Scotty Robertson, American basketball coach (New Orleans Jazz, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons), died from cancer at 81.

Robert Scott Robertson, III , known as Scotty Robertson, was an American basketball coach of four NBA teams. He was the first coach for the New Orleans Jazz (now the Utah Jazz), and he later coached the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons. He also has a stint as assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, and the Miami Heat.^[1]

(February 1, 1930 – August 18, 2011)


Robertson was born in  Fort Smith in western Arkansas. As a sixth grader, he moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he played basketball and baseball for C.E. Byrd High School, from which he graduated in 1947. He attended the University of Texas at Austin but graduated in 1951 from Louisiana Tech University. He obtained a master's degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.^[1] After his graduation from Louisiana Tech, he played baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization before returning to basketball as a coach.^[2]
Robertson coached at Byrd High School for eight years, having accomplished a 163-91 record. He then coached at Louisiana Tech from 1964 to 1974. There he amassed a 165-86 record and during the early 1970s led the Bulldogs to a No. 1 ranking in the national college division. The Bulldogs procured three championships in the former Gulf States Conference under Robertson's tutelage and also entered two National Collegiate Athletic Association tournaments.^[1]
Robertson was nominated to eight athletic halls of fame and was a Louisiana Tech "Alumnus of the Year" for the university school of education. He was a member of the Louisiana Tech Letterman Club and the Byrd High School Super Stars. Robertson was also a classic car collector.^[1]
At the time of his death of lung cancer at the age of eighty-one, Robertson was residing in Ruston, the location of Louisiana Tech, with his wife the former Betty Lou Lancaster, a member of a prominent family originally from Tensas Parish in eastern Louisiana.^[3] He was survived by his daughters, Libby Robertson Power (husband Robert) of Frisco, Texas, Claudia Robertson Fowler (husband Royal) of Franklin, Tennessee, and Vicki Robertson Page of Ruston. He had ten grandchildren.^[1]
Services were held on August 21, 2011, at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Ruston. Interment followed at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Ruston.^[1]
His obituary describes him, accordingly: "Despite compiling significant accolades in his professional career, no list does justice in describing a man that touched so many, angered so few and was respected and revered by all. Knowing the man was the only true description of his greatness. For those who knew him, he will never be forgotten. His love will carry on forever."^[1]

 

 

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