1983–84 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

1983–84 Houston Cougars men's basketball
1983–84 Houston Cougars men's basketball
SWC tournament champions; SWC regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Runner-up
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 5
Record	32–5 (15–1 SWC)
Head coach	Guy Lewis (28th season);
Assistant coaches	Terry Kirkpatrick; Don Schverak;
Home arena	Hofheinz Pavilion
	Seasons ← 1982–83 1984–85 →

1983–84 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 Houston †	15	–	1	.938	32	–	5	.865
No. 8 Arkansas	14	–	2	.875	25	–	7	.781
SMU	12	–	4	.750	25	–	8	.758
Texas Tech	10	–	6	.625	17	–	12	.586
Texas A&M	7	–	9	.438	16	–	14	.533
Rice	6	–	10	.375	13	–	17	.433
TCU	4	–	12	.250	11	–	17	.393
Texas	3	–	13	.188	7	–	21	.250
Baylor	1	–	15	.063	5	–	23	.179

† 1984 SWC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1983–84 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston during the 1983–84 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Guy Lewis. The team played its home games in the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas, and was then a member of the Southwest Conference.

The third of Houston's famous Phi Slama Jama teams, this squad was led by Michael Young, Alvin Franklin, and future Hall of Famer Akeem Olajuwon. The Cougars played in the Final Four for the third consecutive season, appeared in their second straight National Championship Game, and completed a three-year run with an overall record of 88-16.

Roster[edit]

1983–84 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G/F	22	Marvin Alexander	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Worthing	Houston, TX
G/F	32	Benny Anders	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	Jr	Bernice	Bernice, LA
F/C	54	Greg Anderson	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Fr	Worthing	Houston, TX
F	50	Stacey Belcher	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Yates	Houston, TX
F	52	Braxton Clark	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	Mission De Anza CC	San Francisco, CA
G	14	Eric Dickens	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Madison	Houston, TX
G	20	Alvin Franklin	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	La Marque	La Marque, TX
G/F	44	Reid Gettys	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Memorial	Houston, TX
G	10	Derek Giles	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Bayside	Queens, NY
C	34	Akeem Olajuwon	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Jr	Muslim Teachers College	Lagos, Nigeria
F	30	Gary Orsak	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Alvin	Alvin, Texas
G	12	Renaldo Thomas	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Roosevelt	Gary, IN
G	24	James Weaver	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Nederland	Nederland, TX
F	40	Rickie Winslow	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Yates	Houston, TX
F	42	Michael Young	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	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
Last update: 2018-Mar-18

