In a complete shock to me and the rest of the Sooner family, RDK has learned that Wayman Tisdale died this morning in Tulsa, succumbing to cancer after a two year battle.
OU alum Spencer Tillman reported the following on CBSSports.com:
College basketball legend, and my good friend and fellow Sooner, Wayman Tisdale passed Friday morning. Tisdale was just elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame this year. Tisdale’s passing comes after a two-year battle with cancer. His leg was amputated a little over a year ago.
Tisdale, a three-time All-American at Oklahoma, spent 12 seasons in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns.
Not only did Wayman attend and star at the University of Oklahoma, he also graduated from Booker T. Washington High School, which is where I graduated from as well. He was a good and decent man, and it’s truly tragic that such a nice and humble person was taken from us by such a horrible disease way too early in life.
On a personal note, I met Wayman when I was in high school at a charity basketball game while he was still in the NBA. A number of us from BTW were there in attendance. He went out of his way to come into the stands and take pictures with us and chat about absolutely nothing.
A great ambassador to the University and state is gone today. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Tisdale family.
EDITOR NOTE: WMW will resume next week.
7 Comments Received
May 15th, 2009 @10:33 am
What a great man and superb ambassador for the state and the university. He will be missed.
May 15th, 2009 @10:57 am
Extremely sad. Everytime you saw him in an interview or public appearance, he was positive, upbeat, and smiling ear to ear despite his trials. RIP Wayman, we’ll all miss you.
May 15th, 2009 @11:09 am
Wayman was larger than life for me growing up. Always had that smile on his face and was one of the most classy individuals to ever grace our presence. RIP.
May 15th, 2009 @2:14 pm
Man what a loss. For as great a player as he was on the court, there is no comparison to what an inspiration he was off of it. The guy appreciated and enjoyed life to it’s fullest and taught others to do the same thing. He worked closely with a buddy of mine Craig Gavras at the Limbs for Life Foundation in Norman. He will definitely be missed.
Boomer Sooner Wayman.
May 16th, 2009 @10:48 am
44 years seems so short, but he made the most of it. I enjoyed his music. One of my earliest memories of OU basketball is watching Wayman put on a dribbling show to kill the clock at an All College game.
May 16th, 2009 @1:00 pm
Wayman was on campus when I was. 44 years is short. When you look at his life it makes you wonder if I could do more. I’m in total shock.
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