Guy Lewis
 Lewis, c. 1972 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 19, 1922 Arp, Texas,U.S. |
| Died | November 26, 2015(aged 93) Kyle, Texas,U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1945–1947 | Houston |
| Position(s) | Center,forward |
| Coaching career (HCunless noted) | |
| 1953–1956 | Houston(assistant) |
| 1956–1986 | Houston |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 592–279 (.680) |
| Tournaments | 26–18 (NCAA Division I) 3–3 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 5NCAA Regional—Final Four(1967,1968,1982–1984) 2SWCregular season (1983, 1984) 4SWC tournament(1978,1981,1983,1984) | |
| Awards | |
| 2×AP College Coach of the Year(1968, 1983) Henry Iba Award(1968) NABC Coach of the Year(1968) Sporting NewsCoach of the Year Award(1968) UPI Coach of the Year(1968) 2x SWC Coach of the Year (1983, 1984) Houston Sports Hall of Fame(2021) Texas Sports Hall of Fame(1994) | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2013 (profile) | |
| College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2007 | |
Guy Vernon Lewis II(March 19, 1922 – November 26, 2015) was an Americanbasketballplayer and coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at theUniversity of Houstonfrom 1956 to 1986. Lewis led hisHouston Cougarsto five appearances in the Final Four of theNCAA tournament,in 1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, and 1984. His 1980s teams, nicknamedPhi Slama Jamafor theirslam dunks,were runners-up for the national championship in back-to-back seasons in 1983 and 1984. He was inducted intoNational Collegiate Basketball Hall of Famein 2007 and theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famein 2013.
Coaching career[edit]
Born inArp, Texas,Lewis was on the basketball and football teams ofArp High School.[1]Lewis served as an Army Air Corps flight instructor in World War II. After serving inWorld War II,Lewis enrolled at theUniversity of Houstonon theGI Bill.He played center and forward on Houston's first varsity basketball team, graduating in 1947. In 1953, he returned to UH as an assistant coach, succeedingAlden Pascheas head coach in 1956. As a coach, he was known for championing the once-outlaweddunk,which he characterized as a "high percentage shot," and for clutching a brightly colored red-and-white polka dot towel on the bench during games. Lewis was a major force in theracial integrationof college athletics in the South during the 1960s, being one of the first major college coaches in the region to actively recruitAfrican Americanathletes. In 1964, his recruitment of the program's first African-American players,Elvin HayesandDon Chaney,ushered in an era of tremendous success in Cougar basketball.[2]The dominant play of Hayes led the Cougars to two Final Fours during the 1960s and sent shock waves through Southern colleges that realized that they would have to begin recruiting black players if they wanted to compete with integrated teams.
Lewis led theHouston Cougarsprogram to 27 straight winning seasons, 14 seasons with 20 or more wins, and 14 trips to theNCAA tournament.His Houston teams advanced to the Final Four on five occasions (1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, 1984) and twice advanced to the national championship game (1983, 1984). Standout players Lewis coached during his tenure at Houston included Hayes, Chaney,Hakeem Olajuwon,Clyde Drexler,Otis Birdsong,Dwight Jones,Louis Dunbar,Dwight Davis,andKen Spain.
Lewis's Houston teams played a key role in two watershed events that helped to popularize college basketball as a spectator sport. In January 1968, his underdog Cougars, led by Hayes, upsetJohn Wooden's undefeated and top-ranked UCLA Bruins 71–69 in front of 52,693 fans at theHouston Astrodome.This was the first nationally televised regular season college basketball game and subsequently became known as the "Game of the Century."It marked a turning point in the emerging popularity of college basketball. In the early 1980s, Lewis'sPhi Slama Jamateams at UH gained notoriety for their fast-breaking, "above the rim" style of play as well as their overall success. At the height of Phi Slama Jama's notoriety, they advanced all the way to the national championship game in 1983 and 1984, along the way notching consecutive 30-win seasons. In the first of those appearances, in 1983, the Cougars suffered a dramatic, last-second loss to underdogNorth Carolina Statein the 1983 NCAA Final that became an iconic moment in the history of the sport, one that solidified the NCAA basketball tournament in the cultural firmament asMarch Madness.Lewis's insistence that his teams play an acrobatic, up-tempo brand of basketball that emphasized dunking brought this style of play to the fore and helped popularize it amongst younger players.
