Ricky Byrdsong

Ricky Byrdsong (June 24, 1956 - July 3, 1999) was a former Northwestern University basketball coach who was murdered by spree killer Benjamin Nathaniel Smith. Byrdsong coached the Wildcats from 1994 to 1997, leading them to a National Invitation Tournament berth in 1994.

Walking with his children in Skokie, Illinois, he was fired at seven times; an autopsy later revealed a severed aorta and attributed internal bleeding as the cause of death.