Sports
 

Cougars became Houston heroes at UH

Hakeem Olajuwon

men's basketball player, center

• UH connection: made it to three consecutive NCAA Final Fours (1982, 1983, 1984)

Facts: Only player to win NBA MVP, Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in one season (1994). Led Houston Rockets to two NBA championships (1994, 1995), All-time NBA leader in blocked shots. One of 50 Greatest NBA Players

Acknowledged as one of the greatest — and possibly the most refined — centers in NBA history, Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon began his long and storied career at UH. He went on to play in three Final Fours, two National Championship games, win two NBA Finals Most Valuable Player awards and an Olympic gold medal. Not bad for someone who didn't start playing basketball until he was 15.

In 1982, he teamed with Clyde Drexler and the Houston Cougars to help head coach Guy V. Lewis build Phi Slama Jama, into one of the best teams in NCAA basketball history — not to win a National Championship. Olajuwon averaged 16.8 points, 13.5 rebounds and 5.6 blocked shots per game in has last year at UH. The Houston Rockets selected him with the first overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, beginning a pro career that brought the city its first big-time world championship.

In 1994, he became the first player to win the NBA's Most Valuable Player award, the Finals MVP and the Defensive Player of the Year award in the same season.

Clyde Drexler 

men's basketball player

• UH connection: Helped lead UH to two consecutive NCAA Final Fours (1982, 1983)

Facts: Selected as NBA All-Star 10 times, member of 1992 Olympic "Dream Team", NBA champion with Houston Rockets (1995), Selected as one of NBA's 50 Greatest Players. 

Clyde Drexler embodied Phi Slama Jama in the early 1980s. Drexler played forward for a Cougar team that came within a basket of winning the National Championship in 1983.

The Houston native was one of the most gifted athletes to ever play the game. His ability to coast from one end of the court to the other and slam a signature dunk earned him the moniker of "The Glide." 

Drexler led the Trailblazers to two NBA Finals, losing to Detroit in 1990 and Chicago in 1992. For much of his career, Drexler was regarded as one of the game's premiere guards and earned a spot on the NBA's list of its 50 greatest players.

Drexler returned to Houston during a 1994-95 season in a trade that reunited him with Olajuwon. Drexler helped guide the Rockets to their second World Championship in as many years. He retired in 1998 to return to the Cougars as head coach. Though he could not rekindle the magic of the early 1980s and resigned after two years, Drexler is still a UH legend.

Elvin Hayes 

men's basketball, center

• UH connection: member of Cougar men's basketball team, 1965-68

Facts: Led houston to Final Four (1968), three-time All-America selection, National Player of the Year (1968). 

Elvin Hayes was the first truly great player in the UH men's basketball program, and he left his mark on the court and in the memory of Cougar fans. 

Dubbed "The Big E" after the World War II aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Enterprise, Hayes was a three-time All-American, and the 1968 consensus National Player of the Year.

He led Houston to an 81-12 record in his three seasons, including Houston's first NCAA Final Four in 1967-68, and to a perfect 28-0 record during the regular season.

Hayes and the Cougars took on No. 1 UCLA on Jan. 20, 1968 in what has been dubbed the "Game of the Century," leading Houston to a 71-69 upset win over the Bruins in the Astrodome, and helping to put college basketball on the national radar. 

"The Big E" finished his NBA career with the Houston Rockets and averaged 21 points and 12.2 rebounds during his 16 years in the league. Hayes is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and was the first Cougar to have his jersey retired. He was also selected as one of the 50 greatest players.

Andre Ware

football, quarterback

• UH connection: Cougar quarterback (1987-1989)

Facts: Heisman Trophy winner (1989), Southwest Conference Player of the Decade (1980s) 

The first and only Cougar to win college football's Heisman Trophy, Andre Ware perfected then-head coach Jack Pardee's run 'n' shoot offensive scheme.

In his final season as a Cougar, the consensus All-American smoked the opposition for 4,699 yards and 46 touchdowns — both of which are second-most in UH history behind David Klingler — leading the Cougars to a 9-2 record. Ware finished his Cougar career with 8,202 passing yards and 75 TD passes. He averaged 303.7 yards per game and held a 143.5 quarterback rating. 

Forgoing his senior year, the Dickinson native entered the 1990 NFL Draft, and was the seventh overall pick by the Detroit Lions. Ware retired from the NFL in 1999. He now covers Houston Texans games for KILT-AM.

Fred Couples 

golfer

• UH connection: member of Cougar golf team, 1977-80

Facts: Winner of 14 PGA tournaments, including the 1992 Masters, and a member of five U.S. Ryder Cup teams.

During the 1990s, Fred Couples was one of the dominant players on the PGA tour. Twelve years after turning professional, and after having already won eight times on the tour, Couples won his first major championship at the 1992 Masters. That victory proved to everyone what the golf world already knew —that Couples was one of the most gifted golfers in a long time. 

He won five more times on the PGA Tour, but he never quite became the star that his early success indicated he would be. It wasn't from a lack of effort, and it certainly wasn't a lack of talent. It was a recurring back ailment that began to reach its nadir just as Couples was hitting his zenith as a player. 

Couples' back troubles kept him from practicing regularly, and his game suffered appreciably after the early 1990s. But he managed to pick up his game enough to earn an emotional victory at the 2003 Shell Houston Open — on his home course, in front of his hometown fans.

Carl Lewis 

sprinter and long-jumper

• UH Connection: Lewis won seven NCAA Championships for UH in 1980 and 1981.

Facts: Winner of nine Olympic gold medals in the 100-meter (1984, 1988), 200-meter (1984), long jump (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996) and 4-by-100 meter relay (1984, 1992) 

Always an enigma and never a media darling, Carl Lewis couldn't achieve the iconic status of Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods or Muhammad Ali. But his position as one of the finest athletes of the 20th century is unquestionable. Lewis dominated his sport like no other in the 1980s and continued to succeed at the highest level well into the1990s. Though he enjoyed an excellent run in World Championships and countless meets in the United States, Lewis left his most indelible mark at the Olympics. In four competitions, Lewis won nine gold medals, tying the Olympic record for total gold medals in all sports. 

His last gold came at the age of 35 in the long jump at the 1996 games in Atlanta. As a Cougar, Lewis earned seven National Championships.

Leroy Burrell

sprinter, long jumper

• UH connection: Burrell won three NCAA championships for UH in 1989 and 1990. He has coache of the UH track and field team since 1999.

Facts: 1992 Olympic gold medallist in the 4-by-100 meter relay, twice set the record time for the 100-meter dash, coached UH track team to three NCAA top-ten fnishes

Though not as flashy as fellow Cougar Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrlel remains firmly entrenched among the top track athletes of the 20th century. Burrell dominated both sprinting and the long jump at UH, 

winning three NCAA Championships in 1989 and 1990. He won a gold medal in the 4-by-100 meter relay at the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain. He broke the world record for the 100 in June 1991 with a time of 9.9 seconds. Lewis broke the record later that year, but Burrell again broke the record with a time of 9.85 seconds. Burrell owned the record — and the title of "world's fastest human" that comes with having the top time in the 100 — until it was broken by Maurice Green in 1999.

Guy V. Lewis

men's basketball head coach

• UH Connection: Coached Cougars from 1956-1987. Took the team to five NCAA Final Fours and 14 NCAA Tournaments.

Guy V. Lewis didn't invent the game played by universities across the nation, but modern college basketball owes a lot to the former Houston men's basketball head coach. The up-tempo style Lewis employed has become the norm for top-flight college programs, and it certainly served Lewis well. That style, his ability as both a coach and a recruiter, and a handful of great players took Lewis to the top of his profession. The numbers speak for themselves. Lewis' overall record is 592-279. He went to five NCAA Final Fours, 14 NCAA tournaments and three National Invitation Tournaments. He won two National Coach of the Year awards (1968, 1983).

Lewis was often accused of not coaching his players and winning merely because of their superior ability, but Lewis understood early on what many college coaches now know — if your team has superior athletes, running a wide-open, up-tempo style will help you succeed. And Lewis certainly had the players to make that system work. He coached All-Americans such as Elvin Hayes, Otis Birdsong, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. Hayes, Drexler and Olajuwon went on to become great NBA players and made the NBA's list of the 50 greatest players in the league's history.

But Lewis was also a meticulous coach who preached good defense, a trait his teams always displayed. Even the teams without great players always showed great effort and intensity, something they picked up from their coach. Lewis was a man of style as well. His trademark polka-dotted towel and flashy suits were synonymous with UH basketball.

Bill yeoman

football head coach, 1962-86

• UH Connection: Yeoman led UH to four Southwest Conference Championships and 11 bowl games.

Bill Yeoman was an innovator. The veer offense, a variation on the triple option or wishbone many teams played in the 1950s and '60s, was largely his invention. It was thanks to that offense that Yeoman came to dominate teams in the Southwest Conference for much of the 1970s. During that time, Yeoman's team captured four Southwest Conference championships. He took teams to 11 bowl games during his tenure and compiled a 160-108-8 record in 26 years at Houston. In 1976, he led his team to a No. 4 ranking in the final Associated Press poll of the season, the program's highest ranking. Yeoman's accomplishments were recognized in 2002 when he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Yeoman was also ahead of the curve in another important area. Yeoman helped break the color barrier when many universities in the South still refused to recruit black athletes. He realized if he didn't recruit the best players, regardless of their color, someone else would and could then use players to beat his team. Yeoman's decision may have been based more on practicality than moral imperative, but he did something other coaches in the area wouldn't do — and helped change the face of NCAA football.

Yeoman coached four consensus All-Americans, guards Rich Stotter (1967) and Bill Bridges (1969), wide receiver Elmo Wright (1970) and defensive tackle Wilson Whitley (1976) and numerous other award-winners.

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