I SAW THAT THE HOOSIERS WAS SHOWING TONIGHT
SO I HAD TO WATCH IT AGAIN. FOR ABOUT THE 8TH TIME.
IF YOU CAN WATCH THAT AND HAVE DRY EYES THEN YOU ARE TOUGHER THAN ME.
I GUESS IT MEANS A LOT TO ME BECAUSE ONE OF THE
PLAYERS ON THAT TEAM PLAYED FOR UH. WE CAME IN
AS FRESHMAN, HE WAS BASKETBALL I WAS FOOTBALL.
WHY WE STRUCK UP A FRIENDSHIP ONLY THE GOOD
LORD KNOWS. HE WAS FROM A SMALL TOWN IN INDEANA I WAS FROM TOMBALL. (ANOTHER SMALL TOWN IN TEXAS.). I CAN’T REMEMBER HIS LAST NAME
BUT HIS FIRST NAME WAS RONNIE. HE MARRIED ONE
OF THE MOST ATTRACTIVE GIRLS AT UH. HE COACHED
SEVERAL HIGH SCHOOL AS ASSIT. COACH AND FINALLY
GOT THE HEAD COACHING JOB AT CYPRESS FAIRBANK\S . I DON’T REMEMBER THE YEAR BUT THEY
WON STATE IN 3A OR 4A. I USE TO SEE HIM AND HIS
FAMILY AT THE METHODIST CHURCH IN CHAMPIONS.
THEY HAD TWO BOYS. RONNIE DIED EARLY FROM SOME
RARE VIRUS. HE WAS A GREAT GUY. I WONDER WHAT
HAPPENED TO HIS FAMILY ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG.
SEPT 1954 TWO SMALL TOWN GUYS AT UH
Gene, his name was Ronnie Truitt and he has an elementary school named after him out in the Cy Fair Independent School District.
I know that Ronnie was a coach at Frank M. Black Jr. High on West 43rd street (in H.I.S.D.) because he was my 7th grade P.E. coach (in 1963-64). I didn’t know anything about his past (at that time) but I did know he was pretty darn tall and liked hoops. IIRC, it was in 1969 when he was the BB coach at Cy Fair H.S. when they won state championship - their one & only hoops state championship.
We enjoyed meeting you & your wife at the Texas Tech FB game up in Lubbock a few years ago. Hope life is treating you well. We’re in Fort Worth this morning getting ready to attend the AAC tournament. Looking forward to another great UH hoops memory.
Wow, Hoosiers is probably my favorite sports movie, I had no idea that one of the kids was a Cougar. It appears Ronnie was portrayed as Everett Flatch in the movie, who was Shooter (Dennis Hopper) son.
Ok more to this story which makes it even more incredible.
Cy Fair actually beat Wheatley TWICE that season. The first time was in a tournament in Arlington and in doing so snapped Wheatley’s SEVENTY-TWO game winning streak.
Also, this was back in a time when only one team from each district made the playoffs. Cy Fair needed to beat Memorial to win the district. They were trailing by two with three seconds on the clock. They took the ball out from underneath Memorial’s basket.
The ball was thrown to Bobby Metcalf at half court. He “pivoted and launched the ball that ripped the net to tie the score at 71”. They didn’t have the 3pt shot back then.
What’s even crazier is they didn’t just play one overtime. Nope it went to a 4th, and then a 5th and then a 6th overtime before Cy Fair won the game. They needed this just to win their district in order to make the playoffs.
What a story…that Ronnie Truitt experienced these incredible and historic games!!
So 50 yrs ago Truitt and his Cy Fair team beat Wheatley and won state.
I know it’s not Hoosiers (Milan high school beating Muncie) but how AWESOME would it be for UH to beat an undefeated Gonzaga in the NCAA Finals to bring home the Coogs first National championship:grin:
Not sure if this link will embed right or not, but its an excerpt from the book The Greatest Basketball Story Ever Told: The Milan Miracle By Greg Guffey, It goes into detail on Ron Truitt’s time at Milan HS and how he ended up at UofH. I still cant believe I had never heard this story before.
Unbelievable!!! This is going to go down as the best thread ever on Coogfans. I think my dad was a freshman at UH in 1953 or 1954. I wish he was still alive so I could ask him if he remembered Truitt.
WHEN RONNIE AND I GOT TO UH ALDEN PASHEA WAS
THE HEAD COACH AND GUY V WAS HIS ASSIT. I WAS A
FAN OF BASKETBALL, WE HAD A 7 FT CENTER, DON
BOLDEBUCK. I HAD NEVER SEEN SOMEONE THAT TALL.
POPS FOSTER WAS ALSO ON THAT TEAM. CAN’T COME
UP WITH THE REST OF THE TEAM. BUT THEY WERE GOOD. THERE WAS A SECTETARY FOR THE HC OR AD
NAMED MARGRET. SHE WAS AT LEAST 6FT HERSELF AND SHE AND DON WERE BIG BUDDIES. SHE HAD HAD
POLIO WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG AND WALKED WITH A
LIMP. SHE WENT TO MOST PRACTICE AND PUSHED DON
TO DUNK THE BALL. HE WOULD BUT SHE WOULD SAY
I WANT A TWO HANDED DUNK… PUSH, PUSH AND SO
DON FINALLY COULD DO IT. SEE A GUY 7 FT WAS NOT
WHAT I HAD EVER SEEN. THEY DID NOT GROW THEM DOWN ON THE FARM THAT BIG. UH WAS GOOD BUT
GOT UPSET EARLY. PASHEA RETIRED AND GVL TOOK
OVER. DON MARRIED A VERY SMALL UH COED ABOUT
5 FT TALL. UH WAS GOOD WAY BACK THEN.
