Following removal of the cyst, Tisdale had to cancel his music tour and start chemotherapy to treat the cancer. Last may, he fell down a flight of stairs in his home and while doctors were doing X-Rays to determine the damage to his knee, they found a cancerous cyst in his fibula. Since he was a freshman in high school, Tisdale has traveled a fairy tale path – from prep superstar at Tulsa Washington to three-time All-American at Oklahoma, the Olympic team, a decade long pro career and into a post-retirement career as a top-selling jazz musician.īut this past spring, Tisdale experienced one of the few setbacks in his life. There haven’t been too many bumps in the road for Oklahoma basketball all-time scoring leader Wayman Tisdale. As always, his spirit was infectious and his grace was immeasurable. He had survived cancer’s first attack and had not yet seen the relapse that was to come. The last time I had a chance to visit in depth with Wayman came just a year before his passing. His smile remained as broad as the ocean and his handshake as strong as his love for his family, his state and his music. Talking to Wayman at OU media day in 1984.Īlthough he didn’t have the type of NBA success he may have wanted, Wayman took another road and became a well-respected and much loved jazz musician, working with some of the top performers in the industry. His musical talents, which actually were far more developed in his youth than his basketball skills, also became a primary part of his professional life. What a pleasure it was to be able to have a front row seat as he developed into one of the best basketball players in the history of college basketball and as he became one of the greatest ambassadors the state of Oklahoma could have. Washington High School, yet to develop all the gifts he had been granted. I first met Wayman when he was an awkward teenager at Booker T. We lost Wayman Tisdale far too early at the age of 44, but his spirit and love for life stays with us today. May 15 marks the fifth anniversary of the death of one of the greatest human beings to ever walk the earth.

The Boz-and Brian Bosworth-belong in your hall of fame.

A pair of foolish incidents involving a 20-year old shouldn’t wipe out a career of excellence. Thirty years have passed since Bosworth’s “transgressions”.

He is the only collegian to ever win the Butkus Award twice, was a two-time consensus All-American and set the school record for tackles in a game with 22 against Miami when they meant something.īut his college career ended in infamy, first getting suspended for the Orange Bowl after testing positive for banned substances and then embarrassing his team and coach by wearing a T-Shirt that said the NCAA stood for National Communists Against Athletes.Īnd for that, he is snubbed by the college hall in favor of people like Joe Hamilton (Georgia Tech quarterback 1996-99) who I don’t remember at all, John Sciarra (UCLA quarterback 1972-75), Leonard Smith (McNeese State cornerback 1979-82) and Wesley Walls (Ole Miss tight end 1985-88). Brian Bosworth was a helluva college football player.įrom 1984-1986, Bosworth amassed 395 tackles, 169 unassisted, 27 for losses. Whatever you think of The Boz and his acting career, his pro football career, his reported PED use and whatever other careers he has pursued, one fact remains. And once again, Brian Bosworth has been snubbed. Another year of announcements for the College Football Hall of Fame has come and gone.

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