Schedule and results[edit]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 19, 1983*	No. 3/4	vs. NC State Hall of Fame Classic	L 64–76^[1]	0–1	20 – Young	–	–	Springfield Civic Center Springfield, MA
November 26, 1983*	No. 3/4	No. 17/19 Kansas	W 91–76	1–1	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
November 30, 1983*	No. 8/NR	at Mississippi State	W 68–62	2–1	–	–	–	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, MS
December 3, 1983*	No. 8/NR	Biscayne	W 69–51	3–1	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
December 6, 1983*	No. 6/6	at No. 9/9 LSU	W 100–91	4–1	–	–	–	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA
December 10, 1983*	No. 6/6	St. Mary's (TX)	W 71–55	5–1	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
December 16, 1983*	No. 3/3	Stetson Kettle Classic	W 92–71	6–1	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
December 17, 1983*	No. 3/3	Princeton Kettle Classic	W 65–40	7–1	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
December 19, 1983*	No. 3/3	Texas Lutheran Kettle Classic	W 129–65	8–1	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
December 21, 1983*	No. 3/3	at UC Santa Barbara	W 89–79	9–1	–	–	–	Santa Barbara, California
December 25, 1983*	No. 3/3	vs. No. 10/8 Louisville Chaminade Classic	W 76–73	10–1	–	–	–	Honolulu, HI
December 26, 1983*	No. 3/3	vs. Fresno State Chaminade Classic	L 61–68	10–2	–	–	–	Honolulu, HI
January 5, 1984	No. 7/5	at SMU	W 60–59	11–2 (1–0)	–	–	–	Moody Coliseum Dallas, TX
January 7, 1984	No. 7/5	TCU	W 81–67	12–2 (2–0)	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
January 10, 1984	No. 7/5	Texas	W 69–58	13–2 (3–0)	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
January 12, 1984	No. 7/5	at Texas Tech	W 88–66	14–2 (4–0)	–	–	–	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, TX
January 14, 1984	No. 7/5	at Texas A&M	W 70–64	15–2 (5–0)	–	–	–	G. Rollie White Coliseum College Station, TX
January 20, 1984	No. 4/5	Rice	W 72–42	16–2 (6–0)	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
January 22, 1984*	No. 4/5	at No. 3/3 Kentucky	L 67–74	16–3	–	–	–	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
January 28, 1984	No. 7/6	at Baylor	W 84–58	17–3 (7–0)	–	–	–	Heart O' Texas Coliseum Waco, TX
February 2, 1984	No. 6/5	Texas A&M	W 87–65	18–3 (8–0)	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
February 4, 1984	No. 6/5	SMU	W 76–57	19–3 (9–0)	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
February 9, 1984	No. 6/5	at TCU	W 76–57	20–3 (10–0)	–	–	–	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum Fort Worth, TX
February 11, 1984	No. 5/4	at Texas	W 74–63	21–3 (11–0)	–	–	–	Frank Erwin Center Austin, TX
February 16, 1984	No. 4/4	Texas Tech	W 78–53	22–3 (12–0)	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
February 18, 1984*	No. 4/4	Virginia	W 74–65	23–3	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
February 22, 1984	No. 3/3	at Rice	W 70–54	24–3 (13–0)	–	–	–	Tudor Fieldhouse Houston, TX
February 26, 1984	No. 3/3	No. 11/11 Arkansas	W 64–61	25–3 (14–0)	19 – Olajuwon	10 – Olajuwon	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
February 29, 1984	No. 2/2	Baylor	W 80–65	26–3 (15–0)	–	–	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
March 4, 1984	No. 2/2	at No. 12/12 Arkansas	L 68–73	26–4 (15–1)	22 – Young	6 – Olajuwon	3 – Tied	Barnhill Arena (9,438) Fayetteville, AR
SWC Tournament
March 10, 1984*	No. 5/5	vs. Rice SWC Tournament	W 53–50	27–4	–	–	–	The Summit Houston, TX
March 11, 1984*	No. 5/5	vs. No. 8/8 Arkansas SWC Tournament	W 57–56	28–4	23 – Young	11 – Olajuwon	12 – Gettys	The Summit (14,930) Houston, TX
NCAA Tournament
March 17, 1984*	(2) No. 5/5	vs. (10) Louisiana Tech NCAA Tournament	W 77–69	29–4	21 – Franklin	12 – Olajuwon	4 – Tied	Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, TN
March 23, 1984*	(2 MW) No. 5/5	vs. (6 MW) No. 16/NR Memphis State Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 78–71	30–4	25 – Olajuwon	13 – Olajuwon	9 – Gettys	St. Louis Arena St. Louis, MO
March 25, 1984*	(2 MW) No. 5/5	vs. (4 MW) No. 19/NR Wake Forest Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 68–63^[2]	31–4	29 – Olajuwon	12 – Olajuwon	10 – Gettys	St. Louis Arena St. Louis, MO
March 31, 1984*	(2 MW) No. 5/5	(7 E) Virginia National semifinal – Final Four	W 49–47 ^{OT^[3]}	32–4	17 – Young	11 – Olajuwon	7 – Franklin	Kingdome Seattle, WA
April 2, 1984* 8:12 p.m., CBS	(2 MW) No. 5/5	vs. (1 W) No. 2/2 Georgetown NCAA tournament championship	L 75–84^[4]	32–5	21 – Franklin	9 – Olajuwon	9 – Franklin	Kingdome (38,471) Seattle, WA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll/Coaches Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest Region. All times are in Central Time.

^[5] ^[6]

Rankings[edit]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	3	8	6	3	3	3	7	7	4	7	6	5	4	3	2	5	5
Coaches	Not released		6	3	3	3	5	5	5	6	5	4	4	3	2	5	5

^[7]

Awards and honors[edit]

Akeem Olajuwon – Consensus First-team All-American, SWC Player of the Year
Michael Young – Third-team All-American

Team players drafted into the NBA[edit]

Year	Player	Round	Pick	NBA Club
1984	Akeem Olajuwon	1	1	Houston Rockets
1984	Michael Young	1	24	Boston Celtics
1985	Reid Gettys	5	103	Chicago Bulls
1986	Alvin Franklin	4	80	Sacramento Kings
1987	Greg Anderson	1	23	San Antonio Spurs
1987	Rickie Winslow	2	28	Chicago Bulls

^[8]

References[edit]

^ "N.C. State Does It Again, Beating Houston in Tipoff Game, 76-64". The Washington Post. November 20, 1983. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
^ "Olajuwon Concentrates, Wake Forest Dissipates". The Washington Post. March 26, 1984. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
^ "Virginia Eliminated In Overtime, 49-47". The Washington Post. April 1, 1984. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
^ "Georgetown's Pressure Cooks Up a Title". The Washington Post. April 3, 1984. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
^ 2016-17 Houston Men's Basketball Media Almanac Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-Dec-18.
^ "HogStats.com :: Box Score :: 1983-84 :: Houston vs. Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR (3/4/1984)". HogStats.com. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 910–911. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1984 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on July 6, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2012.

External links[edit]

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

[1] "N.C. State Does It Again, Beating Houston in Tipoff Game, 76-64". The Washington Post. November 20, 1983. Retrieved July 19, 2020.

[2] "Olajuwon Concentrates, Wake Forest Dissipates". The Washington Post. March 26, 1984. Retrieved July 19, 2020.

[3] "Virginia Eliminated In Overtime, 49-47". The Washington Post. April 1, 1984. Retrieved July 19, 2020.

[4] "Georgetown's Pressure Cooks Up a Title". The Washington Post. April 3, 1984. Retrieved July 19, 2020.

[5] 2016-17 Houston Men's Basketball Media Almanac Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-Dec-18.

[6] "HogStats.com :: Box Score :: 1983-84 :: Houston vs. Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR (3/4/1984)". HogStats.com. Retrieved March 14, 2020.

[ESPN-7] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 910–911. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[8] "1984 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on July 6, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2012.

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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
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics