass guitar at the jazz concert on Guthrie Green.

He’s still smiling — Wayman’s twinkle could power our state — and that makes us smile. That makes us happy.

That’s why we miss Wayman so much and want him back so badly 10 years after he left us. Shooting hoops, strumming his guitar or just being around, he made everyone feel better.

“It wasn't a mantel that Wayman realized he was placed upon. I think it was just natural,” says William Tisdale, Wayman’s brother and teammate at Booker T. and OU. “He could meet the CEO or the janitor and treat them with equal respect. He would meet normal people on the street and they felt like they were the stars.”

“Wayman was always positive and upbeat,” says Weldon Tisdale, older brother to Wayman and William, “and I believe if he were here today he would be encouraging individuals to remain positive and upbeat, and to treat each other with care and concern and love that would supersede anything that’s currently going on around us.”

 

[TINY]

RIP to the GOAT

 

[Northbase]

thank you for posting this.

 

[slappy in OP]

Wayman was the best. RIP legend ldwt356:

 

[jmizzy4ou]

WWT!!!!! Wonderful Wayman Tisdale!!!!!

 

[TulsaWorld]

From Bill Haisten: Karl Malone nailed it — ‘Wayman gave more than he took from life’

On May 15, 2009, a few hours after the 44-year-old Tisdale died at St. John Medical Center, Malone called the Tulsa World newsroom.

“Every memory I have of Wayman is positive,” Malone said, “except for the time he took that last-second shot against us in the NCAA Tournament. The ball rolled around for eight seconds before it finally fell through.”

During the 1984-85 season, Malone’s Louisiana Tech team and Tisdale’s OU Sooners clashed twice. OU prevailed 84-72 in the All-College Tournament. In an NCAA Sweet Sixteen rematch, the Sooners won 86-84 as Tisdale scored with two seconds left.

“Wayman gave more than he took from life,” Malone continued. “I spent enough time around him to see that he never wavered. He never changed.

“I have nothing but good things to say about Wayman Tisdale. There will always be a void in our power-forward family. My condolences to the whole Sooner Nation.”

Also, out of personal curiosity --- I was looking through our archived photos of Wayman. Was he left-handed by any chance? Asking because my daughter is

 

[MsProudSooner]

From Bill Haisten: Karl Malone nailed it — ‘Wayman gave more than he took from life’



Also, out of personal curiosity --- I was looking through our archived photos of Wayman. Was he left-handed by any chance? Asking because my daughter is

I think so.

 

[Soonerinkc]

I was going to kstate at time...I grew up an OU fan due to family in Medford and the OU/nu football games...

BUT...I lived in ks so ksu was my destiny...OU was playing ksu at the old field-house in Manhattan...I went to just see WT...

BOOMER~

 

[jmizzy4ou]

From Bill Haisten: Karl Malone nailed it — ‘Wayman gave more than he took from life’



Also, out of personal curiosity --- I was looking through our archived photos of Wayman. Was he left-handed by any chance? Asking because my daughter is

Yes he was left handed, and had the softest, sweetest, left handed turn around jumper ever. If he caught it on either block, he would use his strength and big rear end to get position on any defender, turn and launch his patented jumper off the glass. He scored so many points with his left handed, turn around jumper off the glass.....

Toby Keith spoke of him being left handed in his song Crying for Me..... " Play your upside down, left handed, backwards bass guitar, and I'll see you on the other side superstar.......

 

[vbdad]

Best left hand turn around jumper ever! My favorite athlete of all time.

 

[Sooner04]

I wrote this the day he died. I can't believe it has been TEN years.

I can still hear it. It's funny the things you remember from your childhood. I can barely see Michael Irvin chugging down the west sideline. I can also see Keith Jackson, #88, going for 88 up the east sideline.

But I can hear Wayman.

In the womb, and as a toddler, I took a seat at the Lloyd Noble Center in what was then Section LE-3. My first games as a human being were played in the fall of 1982 when OU featured a devastating freshman named Wayman Tisdale.

He was there with me as I grew up. There's my parents, video recorder in hand, videotaping their baby boy. That's me. I've got goofy, black sunglasses on and a microphone in my hand. Who's your favorite player? I'd answer just like the PA guy would after another Wayman turnaround jumper..........."WAYMAN TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISDALE!"

Lots of kids wore #23 in basketball for Michael Jordan. Not me. I wore it for Wayman. Lots of people throw batting averages and stats around. I always remembered a cool one: 2,661. That's the number of points Wayman scored in three years at OU.

Lots of people came to OU Basketball this year and became fans. For them, the foundation of their fandom begins with Blake Griffin. I'm happy for them, but I'm different. Mine begins with Wayman Tisdale, the greatest basketball player in the history of the University of Oklahoma.

Next time OU Basketball comes up, don't forget to mention Wayman Tisdale. Talk about the turnaround jumper that was pure buttermilk. Remind people of the smile that had more wattage than your local power grid. Most of all, remind them of the person. I met him once, in 1997, and he was very, very kind. As far as I know, he was that way to everybody.

My favorite Sooner of all-time is gone, but I won't let him be forgotten. The record speaks for itself.

Points - 2,661 (25.6 PPG)
Rebounds - 1,048 (10.1 RPG)

61 points against UT-San Antonio in 1984
55 points against SW Texas in 1985
51 points against Abilene Christian in 1983
46 points against Iowa State in 1983
44 points against Hawaii in 1983

Wayman played 104 games in Crimson and Cream. He went for more than 30 in 32 of them.


Goodbye, Wayman. You were the best, and I'll miss you.

In the fall of 2002 I began interning in the Channel 9 sports department. Thursdays weren't so bad because there was high school football to watch, chart and edit.

But Tuesdays were brutal.

So, about three weeks into my three month, twice a week internship, I began to spelunk around the department's video archives. I watched Abe Lemons get tossed in a game against Oklahoma Christian. I watched Stan Chase, the sports department's cameraman, go deep into the reasons why the US Open bowling conditions at Boulevard Bowl in 1988 would be far different than what the house bowlers were used to.

But what I really loved was watching Wayman. The Georgia Tech game in '85? Check. Syracuse in '84? Check. The two meetings with the Mailman and La Tech during the '85 season? Check.

But the one that blew me away was the 55-point game against Southwestern Texas. Wayman would come down the floor, post up, and score. There was absolutely nothing to it. It was like watching some sort of bionic scoring machine. He'd make a move and score. Next time he'd fake the first move and go to another move to score.

Then the turnaround.
Then the fadeaway.

The great ones make it look effortless. Wayman looked like he was in a rec league back home in Tulsa.

I'd wear those tapes out. Defenses would throw the kitchen sink at him and it was useless. Once he got the ball down in that block you might as well start jogging back down the floor because it was money. WAYMAN TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISDALE!

I saw Blake Griffin go for 40 and 23 against Texas Tech in Norman. As we left the arena I heard all these people talking about how they'd just witnessed the greatest performance in Sooner history. I smiled, but I didn't nod. I let them have their thoughts, but I knew better.

Why? Because I'd seen better. I saw Wayman Tisdale.

 

[BoulderSooner]

thanks for reposting

 

[TulsaWorld]

One more story from Guerin Emig's Sunday column...

A postscript to our Wayman Tisdale tribute in last Wednesday’s Tulsa World, courtesy of an email from Craig Brock in Tullahoma, Tennessee:

“We moved from Oklahoma when I was nine. I had always wanted to go to Wayman’s summer basketball camp. It never worked out when we lived there, but my Dad drove me back to Tulsa from Orlando for his camp after we had been gone a few years. All of my AAU teammates were going to bigger camps, and in that part of the country nobody had ever heard of the Wayman Tisdale basketball camp in Tulsa. Didn’t matter. Wayman was bigger than life to me as a kid.

“I am not one of those hero type people. However, as a kid, I thought Wayman was the most awesome thing I had ever seen on a basketball court. I had heard my dad talk about how good a guy he was but as a kid that did not resonate with me. I was more interested in the duck in, post turnaround move that he abused the entire country with his whole career. Until that summer camp...

Mr. Brock went on to describe himself as an outsider at that camp, since most of the other boys knew each other. He took a hard foul at one point.

“Before I could get up and do anything about it, Wayman stopped the entire camp and made all the kids huddle up,” Mr. Brock wrote. “He talked to us about how to treat your fellow man regardless of where he comes from or what he looks like. He shared some of his personal stories. We talked and he changed some lives in that gym that day.”

He certainly changed the tone at that camp.

“After Wayman’s talk there were some handshakes and apologies,” Mr. Brock wrote. “All was well with the world at Edison High School that day in 1986.”

That’s how folks generally felt being around Wayman Tisdale. All was well with the world.

“How could it be that a man could touch those he met but have the same impact on a complete stranger like me?” Mr. Brock wrote. “I am humbled every time I think of Wayman and I think about him every day. I coach basketball in Tennessee and I always talk to my players about Wayman and encourage them to look him up and see what he was about.

“Wayman was so much more than basketball. As I get older I feel that more and more.”