LUBBOCK, Texas — Polk Robison, whose success as Texas Tech's basketball coach helped the school break into the Southwest Conference in 1956, has died. He was 96.

Robison died early Friday, university spokesman Chris Cook said.

Robison coached Texas Tech from 1942 to 1961 and was its athletic director from 1961 to 1969.

As a coach, he had a career record of 248-195, the second-most wins in school history. His teams won three consecutive Border Conference titles. Five years after entering the Southwest Conference, the Red Raiders won the league championship.

"It was a monumental milestone in making Texas Tech a major college athletic force to be reckoned with," Walt Huffman, dean of Texas Tech University's law school and Robison's son-in-law, told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

Funeral arrangements were pending Saturday.