The number was retired but Tisdale, in one of his many acts of humility for a man that was universally talented in almost everything he ever did, allowed griffin to wear it without a second thought.

Tisdale was born in Forth Worth, Texas but raised in Tulsa where his father was a renowned pastor. Upon his father's death, the city of Tulsa renamed an expressway after him. 

Growing up, Waymon was never too interested in basketball, but that changed in eighth grade when he had grown to the point were he could dunk. The ability to dunk changed the game for Tisdale and Tisdale forever changed the game of basketball for the perennial football powerhouse, the University of Oklahoma.

After Graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, OK, he received a scholarship from Billy Tubbs to play basketball where he immediately became a star averaging a double-double his first season, 1983 and again in 1985, his final season.  

In 1984, he was .3 rebounds per game away from averaging another double-double, but made up for it by helping the U.S 

Olympic Basketball Team win a gold medal in one of the final Olympiads before pro players were allowed to compete for the U.S.

He still leads OU in many statistical categories including scoring and rebounds and was a three-time all-American making the team in all three of his college seasons. In 1985, he was drafted to the Indiana Pacers as the second overall pick. He spent a total of 12-years in the NBA before retiring in 1997.

OU celebrated the end of his basketball career by making him the first Sooner in any sport to have their number retired.

Totals

Season		GP	-	GS		MIN		FGs				3FGs				FTs				REB		PF	-	FO		A		TO		ST		BL		PTS
1983		33	-	32		1,138		338	-	583		0	-	0		134	-	211		341		94	-	2		25		74		33		82		810
1984		34	-	34		1,232		369	-	639		0	-	0		181	-	283		329		106	-	6		25		67		27		75		919
1985		37	-	35		1,283		370	-	640		0	-	0		192	-	273		378		112	-	3		47		73		32		52		932
Totals		104	-	101		3,653		1,077	-	1,862		0	-	0		507	-	767		1,048		312	-	11		97		214		92		209		2,661

Averages

Season		MIN		FGs				FG%		3FGs				3FG%		FTs				FT%		REB		PF		FO%		A		TO		ST		BL		PTS
1983		34.5		10.2	-	17.7		58.0		0.0	-	0.0		0.0		4.1	-	6.4		63.5		10.3		2.8		6.1		0.8		2.2		1.0		2.5		24.5
1984		36.2		10.9	-	18.8		57.8		0.0	-	0.0		0.0		5.3	-	8.3		64.0		9.7		3.1		17.6		0.7		2.0		0.8		2.2		27.0
1985		34.7		10.0	-	17.3		57.8		0.0	-	0.0		0.0		5.2	-	7.4		70.3		10.2		3.0		8.1		1.3		2.0		0.9		1.4		25.2
Totals		35.1		10.4	-	17.9		57.8		0.0	-	0.0		0.0		4.9	-	7.4		66.1		10.1		3.0		10.6		0.9		2.1		0.9		2.0		25.6

After retirement, Tisdale turned to his self-described first love, music.  He recorded eight albums as a jazz guitarist and many broke the billboard top ten jazz albums including a number one album with the contemporary jazz album face to face in 2001.

Tisdale followed his father footsteps in being a very giving man, he made many donations of both his time and money throughout his life and never seemed to see it as a sacrifice in any form. He truly had an electric smile that could warm a room.

In March 2007, he was diagnosed with cancer in his knee, osteosarcoma. In August 2008, he lost his leg but seemed to being doing well making plenty of public appearances and giving interviews to various media; thus, his death on May 15, 2009 was an immense shock to all his fans. 

When you look at Tisdale's life it is rare to see someone who was so successful in so many areas: athletically, artistically, professionally, personally and spiritually. It is this immense amount of success in so many faucets of life that make him. quite possibly, the greatest Sooner ever.