The Cougars also lost in the 1984 NCAA Final to theGeorgetown Hoyasled byPatrick Ewing.Lewis retired from coaching in 1986 at number 20 in all-time NCAA Division I victories, his 592–279 record giving him a.680 career winning percentage. In 1995, the University of Houston named the playing surface at Hofheinz Pavillion (now theFertitta Center) "Guy V. Lewis Court" in Lewis' honor.[3]
Later life and honors[edit]
Lewis was hospitalized for a stroke on February 27, 2002.[4]He later recovered, but experienced some lasting effects from the episode.[5]From 1959 until his death, Lewis resided in theUniversity Oakssubdivision adjacent to the University of Houston.[6]Lewis was the honoree at the 2012Houston Aphasia Recovery Centerluncheon benefit.[7]
Lewis died on the morning of November 26, 2015 at a retirement facility in Kyle, Texas, at the age of 93.[8]
Head coaching record[edit]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Cougars(Missouri Valley Conference)(1956–1960) | |||||||||
| 1956–57 | Houston | 10–16 | 5–9 | T–5th | |||||
| 1957–58 | Houston | 9–16 | 4–10 | T–6th | |||||
| 1958–59 | Houston | 12–14 | 6–8 | 5th | |||||
| 1959–60 | Houston | 13–12 | 6–8 | T–4th | |||||
| Houston Cougars(NCAA University Division / Division I Independent)(1960–1975) | |||||||||
| 1960–61 | Houston | 17–11 | NCAA University Division Sweet 16 | ||||||
| 1961–62 | Houston | 21–6 | NIT Quarterfinal | ||||||
| 1962–63 | Houston | 15–11 | |||||||
| 1963–64 | Houston | 16–10 | |||||||
| 1964–65 | Houston | 19–10 | NCAA University Division Sweet 16 | ||||||
| 1965–66 | Houston | 23–6 | NCAA University Division Sweet 16 | ||||||
| 1966–67 | Houston | 27–4 | NCAA University Division Third Place | ||||||
| 1967–68 | Houston | 31–2 | NCAA University Division Fourth Place | ||||||
| 1968–69 | Houston | 16–10 | |||||||
| 1969–70 | Houston | 25–5 | NCAA University Division Sweet 16 | ||||||
| 1970–71 | Houston | 22–7 | NCAA University Division Sweet 16 | ||||||
| 1971–72 | Houston | 20–7 | NCAA University Division First Round | ||||||
| 1972–73 | Houston | 23–4 | NCAA University Division First Round | ||||||
| 1973–74 | Houston | 17–9 | |||||||
| 1974–75 | Houston | 16–10 | |||||||
| Houston Cougars(Southwest Conference)(1975–1986) | |||||||||
| 1975–76 | Houston | 17–11 | 7–9 | 6th | |||||
| 1976–77 | Houston | 29–8 | 13–3 | 2nd | NIT Runner-up | ||||
| 1977–78 | Houston | 25–8 | 11–5 | 3rd | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1978–79 | Houston | 16–15 | 6–10 | T–5th | |||||
| 1979–80 | Houston | 14–14 | 8–8 | T–4th | |||||
| 1980–81 | Houston | 21–9 | 10–6 | T–2nd | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1981–82 | Houston | 25–8 | 11–5 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Final Four | ||||
| 1982–83 | Houston | 31–3 | 16–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I Runner-up | ||||
| 1983–84 | Houston | 32–5 | 15–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Runner-up | ||||
| 1984–85 | Houston | 16–14 | 8–8 | T–5th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1985–86 | Houston | 14–14 | 8–8 | 6th | |||||
| Houston: | 592–279 (.680) | 134–98 (.578) | |||||||
| Total: | 592–279 (.680) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Ashley Southall, "Storied basketball coach helped integrate game",Honolulu Star-Advertiser(via theNew York Times;November 27, 2015), p. B4.
- ^Southall, Ashley (November 26, 2015)."Guy Lewis, Coach of Houston's Phi Slama Jama Teams, Dies at 93".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on June 7, 2022.
- ^"History & Tradition"(PDF).2008-09 Media Guide.Houston Cougars athletics. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2016-04-12.Retrieved2008-12-08.
- ^COLLEGES: MEN'S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP. New York Times. February 27, 2002.GUY LEWIS HOSPITALIZED: Guy Lewis, the former University of Houston coach who took his team to 14 N.C.A.A. tournaments and 5 trips to the Final Four, was hospitalized yesterday for treatment of an apparent stroke. Lewis, who will turn 80 next month, was taken to Houston's Methodist Hospital about 2 a.m. The university said in a statement that Lewis was under observation but was alert and speaking and would be undergoing tests to determine the severity of what doctors believed was a stroke.
- ^JOHN MARSHALL:Abdul-Jabbar Honored by College HallArchived2007-06-09 atarchive.todayAssociated Press. November 18, 2007. Notes:(Guy) Lewis, who was too ill to attend the ceremonies, led Houston to five Final Four appearances and 27 consecutive winning seasons, including the 1983 "Phi Slamma Jamma" team that came within seconds of a national title.(Lewis had suffered a stroke and gave a videotaped acceptance speech.)
- ^Stancill, Nancy (1987-08-26)."Lewis runs afoul of UH garbage masher".Houston Chronicle.Retrieved2010-01-20.
- ^"HARC 2012 Luncheon Benefit".
- ^"Guy Lewis, coach of 'Phi Slama Jama' Houston Cougars, dies at 93".ESPN Go.com. 26 November 2015.RetrievedNovember 26,2015.
External links[edit]
- 1922 births
- 2015 deaths
- American men's basketball coaches
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball coaches from Texas
- Basketball players from Texas
- Centers (basketball)
- College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
- Houston Cougars men's basketball coaches
- Houston Cougars men's basketball players
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
- National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
- People from Arp, Texas
- Sportspeople from Smith County, Texas
- Power forwards
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