Wayman Tisdale

Wayman Lawrence Tisdale ( born June 9, 1964 in Fort Worth, Texas, † 15 May 2009 in Tulsa, Oklahoma ) was an American professional basketball player and jazz musician. As a basketball player Tisdale won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic team at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. From 1985 to 1997, he played professionally in the American professional league NBA. As of 1995, the passionate bass guitar player released a total of eight albums until his death, which could be placed high on the Billboard jazz charts. In his death in 2009 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the greatest basketball players of College NCAA sports and named a Hospital of the University of Oklahoma after him. 2010 another album was released posthumously and the United States Basketball Writers Association named her award for best female and male basketball freshman in the NCAA Wayman Tisdale.

Youth

Born in Texas, the family later moved to Tisdale's Tulsa in Oklahoma, where his father was a preacher of the Baptist Friendship Church. By his own account his passion belonged first to the music and he discovered the game of basketball relatively late for itself. Nevertheless, he already developed in high school as a talented basketball player. In 1981, he met his future wife Regina, with whom he would later have four children.

College

To study Tisdale remained in Oklahoma and studied at the University of Oklahoma, where he played NCAA Division I for the high school team Sooners in the Big Eight Conference, which later became the Big 12 Conference. In all his three seasons with the Sooners Tisdale was named Conference Player of the Year as well as All-American. In addition, he was able to lead the Sooners every year in the national finals, including in his last college season 1985 to the quarter-finals Elite Eight, where they lost to the University of Memphis Tigers. The Tigers of the semi-finals was revoked for violation of NCAA regulations a year later. Although Tisdale only three of the usual four college seasons completed, he belongs to an exclusive group of 19 Division I basketball players, the same could collect more than 2,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in her collegiate career. He is considered the greatest player in the history of the Sooners and holds a total of 2,661 points ( 25.6 per game) and 1,048 rebounds ( 10.0 per game), the best values ​​of this college teams.

For the U.S. national team, which took until 1992 with only a selection of college players without professionals, he participated in the Pan American Games in 1983 in the Venezuelan Caracas as well as at the Olympics in 1984 partly in their own country. For both events, the U.S. selection could win the tournament victory and the gold medal. At the Olympics 1984 he played among others, along with Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Sam Perkins, who was to be his best man later.

Professional in the NBA

After Patrick Ewing Tisdale was selected in the 1985 NBA Draft second of the Indiana Pacers. The predecessor in the League ABA very successful franchise had little success in the NBA and could in time with Tisdale on their team even once in 1987 qualify for the play- offs, where you eliminated in the first round. In February 1989, he was traded to the Sacramento Kings, where he in the season 1989/90 initially had his most productive season in the NBA with 22.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Although intensified from 1991 with Mitch Richmond, the Kings were quite unsuccessful and reached to 1994 no 30 wins in 82 regular season games per season and were thus no chance of achieving a play-off position. 1994, the contract was canceled and Tisdale of the Phoenix Suns committed that had been 1993 NBA Finalist. Although the Suns were in each case to the best teams in the Western Conference, they parted 1995-1997 respectively before reaching the NBA semi-final series, known as the Conference Finals, from. 1997 ended Tisdale his career as a professional basketball player, in order to devote himself entirely to music.

Musician

Tisdale was next in his Fifth Quarter band active as a bass player. Already in 1995, Tisdale had not yet received a recording contract with MoJazz during his active basketball career and released later this year, his first album. As of 1996, followed by seven more albums until 2008 in the spectrum between contemporary and smooth jazz; the album Presents 21 Days (2003) is rooted in gospel music. On the album released in 2006, Way Up! were involved prominent musicians such as Jeff Lorber, Bob James, Kirk Whalum, Dave Koz and George Duke. For his musical achievements, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.

Illness and death

After a fall and fracture a bone tumor in early 2007, Tisdale was discovered. After unsuccessful chemotherapy, it was decided in summer 2008 to amputate a part of the right leg at the former professional athletes. With the then -made prosthesis Tisdale got along well. From this experience, Tisdale started a foundation to help amputees in the adaptation of dentures, because the costs are not borne this in any case of health insurance. Shortly before his death he complained of esophagitis, which led to a severe weight loss. On 15 May 2009 he died in a hospital in Tulsa, where he had previously been hospitalized with breathing problems. After he had been taken earlier in the Basketball Hall of Fame, the NCAA, named his alma mater as a result a hospital after its former students. In addition, the Association of American basketball sports journalists USBWA named their awards for best female and male college basketball freshman after Tisdale.

Discography

• Power Forward (1995 )
• In The Zone (1996 )
• Decisions ( 1998)
• Face to Face (2001)
• Presents 21 Days (2003)
• Hang Time (2004)
• Way Up! (2006)
• Rebound (2008)
• " Fonk Record: Featuring Tiz & Fonkie Planet Arians " (2010)