Haven't seen this posted anywhere else. Basketball great Billy Ray Wiggins died this past weekend. He was 85.
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Haven't seen this posted anywhere else. Basketball great Billy Ray Wiggins died this past weekend. He was 85.
Great article by Jimmy Watson on Wiggins: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story...alty/70655046/
I learned a lot about a Tech legend that I never knew existed.
the bold, the beautiful, theprofessor
Good coach, better man.
Here is one by Buddy Davis -
Headline:
Tech great Wiggins passes away
By O.K. Davis
buddy@rustonleader.com
Billy Wiggins won 13 varsity letters as a five-sport (yes, five) athlete at Winnsboro High School, but it was one sport as a collegian that will be forever linked to his name.
From 1952 until 1956, he dribbled, passed and shot his way into the hearts of Bulldogs' fans and into the record books at then known Louisiana Polytechnic Institute.
Sought after by 25 colleges following his prep career, Wiggins chose Tech and the rest is history.
With his multi-talents, he helped guide the Bulldogs to two Gulf States Conference championships and a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' tournament while being honored all four years on the All-GSC team.
Wiggins passed away on Friday morning following a lengthy illness.
He was 85.
In the year in which a celebrated point guard (Speedy Smith) spearheaded another remarkable run for the program, Wiggins was the model by which all Bulldogs at that position have been compared.
He remains ranked among the Top 15 scorers in the program's history with 1,566 points. He averaged 14.5 points per game for his career and elevated his mark each season, going from 11.7 as a freshman to 15.7 as a senior.
Wiggins had race horse durability, starting for 108 consecutive games to establish a school record that stood for 25 years.
Bu
t it was as a floor leader and playmaker where "Wildcat" cemented his reputation as one of the Bulldogs' finest performers.
Pla
ying at the same time when a Boston Celtic point guard named Bob Cousey was captivating fans in the Garden with his ball handling magic, the 5-8 Wiggins was mesmerizing Tech's faithful with similar wizardry at Memorial Gymnasium.
No telling how many assists he had because such records weren't kept at the time, but suffice it to say that his numbers would've reached lofty proportions.
He was renowned for going into a lengthy dribbling exhibition once the Bulldogs salted away a lead in the final moments of a game.
"As a youngster growing up in Ruston, my Dad took me to all the Tech home basketball games," recalled former Ruston High coach/player and collegiate assistant coach Jack Thigpen. "Some of my earliest memories of Tech basketball were watching Billy Wiggins play. He could really handle the ball, could shoot and was a great passer.
"With no shot clock or rules on time, a player could maintain control of the ball. Late in the game, when Tech had the lead, Billy would dribble the clock down for several minutes. I spent many hours in my driveway dribbling, shooting baskets and pretending I was Billy Wiggins."
At Winnsboro High, he was selected All-State five times: three in basketball and two in football. He received four varsity letters in basketball, three each in baseball and football, two in track and one in boxing.
As talented as he was as an athlete, Wiggins was equally as successful as a coach.
During a 23-year period at the prep level, he logged time at Shreveport-based Captain Shreve, Trinity Heights and Southfield and North Caddo.
"I n
ever saw him play, but as a coach he was outstanding," said Tech Hall of Famer Leon Barmore, a former high school and collegiate head coach. "I coached against him when I was at Ruston High and he was at Captain Shreve. He was also Scotty Robertson's assistant when I played at Tech. We all thought a lot of him."
Wiggins captured the Class 2A LHSAA state championship at North Caddo in 1966 prior to having some of Louisiana's top higher-class squads at Shreve in the late 1960's. His 1968-69 Gators had a 29-4 record and reached the 4A state quarterfinals, while his 1969-70 team produced a 35-2 mark and a 33-game win streak before losing in the state finals. His nine-year record at Shreve was 202-80.
He later propelled Trinity Heights to a LISA state crown, as well as finishing as a state runner-up.
"He was a fierce competitor as a player and coach," said Mike McConathy, a Tech Hall of Famer and current head coach at Northwestern State University. "Personally, as a player, his teams were one of the most difficult teams for me to play against. He always presented a different challenge."
As as assistant at Tech in 1966-67, Wiggins helped the Bulldogs capture a GSC title.
"He was among the best high school basketball coaches in Shreveport-Bossier, and the state, in the 1960s, '70s and into the '80s," said Tech journalism graduate and veteran sportswriter/blogger Nico Van Thyn. "I thought he was one of the very best fundamental teachers of the game: shooting, ball handling, passing and especially in-your-shorts man-to-man defense."
For Van Thyn, Wiggins was more than just a great coach and athlete.
"He and Amy (his wife) lived two blocks from my parents in South Broadmoor (in Shreveport). Once he retired and my Dad was retired, he would come to the house regularly -- almost daily for a few years -- for coffee.
"He got a kick out of my Dad, could understand most of my Dad's broken English, and they would talk about sports. And when Dad could no longer tend to his yard, Wiggins cut his grass every week or so for two or three years."
Wiggins is a member of the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame and the Tech athletic Hall of Fame, having received the latter honor in 1987.
"He was a true Tech basketball legend," Thigpen said.
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
Thanks Dwayne.
My first memories of Tech basketball were of Billy Wiggins. A great point guard. Tenacious is the first word that comes to mind when describing him. Because he was more mature (4 yrs of military) he was a natural leader and had a more developed game....played a lot of ball in the military. One of my all time favorites to be sure.
Another good one gone. I can't help but wonder " Who's gonna fill their shoes?" One of the "old school" that wouldn't accept less than your best. So long Coach.... You made a difference!
Coach Wiggins and my dad coached together several times over the years, and he was my basketball coach when I was a kid. Great guy, and it sucks to lose people like him.
The last time I saw Coach Wiggins was at the Tech Homecoming football game in either 2008 or 2009. I wandered from the tailgate party into Thomas Assembly Center, looking for somebody, and I ended up walking into a Letterman's Club reunion for football players, and Coach Wiggins was there. We talked for a few minutes until A.L. Williams walked over and joined us. I asked what the occasion was, and A.L. said that it was a football reunion, so I jokingly patted Coach Wiggins on the shoulder and asked, "Well why did you invite this sorry old basketball player?" Williams laughed, and Coach Wiggins smiled but got slightly defensive. "I played football here, boy!" A.L. Williams then told me a story about the football team needing players in the early 50s, but I can't remember the details of why they needed players (Korean war, maybe?). Whatever the reason, Billy Wiggins walked on the football team and Coach Williams really bragged about his speed and kick returning ability. He said that Wiggins was partly responsible for them going 9-1 in 1955. I remember Coach Williams saying, "Coach Aillet always appreciated that. We needed football players, and here is one of the best basketball players in the state of Louisiana walking on to help. Coach Aillet never forgot that."
Wiggins then went on to say that he wasn't a fan of then-Head Coach Derek Dooley because he wasn't a "Tech man" and that he would leave the first time someone "flashed a little money in front of him." That turned out to be true, but I think we all expected that. I could tell a few Coach Wiggins stories. Heck of a coach, heck of a guy, and loved Louisiana Tech University.
Good man, Excellent Coach and a fantastic player. Got to see him play his last year. Later on worked with his Dad, I asked (dad) why he left Arkansas ( beautiful state ),he said "son, I got tired of eating rabbits"
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