Born in Gurdon, Arkansas, Yates was a star player at North Little Rock High School. He began his college career at New Mexico State, where he spent two seasons before transferring to Memphis.

Yates won 93 games as the head coach of the Tigers in the 1970s and was one of just three former Tigers to both play for and later coach the team.

Wayne Yates obituary and funeral announcement

Wayne Yates, a Memphis basketball All-America center who later coached the Tigers for five seasons, died Aug. 16 in Natchitoches, Louisiana. He was 84.

Yates who succeeded Gene Bartow as coach in 1974 at then-Memphis State led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in 1976, the program’s first appearance there since reaching the national championship game in 1973.

Yates also guided the Tigers to National Invitation Tournament appearances in 1975 and 1977. He was 93-49 at Memphis, and his win total is seventh-most in school history. Yates was inducted into the University of Memphis M Club Hall of Fame in 1993.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Harriet Ardala “Dala” Harding Yates, and is survived by his four children, Dawayna Dare Yates Sanders Christman, Wayne Edward Yates, Jr., Kathrin Ellen Yates, and Mary Elizabeth Yates.

The family is planning a private memorial. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his name to the American Cancer Society or your local high school basketball program.

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