George Tinsley is a retired American basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player.

Tinsley played competitively at Male High School and college basketball

College basketball

College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

 at Kentucky Wesleyan College

Kentucky Wesleyan College

Kentucky Wesleyan College is a private Methodist college in Owensboro, Kentucky, a city on the Ohio River. KWC is just 40 minutes east of Evansville, Indiana, 2 hours north of Nashville, Tennessee, 2 hours west of Louisville, Kentucky, and 4 hours east of St. Louis, Missouri...

, where he was a member of the teams that won the NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship

NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship

The NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship is an annual championship tournament for colleges and universities that are members of NCAA Division II, a grouping of schools in the United States that are generally smaller than the higher-profile institutions of Division I...

 in 1966

1966 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament

The 1966 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament involved 36 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball as a culmination of the 1965-6 NCAA Division II men's basketball season...

, 1968

1968 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament

The 1968 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament involved 36 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball as a culmination of the 1967-8 NCAA Division II men's basketball season. It was won by the...

 and 1969

1969 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament

The 1969 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament involved 32 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball as a culmination of the 1968-9 NCAA Division II men's basketball season...

, being named Most Outstanding Player in 1969. Tinsley was also a two time All American at Kentucky Wesleyan.

Tinsley was selected in the sixth round of the 1969 NBA Draft

1969 NBA Draft

The 1969 NBA Draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on April 7, 1969 and May 7, 1969 before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, 14 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. A player who had finished his four-year...

 by the Chicago Bulls

Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...

 and in the 1969 ABA

American Basketball Association

The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...

 Draft by the Oakland Oaks

Oakland Oaks (ABA)

The Oakland Oaks were a charter member of the original American Basketball Association. Formed in February 1967 as the Oakland Americans, the team changed its name to the Oaks prior to play that fall. Playing in the ABA during the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons, the team colors were green and gold.The...

.

Tinsley ended up playing with the Kentucky Colonels

Kentucky Colonels

The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the league's history, but the team did...

 during the 1969-70 ABA

American Basketball Association

The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...

 season, averaging 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in 83 regular season games. Tinsley averaged 9.5 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Colonels in 12 games of the 1970 ABA Playoffs

1970 ABA Playoffs

The 1970 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1969-1970 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion Indiana Pacers defeating the Western Division champion Los Angeles Stars, four games to two in the ABA Finals.The Indiana Pacers...

, as the Colonels defeated the New York Nets in the Eastern Division Semifinals and lost to the Indiana Pacers

Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...

 in the Eastern Division Finals.

Tinsley then played for The Floridians during the 1971-72 ABA season, averaging 3.7 points and 1.2 rebounds per game in the regular season and 2.0 points per game in the 1972 ABA Playoffs

1972 ABA Playoffs

The 1972 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1971-1972 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion Indiana Pacers defeating the Eastern Division champion New York Nets, four games to two in the ABA Finals.-Notable events:The...

 as the Floridians lost in the Eastern Division Semifinals to the Virginia Squires

Virginia Squires

The Virginia Squires were a basketball franchise in the former American Basketball Association from 1970 until just before the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.-In Oakland :...

. Tinsley was selected by the New York Nets in the 1972 dispersal draft of Floridians players upon the franchise's dissolution, but he did not play for the Nets.

Tinsley was later a successful businessman with Kentucky Fried Chicken and was inducted into the Kentucky Wesleyan College Alumni Hall of Fame.