BREAKFAST WITH TIFFANY WAYMAN TISDALE

Описание: Wayman Lawrence Tisdale (June 9, 1964 -- May 15, 2009) was an American professional basketball player in the NBA and a smooth jazz bass guitarist. A three-time All American at the University of Oklahoma, he was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Early life Tisdale was born in Fort Worth, Texas. His father, Louis Tisdale, was a well-known pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma, serving for 21 years as senior pastor of Friendship Church; After his death in 1997, the former Osage Expressway in Tulsa was named L. L. Tisdale Parkway in his honor. Wayman's older brother Weldon has been pastor of the church since 1997.

Growing up, Tisdale was not interested in basketball. When older brothers Weldon and William played pickup games he usually quit before they finished, retreating to the family's sandbox. However, Tisdale began taking to the sport in the eighth grade when he first learned to dunk. He met his future wife Regina in April 1981 at church. They were juniors at different Tulsa high schools, and she did not know he was one of the most heavily-recruited basketball players in the country.

Tisdale called music his "first love". Throughout his youth, and continuing through his college basketball career, he played bass guitar at his father's church. Music and church were so important to Tisdale that after recruiting him to the University of Oklahoma, Sooners head coach Billy Tubbs changed the team's practice schedule. He moved the team's Sunday practice from the morning to the evening to allow Tisdale to play at morning services in his father's church in Tulsa.
Tisdale graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he grew up. As a college player at the University of Oklahoma from 1983 to 1985, he was a three-time Big Eight Conference Player of the Year and the first player in collegiate history to be named a first-team All American by the Associated Press in his freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons. He still holds the record at Oklahoma for the most points scored by any player through his freshman and sophomore seasons. He won a gold medal as a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic basketball team coached by Indiana University's Bobby Knight, and the Indiana Pacers made Tisdale the second overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft.

As a center and power forward, Tisdale averaged over 15 points and six rebounds per game in a 12-season professional career with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. His best season was in 1989--90 with the Kings, when he averaged 22.3 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. Tisdale and Mitch "The Rock" Richmond combined to form one of the most dynamic duos in the NBA. In 1997 Tisdale retired to focus on his musical career.

In 1997, Tisdale became the first player in any sport to have his jersey number (23) retired by the University of Oklahoma.[7] When Blake Griffin was granted permission to wear it during his career at OU (2007--2009), he sought and received Tisdale's blessing before accepting it.

The outstanding freshman award in the NCAA is named the Wayman Tisdale Award.

Tisdale launched his music career with Power Forward in 1995 on the Motown Label. Primarily a bass player, he recorded eight albums, with the 2001 release Face to Face climbing to No. 1 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart. In 2002, he was awarded the Legacy Tribute Award by the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame. In an ESPN internet chat, Tisdale said his musical influences include funk bands of the 1970s. His most recent release, Rebound, was written and released after he was diagnosed with cancer.