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Sports

Lewis' snub is unjust 

The Assassin

Ronnie Turner

Maybe one day those blockheads in charge of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will tell us the real reason why they haven't inducted former UH coach Guy V. Lewis into their little fraternity. Maybe they'll tell us the truth for a change.

The truth is that Lewis should already be a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, and it's beyond anyone's knowledge why the hall has yet to call him up with the good news. 

His resume says it should be different: 592 career victories (all at the same school), 27 consecutive winning seasons, 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, five Final Fours, two NCAA championship game appearances, and two National Coach of the Year Awards. Did I forget to mention that he also coached three players -- Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes and Clyde Drexler -- the NBA named to its 50 Greatest Players list in 1996?

And it's not just about the statistics, which speak for themselves. He was a great coach and efficient recruiter who led his teams to victories and kept Hofheinz Pavilion filled with fans. 

Yet 20 years after his retirement from coaching, some still debate whether or not Lewis belongs in the Naismith Hall of Fame. 

But as it turns out, Lewis and UH fans won't have to wait that long before he's inducted into a hall of fame. The National College Basketball Hall of Fame announced Monday that Lewis would be among its second class of inductees at an induction ceremony that will take place Nov. 18 in Kansas City, Mo. The NCB Hall of Fame is run by Lewis' peers, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was created last year.

Lewis, 85, won't be able to attend the ceremony because he can't travel, but he'll be formally inducted at the 2008 Final Four in San Antonio. Needless to say, the announcement caught Lewis off guard.

"I had given up," Lewis told the Houston Chronicle. "It's been 20 years that I've been out of basketball, so I thought that maybe people had forgotten. I thought it was dead, but it wasn't. I got the call, and they said, ‘You're in.' Gosh, I didn't know I was even (nominated).

But this doesn't mean the Naismith Hall of Fame is suddenly off the hook. He should be enshrined there, as well. 

Is there some sort of hidden bias held by some of the members of the committees who consider Lewis' candidacy? Or could these guys be a bunch of know-nothings? Maybe it's a combination of both.

Or maybe it's because Lewis never won the "big one," a mostly weak argument. That's like saying former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino can't be considered an all-time great quarterback because his team never won a Super Bowl.

Fact is, Lewis twice led the Cougars to the big game and came up short of reaching the big game on three other occasions. 

Still, the Naismith committees continue to turn a blind eye to all these accomplishments and refuse to induct Lewis while he's alive.

Boy, does the truth ever hurt.

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