Billy Duane Tubbs (March 5, 1935 – November 1, 2020) was an American men's

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. The

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

native was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of his alma mater

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, th ...

(1976–1980, 2003–2006), the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

(1980–1994) and

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

(1994–2002). His first head coaching job — from 1971-72 through 1972-73 — was at

Southwestern University Southwestern University (Southwestern or SU) is a private liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest college or university in Texas. Southwestern o ...

Georgetown, Texas Georgetown is a city in Texas and the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 67,176 at the 2020 census. It is 30 miles (48 km) north of Austin. Founded in 1875 from four existing colleges, the oldest of ...

, where his teams were 12–16 and 19–8. From there he went to the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

to serve as assistant coach under Gene Robbins and for one year under

Bill Blakeley Billy Buie Blakeley (June 13, 1934 – October 27, 2010) was an American basketball coach. He coached at the high school, college, and professional levels. Coaching career High school (1957–1966) Blakeley served as the head basketball coach ...

. Tubbs was known for his high scoring offense and

full-court press A full-court press is a basketball term for a defensive style in which the defense applies pressure to the offensive team the entire length of the court before and after the inbound pass. Pressure may be applied man-to-man, or via a zone press us ...

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. Tubbs achieved many coaching milestones during his coaching career. He became the ninth coach in NCAA history to record 100 wins at three different schools (Oklahoma 333, TCU 156 and Lamar 121). He became the 28th coach in NCAA Division I history to record 600 wins in Lamar's 79-67 win over Texas Southern during the 2003-04 season.

Early life and college playing career

Born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, Tubbs grew up in

and attended Central High School in Tulsa. Tubbs then attended Lamar State College of Technology (now

) in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

and lettered in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

from 1955 to 1957. As a junior in 1955–56, Tubbs averaged 6.7 points and 3.1 rebounds for Lamar Tech.

Coaching career

Tubbs was an assistant at Lamar Tech from 1960 to 1971. Later, he was head coach at

from 1971 to 1973. Tubbs was the assistant men's basketball coach at the

for three seasons, 1973-74 & 1974-75 under head coach Gene Robbins and 1975-76 under head coach

. In Blakeley's first season at North Texas, Tubbs, with newly hired assistant coach Jimmy Gales, helped turn around a team that had been 6-20 in 1975, to 22-4 in 1976, averaging 96 points a game – the second highest in the nation. After that season, Tubbs accepted his first head coaching job at

for the 1976-77 season. In 31 years of coaching, Tubbs compiled a 641-340 (.653) career record, including a 121-89 record in seven years at Lamar. He guided 12 teams to NCAA tournament appearances, six National Invitation Tournament appearances, eight conference championships, three conference tournament championships and 18 20-win seasons. His 641 wins ranks 34th all-time in NCAA history. While at Oklahoma, Tubbs guided the Sooners to runner-up finishes in the NCAA Tournament (1988) and the National Invitation Tournament (1991). Basketball Weekly named Tubbs National Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1985. His 333 wins at OU are the most in school history. On May 27, 2002, Tubbs returned to

as Director of Athletics. Ten months later, on March 21, 2003, he also became Lamar's head basketball coach for the second time. In March 2006, Tubbs resigned as head coach, but remained as Director of Athletics. He was succeeded by Steve Roccaforte. On June 14, 2010, Tubbs resigned as athletic director to become special advisor to Lamar University President James Simmons on athletics. He was succeeded by

Larry Tidwell Larry Dan Tidwell (born May 14, 1953), is the Head Coach for the Dallas Christian College Woman’s Basketball Team. Before moving to Kansas, he served as women's basketball head coach from 2013–2018 at the Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros ...

. Tubbs retired at the end of August 2011. In a halftime ceremony on February 19, 2011, Lamar dedicated the

Montagne Center The Montagne Center, built in 1984, is a mixed-use Auxiliary/E&G event center that houses a 10,746-seat a multi-purpose arena and a variety of event spaces in Beaumont, Texas. The Montagne Center was designed especially for the basketball program ...

basketball floor as the "Billy & Pat Tubbs Court", named in honor of the coach and his wife. During the same ceremony the school also honored Billy's 1978-79 Cardinals squad, the first team in Lamar University history to advance to the NCAA tournament.

Death and legacy

Tubbs died in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

on November 1, 2020, after battling leukemia for five years. He was 85 years old. The long-time TCU basketball coach is immortalized in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by 'Fake Billy Tubbs' a recurring bit character on the prominent local sports radio station The Ticket. Tubbs is also remembered for doing a mean

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

impression.

Head coaching record

References

External links