K-State will host Tex Winter’s memorial service at Bramlage Coliseum

Kansas State will hold a Tex Winter memorial service at 1 p.m. Saturday in Bramlage Coliseum.

Doors will open at noon. Attendance is free.

The public is asked to park on the west side of Bramlage Coliseum and enter through the northwest entrance of the arena. Seating will be available at the chairback seats on the west end of the building.

K-State is calling the service a “celebration of life.”

Winter died at age 96 last week. He was best known as the architect of basketball’s famous triangle offense and one of the most successful coaches in K-State history.

The Wildcats honored Winter with a moment of silence and a video tribute at their Madness in Manhattan basketball celebration over the weekend.

Winter has deep coaching ties with several teams across the sport, as he won big at both the college and professional levels. But he has the most history with K-State.

After joining the Wildcats as an assistant in 1947 under Jack Gardner, he went on to become the head coach in 1953 and then led K-State to some of its greatest seasons. He went 261-118 over the next 15 years, winning eight conference championships and twice reaching the Final Four. He was the only person affiliated with all four of K-State’s Final Four teams (1948, 1951, 1959 and 1964).

But Winter was even more successful as an assistant coach in the NBA, where he teamed up with Phil Jackson and coached the triangle offense, which he originally named the Triple Post Offense, on 11 championship teams — six with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and five with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Many greats within the sport, including Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, have paid tribute to Winter over the past week with heartfelt words and posts on social media.