1981–82 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

1981–82 Houston Cougars men's basketball
1981–82 Houston Cougars men's basketball
NCAA 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

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.

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	Previous school	Hometown
G/F	32	Benny Anders	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	Fr	Bernice HS	Bernice, LA
C	50	Dan Bunce	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	So	Conroe HS	Conroe, TX
C	52	David Bunce	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Conroe HS	Conroe, TX
G	12	Eric Davis	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Senn HS	Chicago, IL
G	14	Eric Dickens	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	168 lb (76 kg)	Fr	Madison HS	Houston, TX
F	22	Clyde Drexler	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Sterling HS	Houston, TX
G/F	44	Reid Gettys	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Memorial HS	Houston, TX
F/C	40	Larry Micheaux	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Worthing HS	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 HS	Alvin, TX
G	10	Rodney Parker	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Davis HS	Houston, TX
G	24	Dave Rose	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Dixie College	Houston, TX
G	00	Lynden Rose	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Springs HS	Nassau, Bahamas
F	54	Bryan Williams	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jr	Palisades HS	Inglewood, CA
G	20	Rob Williams	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Milby HS	Houston, TX
F	42	Michael Young	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Yates HS	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 State	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	W 106–74	2–1	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Dec 8, 1981*		Texas Lutheran	W 145–78	3–1	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Dec 12, 1981*		UTSA	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. LSU 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	SMU	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 SMU	W 73–71 ^OT	14–6 (5–5)	Moody Coliseum University Park, 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)	Rice Gymnasium Houston, Texas
Feb 27, 1982		Texas A&M	W 96–93	20–6 (11–5)	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
SWC Tournament
Mar 5, 1982*	(2)	vs. (3) Texas A&M Semifinals	W 89–76	21–6	Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas
Mar 6, 1982*	(2)	vs. (1) No. 14 Arkansas Championship	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 region. 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

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

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

External links

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

[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".

[ESPN-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] "1982 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com". Archived from the original on July 31, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.

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v t e Houston Cougars men's basketball
Venues	Sam Houston Coliseum (select games; 1937–19??) Jeppesen Gymnasium (1946–1966) Delmar Fieldhouse (1966–1969) Fertitta Center (1969–present) Health and Physical Education Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Rice SMU
Culture & lore	Shasta Phi Slama Jama Game of the Century "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics