1981–82 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

The 1981–82 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in NCAA Division I competition in the 1981–82 season. This was the first of Houston's famous Phi Slama Jama teams, led by Rob Williams, Michael Young, Larry Micheaux, and future Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler. Another future Hall of Famer, Akeem Olajuwon, played sparingly off the bench that season.

1981–82 Houston Cougars men's basketball
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Final Four
Conference	Southwest Conference
Record	25–8 (11–5 SWC)
Head coach	Guy Lewis (26th season)
Assistant coaches	Terry Kirkpatrick Don Schverak
Home arena	Hofheinz Pavilion
Seasons ← 1980–81 1982–83 →

1981–82 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 12 Arkansas †	12	–	4		.750			23	–	6		.793
Houston	11	–	5		.688			25	–	8		.758
Texas A&M	10	–	6		.625			20	–	11		.645
Baylor	9	–	7		.563			17	–	11		.607
TCU	9	–	7		.563			16	–	13		.552
Texas Tech	8	–	8		.500			17	–	11		.607
Texas	6	–	10		.375			16	–	10		.615
Rice	6	–	10		.375			15	–	15		.500
SMU	1	–	15		.063			6	–	21		.222
† 1982 SWC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Houston, coached by Guy Lewis, played its home games in the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas, and was then a member of the Southwest Conference.

Roster

1981–82 Houston Cougars men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G/F 32 Benny Anders 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Fr Bernice Bernice, LA C 50 Dan Bunce 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Conroe Conroe, TX C 52 David Bunce 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Conroe Conroe, TX G 12 Eric Davis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Senn Chicago, IL G 14 Eric Dickens 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 168 lb (76 kg) Fr Madison Houston, TX F 22 Clyde Drexler 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Sterling Houston, TX G/F 44 Reid Gettys 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Memorial Houston, TX F/C 40 Larry Micheaux 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Worthing Houston, TX C 34 Akeem Olajuwon 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Muslim Teachers College Lagos, Nigeria F 30 Gary Orsak 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Alvin Alvin, Texas G 10 Rodney Parker 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Davis Houston, TX G 24 Dave Rose 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Northbrook/Dixie JC Houston, TX G 00 Lynden Rose 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Jackson Nassau, Bahamas F 54 Bryan Williams 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Palisades Inglewood, CA G 20 Rob Williams 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Milby Houston, TX F 42 Michael Young 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Yates Houston, TX	Head coach Guy Lewis (Houston) Assistant coach(es) Terry Kirkpatrick Don Schverak Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

^[1]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 30, 1981*		West Texas A&M	W 84–73	1–0	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Dec 4, 1981*		vs. Seton Hall	L 85–87 ^OT	1–1	Byrne Meadowlands Arena (10,648) East Rutherford, New Jersey
Dec 6, 1981*		Biscayne College	W 106–74	2–1	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Dec 6, 1981*		Texas Lutheran	W 106–74	3–1	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Dec 12, 1981*		Texas-San Antonio	W 105–69	4–1	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Dec 15, 1981*		UC Santa Barbara	W 74–68	5–1	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Dec 18, 1981*		Mississippi State Kettle Classic	W 96–49	6–1	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Dec 19, 1981*		No. 6 Iowa Kettle Classic	W 62–52^[2]	7–1	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Dec 28, 1981*	No. 18	vs. Purdue Sugar Bowl Classic	W 59–58	8–1	Louisiana Superdome  New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 29, 1981*	No. 18	vs. Louisiana State Sugar Bowl Classic	W 73–69	9–1	Louisiana Superdome  New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 4, 1982	No. 18	Rice	W 63–61	10–1 (1–0)	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Jan 9, 1982	No. 14	at Texas Tech	W 78–68	11–1 (2–0)	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum  Lubbock, Texas
Jan 12, 1982	No. 10	No. 19 Texas	L 83–95	11–2 (2–1)	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Jan 16, 1982	No. 10	Southern Methodist	L 66–67	11–3 (2–2)	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Jan 23, 1982	No. 19	at No. 15 Arkansas	L 66–67	11–4 (2–3)	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
Jan 26, 1982		at TCU	L 82–85	11–5 (2–4)	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Jan 30, 1982		Baylor	W 99–78	12–5 (3–4)	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Feb 1, 1982		at Texas A&M	L 77–95	12–6 (3–5)	G. Rollie White Coliseum  College Station, Texas
Feb 3, 1982		Texas Tech	W 83–80	13–6 (4–5)	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Feb 6, 1982		at Southern Methodist	W 73–71	14–6 (5–5)	Moody Coliseum  Dallas, Texas
Feb 8, 1982		at No. 12 Texas	W 77–63	15–6 (6–5)	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, Texas
Feb 13, 1982		No. 8 Arkansas	W 55–53	16–6 (7–5)	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Feb 16, 1982		TCU	W 74–65	17–6 (8–5)	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Feb 20, 1982		at Baylor	W 78–74	18–6 (9–5)	Heart O' Texas Coliseum  Waco, Texas
Feb 23, 1982		at Rice	W 75–69	19–6 (10–5)	Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, Texas
Feb 27, 1982*		Texas A&M	W 96–93	20–6 (11–5)	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
SWC Tournament
Mar 3, 1982*		vs. Texas A&M Semifinal	W 89–76	21–6	Reunion Arena  Dallas, Texas
Mar 4, 1982*		vs. No. 14 Arkansas Championship Game	L 69–84	21–7	Reunion Arena  Dallas, Texas
NCAA Tournament
Mar 11, 1982*	(6 MW)	vs. (11 MW) Alcorn State First round	W 94–84	22–7	Mabee Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Mar 13, 1982*	(6 MW)	vs. (3 MW) No. 10 Tulsa Second Round	W 78–74	23–7	Mabee Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Mar 19, 1982*	(6 MW)	vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Missouri Midwest Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 79–78	24–7	Checkerdome  St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 21, 1982*	(6 MW)	vs. (8 MW) Boston College Midwest Regional final – Elite Eight	W 99–92^[3]	25–7	Checkerdome  St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 27, 1982*	(6 MW)	vs. (1 E) No. 1 North Carolina National semifinal – Final Four	L 63–68	25–8	Louisiana Superdome (61,612) New Orleans, Louisiana
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

NCAA tournament

• Midwest
  • Houston 94, Alcorn State 84
  • Houston 78, Tulsa 74
  • Houston 79, Missouri 78
  • Houston 99, Boston College 92
• Final Four
  • North Carolina 68, Houston 63^[4]

Rankings

Main article: 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	18	18	14	10	19	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	—		—	—	17	17	16	12	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

^[5]

Awards and honors

• Rob Williams, 1st Team All-Southwest Conference
• Rob Williams, Midwest Regional Most Outstanding Player
• Rob Williams, All-SWC Tournament team
• Clyde Drexler, 2nd Team All-Southwest Conference
• Larry Micheaux, All Midwest Regional

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year	Player	Round	Pick	NBA club
1982	Rob Williams	1	19	Denver Nuggets
1982	Lynden Rose	6	136	Los Angeles Lakers
1983	Clyde Drexler	1	14	Portland Trail Blazers
1983	Larry Micheaux	2	29	Chicago Bulls
1984	Akeem Olajuwon	1	1	Houston Rockets
1983	Michael Young	1	24	Boston Celtics
1985	Reid Gettys	5	103	Chicago Bulls

^[6]

References

1. 1981–82 SWC men's basketball media guide, p. 24
2. "Houston 62, Iowa 52". The New York Times. December 20, 1981. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
3. "NORTH CAROLINA, HOUSTON REACH NCAA SEMIFINALS". The New York Times. March 22, 1982. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
4. "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".
5. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 888–889. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
6. . Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-04-22.

External links

• Jamfest for the Ages—2007 ESPN.com article commemorating Phi Slama Jama