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TROY BURRUS - INDUCTEE #121

Hall of Fame fast fact:

Troy and Nelda Burrus celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary in July 2008. A year earlier, Troy was recuperating from broken ribs and pelvis, which curtailed his golf outings for a while. The Burruses have one daughter, one grandson, and one granddaughter.

Troy Burrus

As a 6’8” center, Troy Burrus averaged more than 20 points a game, topping the Border Conference in scoring with his signature sky hook shot. Burrus did not make the Canyon High basketball team his freshman year and barely made it his sophomore year. His senior year he was averaging 20 points a game and led Canyon to the 1950 Class A state championship, which earned him many college offers.

Burrus attended WT; he was an 80 percent foul shooter and still holds the WT record for free throws made in his career. He ranks No. 8 on WT’s all-time career scoring list.

In the summers, Burrus waited tables in the Catskills Mountains in New York. He worked out and played pick up games with coworkers, which got him noticed and drafted by the Boston Celtics, but he chose to play and work for the Phillips 66 AAU team.

He moved back to the Panhandle in 1959 and worked for AISD for 32 years.