Basketball pioneer Winter was MU coach
Founder of ‘Triangle Offense’ dies at 96
Tex Winter, the innovative “Triangle Offense” pioneer who assisted Phil Jackson on NBA championship teams with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, has died. He was 96.
Kansas State University said Winter died Wednesday in Manhattan.
Winter began his coaching career as an assistant at Kansas State in 1947, before being named the head coach at Marquette in 1951.
Hired at age 29, he was the youngest coach in college basketball. His teams finished 25-25 in two seasons at MU.
According to a story written by the Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley in 2011, Marquette's athletic director, Conrad Jennings, wrote to
Winter asking him if he was interested in the head coaching job. He was one of about a dozen candidates interviewed by MU.
A series of long-distance phone calls sealed the deal.
In his first season, according to a report, Winter landed most of the top high school players in Wisconsin.
“I learned so much from Coach Winter. He was a pioneer and a true student of the game,” Michael Jordan said in a statement emailed to the Chicago Tribune. “His triangle offense was a huge part of our six championships with the Bulls. He was a tireless worker. Tex was always focused on details and preparation and a great teacher. I was lucky to play for him. My condolences to his family.”
Winter published “The Triple-Post Offense” in 1962 and teamed with Jackson to use the system to great success with Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Winter assisted Jackson on championship teams with the Bulls in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998, and the Lakers in 2000, 2001, 2002. He was a consultant with Los Angeles’ 2009 title team, and the Lakers also won in 2010.
“Tex Winter was a basketball legend and perhaps the finest fundamental teacher in the history of our game,” said Bulls President John Paxson, a former player under Winter. “He was an innovator who had high standards for how basketball should be played and approached every day. Those of us who were lucky enough to play for him will always respect his devotion to the game of basketball. His contributions to the Bulls organization will always be remembered.”
Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011, Winter spent more than six decades in coaching. He was 451-336 as a college head coach.