Hofheinz Pavilion opened December 1, 1969.
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I know it,opened in 1969.
Attended UH then, went to first game there.
In 1966 we played at Delmar.
I started graduate school at UH 1968. I attended the game of the century but personally do not recall a 1966 game again Wooden and co. Sounds like that research was wrong…
Precedent here says I wasn’t, wrong…the source of the research was wrong… 
I started watching UH basketball in the 1965-66 season also. The first meeting with UCLA that I can recall was in the national semifinals in 1967.
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UH played UCLA in December 1961 in a tournament at Sam Houston Coliseum. The Cougars shredded the Bruins 91-65, with UH using their 2-2-1 zone press to force numerous UCLA turnovers. After the game, John Wooden went over to the home of Guy Lewis to learn the press. UCLA used that press to help win their first two national titles in 1964 and 1965.
You can read about this event in detail in the book, Houston Cougars in the 1960s
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I expected to see an answer from Randy Randel. . Started think I haven’t seen a post by him in a long time.
Is Randy OK? Anyone seen or heard from him lately?
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Another fact about Guy Lewis’ legacy.
It took 28 years from his last season to the start of the Sampson era to see the resurgence of UH dominance.
Not Foster, Brooks, Drexler, McCallum, Penders or Dickey could duplicate Lewis.
Think about it. 28 freaking years.
To duplicate Lewis’ HOF legacy, it took another future HOF head coach, Sampson.
You can’t replace greatness with average…
You replace greatness with greatness.
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Thanks tigger58. I guess I am not totally going crazy with my memory. AND BTW I am with 81. I hope Randy is well. WONDERFUL guy!!!
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From the UH BB media guide:
Dec 22, 1961: UH 91 - UCLA 65
Lions Club Tourney Houston Doesn’t say venue but I will go with tigger58 at the Sam Houston Coliseum
March 24, 1967: UH 58 - UCLA 73
Final 4, Louisville
Jan 20, 1968; UH 71 - UCLA 69
Game of the Century - Astrodome
(1st Nationally televised college game)
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Foster was not average. He was a damn good coach. He was the man who had to follow Guy V and that coach was always going to have a tough go.
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Then do some instead of posting AI slop
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Another thing about Pat. He got NO support by our athletic department. I told me a story once that he had to literally hide cases of soft drinks under his desk so his player could have some.
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Between Guy Lewis and Kelvin Sampson, Pat Foster was UH’s best basketball coach. Tom Penders is runner up, and no other coach qualifies for third place. That is how bad the coaching hires were.
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This is exactly the way a saw it. My son spent 3 years on Penders’ staff as a student manager. I got to know Tom fairly well. He was very funny and had some great stories. When Pat was here and Tom was at Texas, Foster got the best of Penders. I was on the Cougar Cagers board (a hoops support organization back in the day) when Pat was here. He was a really good coach. Every other coach between Guy and Samp was not good. To be fair none of them, (Tom and Pat included) got any support or money, Samp knew that before he took the job and insisted on massive change and look where we are today!
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At the time, I liked Foster and Penders, but they were rarely able to lead the Coogs beyond the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament and NIT.
An average to good coach can win 20 games a season and qualify for postseason play whether NIT or CBI or NCAA 1st round elimination.
Great to elite coaches, like Lewis and Sampson, would often advance to the NCAA S16 and beyond, win 25, 26…30+ games a season, Final Fours or Final Two.
Regardless, it was 28-30 years of average to below average that Coogfans endured between Lewis and Sampson.
Big difference between a great coach and good/average/below average coach.
Are there any stories of UH (pre integration) ever playing TSU for fun when TSU had guys like Bennie Swain, etc?
UH and TSU played their first official game together in 2001.
However, there is a story about TSU HC Issac Moreland giving Guy V. Lewis the heads up of a phenomenal Louisiana BB prospect, Elvin Hayes.
The rest is history.
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I said above that I Lewis’ 1864-65 coaching job, pre-Big E, was the clearest demonstration of what a fine coach he was, but maybe it was actually his last final 4 team. That team had lost Clyde and Michaux, and Bennie Anders, who was expected to blossom into a star, instead started his self-destruction. I thought there was no way we could make it to the final four again, but Guy V got them there again. Three in a row. Tied for third all time, with a group of total blue-bloods.
Goose, we will have to disagree about Pat. He was underrated and under appreciated. Certainly a cut above Penders.The only reason he left for Nevada was the TOTAL lack of support he got financially. If he had he would have stayed longer and we would have wondered the desert for 30 years instead of 35. The lack of support the basketball team got post Guy V was CRIMINAL
The point I’m making is that Guy V. and Sampson were elite. All those in between were not elite.
Admittedly, Foster and Penders were good head coaches, but their postseason accomplishments at UH, despite the circumstances, didn’t come close to Lewis’ and Sampson’s postseason accomplishments.
Your defense of Foster is admirable.