TU Mourns Loss of Legendary Basketball Star Bob Patterson
11/19/2018 10:53:00 AM | Tulsa Hurricane, Men's Basketball
TULSA, Okla. –– Bob Patterson, who was a pre-eminent basketball player in the Missouri Valley Conference in the early 1950s as a 6'4" forward for The University of Tulsa, has died at the age of 86.
Services will be Tuesday, November 20, at 11:00 AM at Sharp Chapel on the TU campus. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Cascia Hall Preparatory School.
Patterson was instrumental in lifting the Golden Hurricane basketball program to national prominence in the 1950s, leading Tulsa to the school's first conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance in 1954-55.
He was Tulsa's first basketball All-American, earning honors in the 1954-55 season by Look Magazine, the Helms Foundation, Converse and the Newspaper Enterprises Association (NEA).
Patterson averaged 27.6 points and 13.2 rebounds his senior season, while leading the Hurricane to a 21-7 overall record and 8-2 MVC mark. He had eight 30+ scoring games that season and was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, while earning all-league accolades for the second straight season. In conference games, Patterson scored at a 30.5 clip per game as a senior.
As a junior, Patterson averaged 16.6 points and 6.1 rebounds. In 84 career contests, he scored at an average of 17.1 points per game and pulled down 8.1 rebounds for the Hurricane.
More than 60 years later, Patterson's 773 points in 1954-55 still ranks as the second-most points for a single season in school history. He also still ranks among the school's top-15 for career points (1,440) and rebounds (683).
Patterson came to Tulsa from East High School in Kansas City, Missouri and was a freshman in 1951-52, playing for Clarence Iba throughout his Tulsa career. He was the first Tulsa player drafted into the NBA, taken by the Boston Celtics in the 1955 draft.
He was also the first TU basketball player to have his number (30) retired by the University and was also inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982, which was the first induction class in school history.