Bill Tuffli attended Highland High School from 1951 to 1954, playing four years of varsity basketball. During that time, he set single game and career scoring records of 46 and 1,945 points, respectively. As a sophomore, he was starting guard on 1953 state tournament "Sweet Sixteen" team. After high school, he attended Chipola, Florida., Junior College where, as a freshmen, he was the nation's second leading scorer with 700 points. He transferred to Joliet, Illinois., Junior College for his sophomore year and scored 605 points, third in the nation. After junior college, he was recruited by the University of Houston, where he scored 565 during his junior and senior years, while playing against major college stars, such as Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson. In 1975, Bill Tuffli was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame.