Billy Tubbs, the colorful coach with the high-octane system known as Billy Ball who brought Oklahoma basketball to prominence in the 1980s died Sunday at 85 following a battle with leukemia.
Tubbs' family said in a statement that he battled a form of blood cancer since being diagnosed in 2015. The statement said he died peacefully surrounded by family. A news release from the University of Oklahoma said Tubbs died in Norman.
'Though his passing represents a tremendous loss for everyone close to him, our family is comforted by the knowledge he lived an extremely spirited life full of outstanding accomplishment in and out of sports,' the statement said.
Billy Tubbs , the colorful coach with the high-octane system known as Billy Ball who brought Oklahoma to prominence in the 1980s died Sunday at 85 following a battle with leukemia. His fast-paced offenses and relentless full-court pressure defenses led to lots of scoring, excitement and wins. His 1987-88 team, featuring future NBA players Mookie Blaylock, Harvey Grant and Stacey King, was upset by Kansas in the NCAA title game. Tubbs also coached Wayman Tisdale , a three-time AP All-American. Tisdale died in 2009 following complications from radiation treatments for his esophageal cancer
Many rivals paid tribute, such as Oklahoma State, which posted several pictures on social media showing Tubbs with former Cowboys coach Eddie Sutton (upper left), who died in May
Tubbs took over a struggling Oklahoma program in 1980. The Sooners reached the NCAA Tournament just once -- for most of those years, only the Big 8 champion went to the tournament - over the 32 seasons prior to Tubbs' arrival and held a combined winning percentage of .471 from 1950 to 1980.
His fast-paced offenses and relentless full-court pressure defenses led to lots of scoring, excitement and wins. His 1987-88 team, featuring future NBA players Mookie Blaylock, Harvey Grant and Stacey King, was upset by Kansas in the NCAA title game. Tubbs also coached Wayman Tisdale, a three-time AP All-American and Olympic gold medalist. (Tisdale died in 2009 following complications from radiation treatments for his esophageal cancer)
'I remember playing them in 88 elite 8 as assistant at ,' former Wildcats coach Steve Lappas tweeted, referring to his time under head coach Rollie Massimino when they fell to Oklahoma in the Elite 8. 'Tubbs team was before it's time. Played fast shot 3s and kept the pressure on! We were up at half but they wore us out with our thin bench! It was a surprise when they didn't win it all that year. They were best team.'
Tubbs had a 333-132 record in 14 seasons at Oklahoma and was four time Big Eight Coach of the Year. In three seasons, the Sooners averaged more than 100 points per game.
Former Villanova Wildcats coach Steve Lappas tweeted about Tubbs' 1988 Sooners team
ESPN's Fran Fraschilla, the former Manhattan and New Mexico coach, paid his tribute to Tubbs
Fraschilla's son James played at Oklahoma when Tubbs was an announcer for the Sooners
'We are deeply saddened by the passing of Coach Billy Tubbs,' Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said in a statement. 'Billy is one of the most successful, popular and colorful figures in the history of OU Athletics. His passion and vision of the game defined an era of Sooner basketball and forever changed the trajectory of our hoops program.'
Tubbs coached at TCU from 1995-2002 and got the previously struggling program to the NCAA Tournament in 1998 with the help of future NBA player Lee Nailon.
He also had two coaching stints at his alma mater, Lamar, and was athletic director there from 2002 to 2011.
Head coach Billy Tubbs of the Oklahoma Sooners talks with his player Brent Price against James Madison during an NCAA College basketball game January 5, 1991 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland
In 2011, Lamar dedicated the basketball floor at the Montagne Event Center as 'Billy & Pat Tubbs Court,' named in honor of the coach and his wife.
Overall, Tubbs had a 609-317 (.658) record as a Division I head coach. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Tubbs was head coach at Lamar from 1976 to 1980 and led the Cardinals to their first two NCAA Tournaments. He was Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 1978 and 1980, and his team reached the Sweet 16 in 1980.
Perhaps his most famous moment of all came on February 9, 1989, while he was coaching Oklahoma.
The Sooners fell behind Missouri early, and fans who disagreed with a traveling call against Blaylock had thrown debris on the court. The public-address announcer told the crowd the Sooners could be assessed a technical if the activity continued.
Tubbs then took the microphone and said: 'The referees request that regardless of how terrible the officiating is, do not throw stuff on the floor.'
He earned a technical from official Ed Hightower and a standing ovation from the home crowd.
He stood by his words.
'Actually, that was a true statement,' Tubbs told the Kansas City Star years later. 'I just went up there and told the truth, right? That's why they were throwing stuff on the floor.'
For the record, Oklahoma rallied for a 112-105 win.
ESPN's Jay Bilas, who played at Duke and served as a Blue Devils assistant coach, remembered Tubbs as a 'truly great' coach and one of basketball's 'all-time characters'
Many mourners shared humorous interactions with Tubbs on Sunday. ESPN's Fran Fraschilla, the former Manhattan and New Mexico coach, shared one such memory about his son James playing at Oklahoma between 2011 and 2015, when Tubbs worked as a Sooners announcer.
'When Billy Tubbs was doing the local Sooner's men's TV package with Oklahoma announcer Bob , he'd see my son, @jamesfraschilla, before the game & say, "If you get in the game tonight, I want you to shoot the ball. None of this passing to your teammates." We'd laugh about that every time.
Bob Starkey, an assistant coach for Texas A&M's women's team, shared a joke Tubbs made about his own fast-paced offense
Many former rivals also paid tribute, such as Oklahoma State, which posted several pictures on social media showing Tubbs with former Cowboys coach Eddie Sutton, who died in May.
'Sending our deepest sympathies to the family of Billy Tubbs and @OU_MBBall,' read a tweet from the Cowboys men's basketball team Twitter account. 'We'll always remember coach Tubbs as an ambassador for the game and a great Bedlam rival.'
'I was fortunate to play against Billy Tubbs' Oklahoma Sooners, and to get to know him in later years,' said ESPN's Jay Bilas, who played at Duke and later served as a Blue Devils assistant coach. 'One of the game's truly great coaches and an all-time character. Billy Tubbs always made you smile. RIP Coach Tubbs.'
Bob Starkey, an assistant coach for Texas A&M's women's team, shared another funny Tubbs quote: 'This year we plan to run and shoot. Next season we hope to run and score.'
After his second run at Lamar, Tubbs was an active golfer. He boasted two holes-in-one, with his most recent ace coming at the age of 83 at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman.
In recent years, he would attend basketball games at the Lloyd Noble Center and go to the media room at halftime to chat with reporters.
On Saturday night, Tubbs wore a 'Cheer Like a Champion' shirt while watching the football team's win over Texas Tech.
'He was fierce competitor in everything he faced, and that was never more evident than in his final days,' the statement said.
Former OU head basketball coach Billy Tubbs speaks at Wayman Tisdale's memorial service, Thursday May 21, 2009 in Tulsa, Oklahoma