trying to explain the greatness of Wayman Tisdale

[jaymOU]

I have two teenage boys who love basketball and, of course, we watch ever game the Sooners play. We were talking about Buddy's performance against KU and I saw a great Tweet.

OU has four 50+ point games in history. Three of them are from Wayman, the other was Brent Price.

With all of the deserving accolades Buddy has gotten over the last couple of weeks, it just reminded me how dominate Wayman really was - and all of that without shooting any 3s.

I can remember heading out of the LNC with my dad and speculating how many points Wayman had - 20, maybe 25 - and then we'd turn on the radio and John Brooks would say Tisdale led the team in scoring with 36. I was almost desensitized to how much he scored, as it happened so effortlessly and so often.

What a player.

Given what Buddy has done over the last four years, it's likely his jersey will hang in the rafters next to Wayman someday, but as time passes it gets harder and harder for people to understand how truly great Wayman was.

Okay, trip down memory lane over Resume normal activities

 

[sheepdogs1]

He had a very soft touch which the basket seemed to like.

 

[p230]

I checked out the Documentary on Wayman from our local library for my wife and kids to watch a few weeks ago. He wasn't just great on the basketball court. A good watch if you have never seen it.

 

[opsooner]

Just focusing what he did on the court - he was undersized, everyone knew he was going to get the ball; he still got it, he still shot it, and he still scored.

 

[Sooner04]

I put this together the day WWT died. Just therapeutic for me, I guess.

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, Brandon? 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.

 

[Sooner04]

And, as a point of reference, if you double Blake Griffin's two-year scoring total it is still behind WWT's three-year tally.

 

[vbdad]

You had to see it to believe it! The left handed turn around jumper was unstoppable. Every shot looked like it should fall. He was always double teamed and usually triple teamed on the block. There was no threat of the three by the wing either so they nobody worried about it being kicked back out.

 

[Larry72]

Wayman was born to dominate collegiate ball. Billy Tubbs was a perfect coach for Wayman. Get it inside quick and shoot.

 

[Max Power]

And, as a point of reference, if you double Blake Griffin's two-year scoring total it is still behind WWT's three-year tally.

That one is the most Mind Boggling insane one. I was 6 months old when Wayman played his last game at OU so the best I have ever seen live is Blake.

 

[skyvue]

I have enjoyed so many OU players over the years, but Wayman stands above them all. I never got to meet him; I wish I had.

 

[Darwin]

Buddy has a charm on the court, he is a happy guy. This was ldwt356: every game exuding joy many times greater than Buddy does. He was a very talented guy, legit dominant player and the Billy ball system added to Wayman's numbers compared to today's pace of play but he had a magnetic personality on the court that made him a bigger than life star. The Star and the talent was what filled the stands.

 

[jmizzy4ou]

Agree with everything posted here. He was and always will be my favorite Sooner as I grew up during his era. I also remember meeting him and getting to know his brother William. His entire family were some of the best people you could meet. His dad was great as well.

WWT loved to play basketball. He looked like he was having more fun than anyone else was allowed to have, even with at least 2 to 3 defenders draped all over him at all times. My best friend is from Tulsa, and he told me some of Booker T Washington's high school games with the Tisdale brothers and their other great players, were more exciting to watch than any of the colleges playing in the state.

I remember when Bobby Knight coached the Olympic team and wouldn't play Tisdale because he didn't think he played good enough defense. Everyone around here was very angry about it. I remember the Olympic Team scrimmaged a team of NBA players at the old Myriad here in OKC. Of course everyone came to see WWT, but Knight didn't play him because of a foot injury or something that night. I sat two seats over from William during the game, and after Wayman came up from the court to greet his brother and other family members.

He smiled that huge smile and looked at William like it made his day to see his brother. You could see how close they were by their reaction to each other.

William was very good as well, until injuries slowed him down. I use to listen to the games on radio with my dad. I remember Wayman's 1st game as a freshman, he came off the bench. I believe we were playing UNLV that night on the road, and they were very good. I remember Wayman coming in and scoring over 20 points, and my dad said he is the real deal!!! He will be a star....... Boy was he CORRECT!!!

 

[Big Old Booger]

Wayman is my favorite Sooner athlete of all time. He was phenomenal and I don't know if that word is even good enough to describe him. He always had that smile even when the Sooners were down he was still smiling. He totally changed the fate of OU basketball, along with Billy Tubbs.

I was the All College game when he scored 60+ vs UTSA (I think). OU scored 120 points or so and he had half of them. We had good teams but not near the talent around him that played in subsequent years. Had WT played on that 88 team, we probably go undefeated. He never really had the perimeter players who could make the shots to keep teams doubling him and he didn't have the dominant postman like King as WT was the post 2 of his 3 years. Bedtime Jones was the post his freshman year.

He was just an unbelievable player and an even better ambassador for OU and the state of Oklahoma.

 

[usedtobe1]

That was a great tribute Sooner04. Thanks for posting it.

As great of a basketball player as Wayman was, his charisma and personality on and off the court is what I remember most.

 

[sanguinetti]

one of a kind, that's for sure.

that 85 Elite Eight team is one basket away from the Final Four....a very under-appreciated team by all Sooner fans to me....with a young Choo and TMac, DJ they paved the way for our current era (and a nod to the John McCullogh led Big 8 Champs of the previous decade).

WT's lefthand turnaround baseline J was unstoppable. so smooth there off the low block. 2 points, we're going the other way. just like that. beautiful thing.

 

[AdaSooner]

Wayman Tisdale is easily my favorite OU basketball player of all time. There are others near the top of my list, but none quite like WT. He was not just a great college basketball player, he was a great person. His personality and his great smile drew people in and made them love him.

There will never be anyone quite like Wayman! He was truly one of God's gifts to this universe.

Great job as usual on the tribute, Sooner04!

 

[vbdad]

Wayman Tisdale is easily my favorite OU basketball player of all time. There are others near the top of my list, but none quite like WT. He was not just a great college basketball player, he was a great person. His personality and his great smile drew people in and made them love him.

There will never be anyone quite like Wayman! He was truly one of God's gifts to this universe.

Great job as usual on the tribute, Sooner04!

Absolutely my favorite player of all time and there isn't anybody even close to him!

Recruiting William was the smartest thing Billy ever did.