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

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

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 * Coac ...

. The

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

native was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of his alma mater

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas, United States. 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 ...

(1976–1980, 2003–2006), the

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

(1980–1994) and

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

(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 college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840, Southwester ...

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, and according to 2024 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 101,344. It is no ...

, 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 university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

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 ...

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. 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 ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, 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 city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

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 (appro ...

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 The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

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

Montagne Center Neches Federal Credit Union Arena at the Montagne Center, built in 1984, is a mixed-use 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 ...

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 Tubbs'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 List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

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. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-de ...

impression.

Head coaching record

References

External links