Hack Tison, RIP

One of Vic Bubas' foundational pieces

I took some time off, both for personal and professional reasons. One of the professional reasons was waiting out the men’s transfer portal and all that comes with it. I think Duke’s core roster has been set and I’m going to do a deep dive over the next week or so.

But first I want to acknowledge the death last week of Hack Tison, one of the cornerstones of Vic Bubas and Duke’s mid-1960s dominance.

First, let me disabuse you of an urban myth. His given name was R. Haskell Tison; no idea what the R stood for. So, Hack derived from Haskell not any propensity to commit fouls.

Tison starred in Geneva, Illinois, averaging almost 30 points per game as a senior at Geneva High School.

There was no McDonald’s All-America team in those days but the Parade Magazine All-America team was a big deal. Tison was named second-team, along with future Duke classmate Brent Kitching. This was the Duke class that would have included Bill Bradley, had Bradley not reneged on his commitment at the last possible minute.

That Duke class also included point guard Denny Ferguson, who, like Tison would be a two-year starter for Bubas; Kitching never panned out.

One doesn’t think of Illinois as a primary Bubas recruiting area but Tison was the first Bubas recruit from that state and was followed by Ron Wendelin, Fred Lind, Dave Golden and Tony Barone, among others.

Tison was variously listed at Duke as anywhere from 6-10 to 7-0, mostly the former. He was on the thin side, ran the floor better than most players his size, could score in transition or at the rim, mostly on stickbacks or a left-handed hook shot.

He was a superb shot blocker. They didn’t keep stats on blocked shots in those days and Tison’s career at Duke overlapped with that of Billy Cunningham’s at UNC. Cunningham’s nickname was “the kangaroo kid,” which should give you some idea of what he could do around the basket. So, I can’t state with absolute certainty that Tison would have led the ACC in blocks had they bothered counting them. But he would have been top two in 1964 and 1965, I suspect.

Tison was a sixth man as a sophomore, in 1962-’63. I’ve long argued that that team had the best frontcourt in Duke history. Inclined to disagree? Well, Art Heyman, Jeff Mullins and Jay Buckley combined for 56 points and 29 rebounds per game, with Buckley and Mullins making 60% and 55% from the field respectively.

And Heyman was national player of the year.

Tison showed promise, averaging 4.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game off the bench.

That was Duke’s first Final Four team, of course. Tison had 11 points and six rebounds in the loss to Loyola and 11 points and 11 rebounds in a consolation win over Oregon State.

Oregon State’s 7-foot All-American Mel Counts shot 9 for 30 from the field in that game and Tison had something to do with that.

Heyman graduated and Bubas took the bold step of starting 6-10 Buckley and Tison in 1964, twin towers before that term had been invented.

Some context. Few teams had one competent player that big in those days. Really good teams started 6-5 centers. UCLA went undefeated in 1964 and their starting center was 6-5 Fred Slaughter. St. Joseph’s was a national power. Their starting center was Cliff Anderson. He averaged 14.6 rebounds from 1965 through 1967. He was 6-4.

In other words, starting Buckley and Tison together was unicorn stuff.

And it worked. Mullins was Duke’s best player, by far. But both Buckley (13.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg) and Tison (11.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg) made second-team All-ACC. Tison shot 50% from the field. He scored 27 points in a one-point loss to Kentucky, 23 points in a win over Clemson, 24 points and 15 rebounds in a win over North Carolina. 19 points and 10 rebounds in a win over NC State.

Duke went 13-1 in the 1964 ACC and won the conference tournament convincingly. Tison was named second-team All-ACC Tournament after a 15-point, 11-rebound game in the title game, an 80-59 win over Wake Forest.

Tison had 13 points in a win over Villanova and 14 in a win over Conneticut as Duke advanced to the Final Four. Tison had 12 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Michigan that sent Duke to its first title game.

It did not go well for Tison. John Wooden did play 6-7 Doug McIntosh over Slaughter to get some more size against Duke but even then his frontcourt players were simply too quick for Tison. Bubas replaced Tison with sophomore Jack Marin, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Tison had seven and one in limited action.

UCLA won its first national title, 98-83.

Mullins, Buckley and guard Buzzy Harrison all graduated from that 1964 team. In an alternate universe, the 1965 team becomes Tison’s team.

But in this one, juniors Marin and Steve Vacendak become starters, sophomore Bob Verga moves up to the varsity and Tison remains a complementary player, 12.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, 50.6% from the field. Despite better stats than 1964, Tison somehow missed making All-ACC in 1965.

That 1965 team remains one of the greatest what-ifs in program history. Without a shot clock or 3-point shot, Duke averaged 92.4 points per game. That remains the best in school history. They scored 136 points against Virginia, still a school record. Duke finished first in the regular season and entered the ACC Tournament ranked eighth in the AP poll.

Tison had 19 points and six rebounds as Duke defeated Wake Forest 101-81 in the semifinals. They met NC State in the title game. Duke had edged State twice in the regular season, with Tison having 21 points and 12 rebounds in an overtime win in Cameron.

But the Devils fell victim to the greatest where-did-that-come-from performance in ACC history. Unheralded Larry Worsley came off the bench and hit 14 of 19 from the field for the Pack, keying a stunning 91-85 upset.

Tison was 1 for 7 from the field in the final game of his career.

State went to the NCAAs and shot 26% from the field in a 66-48 loss to Bradley and Princeton.

Had State played to its mean in the ACC Tournament, I think Duke makes the 1965 Final Four, Bradley notwithstanding. Duke had more talent than Princeton, more depth and lots of Final Four experience from 1964.

I don’t think they get past Michigan in the Final Four. They did beat Michigan in the 1964 Final Four but the Wolverines were better in 1965 than they were in 1964. In fact, they beat Duke in Durham earlier in the season, 86-79. Tison had 12 points and 12 rebounds. But his Michigan counterpart All-American Bill Buntin had 17 and 14 and Michigan out rebounded Duke 48-32.

But it would have been a great contrast, Duke’s speed and fast-break prowess against Michigan’s size and physicality. Tison would have been surrounded by 235-pound post players.

Not to be.

The Boston Celtics selected Tison 56^th (sixth round) in the 1965 NBA draft. There were only nine teams in the NBA back then, roster spots were hard to come by and salaries were meh. Tison told the Celtics no thanks and started a long career with IBM, where he worked in the technology area.

Tison ended his Duke career with 799 points (9.4 per game) and 583 rebounds (6.9 per game). One second-team All-ACC season. Surrounded by talent like Heyman, Mullins, Marin, Vacendak and Verga, Hack Tison was a connoisseur’s complementary player, the kind of player every championship team needs. Defended, played off the stars, showed up. He missed one game at Duke, only fouled out seven times.

And Duke was a championship team during his tenure, 73 wins, 13 losses, 38-4 in the ACC, three regular-season first-place finishes, two ACC Tournament titles, two regional titles, the kind of success Duke had never had before and Hack Tison was a big--in several meanings of the word--part of that.

A life well led. RIP.