# 1982–83 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

The 1982–83 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston. The team was led by head coach Guy Lewis, played their home games in the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas, and was then a member of the Southwest Conference.
This was the second of Houston's famous Phi Slama Jama teams, led by Michael Young, Larry Micheaux, and future Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Akeem Olajuwon. The Cougars swept through the Southwest Conference schedule and were ranked #1 for the final three polls of the 1982–83 season. Riding a 26-game winning streak, they advanced to the 1983 National Championship Game, where they fell 54-52 to Jim Valvano's NC State Wolfpack. Despite the loss, Olajuwon was named Tournament MOP. To date, this remains the last time the MOP was from the losing team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| Nov 26, 1982* | No. 14 | Arizona Kettle Classic | W 104–63 | 1–0 | 26 – Micheaux | 16 – Micheaux | 4 – Drexler | Hofheinz Pavilion (8,000) Houston, TX |
| Nov 27, 1982* | No. 14 | Lamar Kettle Classic | W 106–72 | 2–0 | 27 – Drexler | 13 – Drexler | 5 – Drexler | Hofheinz Pavilion (8,000) Houston, TX |
| Dec 1, 1982* | No. 11 | Mississippi State | W 74–65 | 3–0 | 20 – Drexler, Young | – | – | Hofheinz Pavilion (6,800) Houston, TX |
| Dec 4, 1982* | No. 11 | at Biscayne | W 78–59 | 4–0 | 24 – Micheaux | – | – | Unknown Miami Gardens, FL |
| Dec 8, 1982* | No. 9 | Auburn | W 77–65 | 5–0 | 22 – Young | 12 – Olajuwon | – | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| Dec 11, 1982* | No. 9 | at Syracuse | L 87–92 | 5–1 | 28 – Drexler | 12 – Drexler | 5 – Gettys | Carrier Dome (19,430) Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 16, 1982* | No. 14 | vs. No. 1 Virginia Suntory Ball Tournament | L 63–72 | 5–2 | – | – | – | Aoyama Gakuin University Gym (5,000) Tokyo, Japan |
| Dec 17, 1982* | No. 14 | vs. Utah Suntory Ball Tournament | W 82–57 | 6–2 | 30 – Olajuwon | 18 – Olajuwon | – | Aoyama Gakuin University Gym (5,000) Tokyo, Japan |
| Dec 27, 1982* | No. 18 | at Pepperdine | W 93–92 | 7–2 | – | – | – | Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, CA |
| Jan 2, 1983* | No. 18 | Pacific | W 112–58 | 8–2 | – | – | – | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| Jan 5, 1983 | No. 19 | Texas A&M | W 84–61 | 9–2 (1–0) | – | – | – | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| Jan 8, 1983 | No. 19 | SMU | W 105–71 | 10–2 (2–0) | – | – | – | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| Jan 10, 1983 | No. 16 | Southwestern Louisiana | W 79–78 | 11–2 | – | – | – | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| Jan 12, 1983 | No. 16 | at TCU | W 54–51 | 12–2 (3–0) | – | – | – | Daniel-Meyer Coliseum Fort Worth, TX |
| Jan 15, 1983 | No. 16 | at Texas | W 77–52 | 13–2 (4–0) | – | – | – | Frank Erwin Center Austin, TX |
| Jan 17, 1983 | No. 14 | Texas Tech | W 98–73 | 14–2 (5–0) | – | – | – | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| Jan 22, 1983 | No. 14 | No. 4 Arkansas | W 75–60 | 15–2 (6–0) | 26 – Micheaux | 10 – Olajuwon | – | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| Jan 26, 1983 | No. 9 | at Rice | W 76–40 | 16–2 (7–0) | – | – | – | Rice Gymnasium Houston, TX |
| Feb 2, 1983 | No. 8 | Baylor | W 86–69 | 17–2 (8–0) | – | – | – | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| Feb 5, 1983 | No. 8 | at Texas A&M | W 86–66 | 18–2 (9–0) | 20 – Drexler, Young | 11 – Young | 5 – 3 tied | G. Rollie White Coliseum College Station, TX |
| Feb 9, 1983 | No. 6 | at SMU | W 85–68 | 19–2 (10–0) | – | – | – | Moody Coliseum University Park, TX |
| Feb 12, 1983 | No. 6 | TCU | W 74–66 | 20–2 (11–0) | – | – | – | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| Feb 16, 1983 | No. 4 | Texas | W 106–63 | 21–2 (12–0) | 21 – Drexler | 13 – Olajuwon | 11 – Gettys | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| Feb 19, 1983 | No. 4 | at Texas Tech | W 84–75 | 22–2 (13–0) | – | – | – | Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, TX |
| Feb 26, 1983 | No. 2 | Rice | W 86–52 | 23–2 (14–0) | – | – | – | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| Mar 3, 1983 | No. 1 | at No. 5 Arkansas | W 74–66 | 24–2 (15–0) | 18 – Anders | 12 – Micheaux | – | Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, AR |
| Mar 5, 1983 NBC | No. 1 | at Baylor | W 93–64 | 25–2 (16–0) | – | – | – | Heart O' Texas Coliseum Waco, TX |
| SWC tournament |||||||||
| Mar 12, 1983* | (1) No. 1 | (4) SMU Semifinals | W 75–59 | 26–2 | – | – | – | Reunion Arena Dallas, TX |
| Mar 13, 1983* | (1) No. 1 | (5) TCU Championship | W 62–59 | 27–2 | – | – | – | Reunion Arena (12,857) Dallas, TX |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar 19, 1983* CBS | (1 MW) No. 1 | (8 MW) Maryland Second round | W 60–50 | 28–2 | 16 – Young | 8 – Drexler | 7 – Gettys | The Summit Houston, TX |
| Mar 25, 1983* CBS | (1 MW) No. 1 | vs. (4 MW) No. 17 Memphis State Sweet Sixteen | W 70–63 | 29–2 | 21 – Olajuwon | 7 – Drexler, Micheaux | 4 – Drexler, Gettys | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| Mar 27, 1983* CBS | (1 MW) No. 1 | vs. (3 MW) No. 13 Villanova Elite Eight | W 89–71 | 30–2 | 30 – Micheaux | 13 – Olajuwon | 3 – 3 tied | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| Apr 2, 1983* CBS | (1 MW) No. 1 | vs. (1 ME) No. 2 Louisville Final Four | W 94–81 | 31–2 | 21 – Drexler, Olajuwon | 22 – Olajuwon | 6 – Drexler | The Pit (17,327) Albuquerque, NM |
| Apr 4, 1983* CBS | (1 MW) No. 1 | vs. (6 W) No. 16 NC State National Championship | L 52–54 | 31–3 | 20 – Olajuwon | 18 – Olajuwon | 3 – Franklin | The Pit Albuquerque, NM |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest region. |||||||||
Sources

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | 14 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Coaches | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* Clyde Drexler, Consensus Second-Team All-American
* Akeem Olajuwon, NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player, Honorable Mention AP All-American
* Larry Micheaux, Honorable Mention AP All-American
* Michael Young, Honorable Mention AP All-American
* Guy Lewis, AP Coach of the Year

## Players drafted into the NBA

| Year | Player | Round | Pick | NBA club |
| 1983 | Clyde Drexler | 1 | 14 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1983 | Larry Micheaux | 2 | 29 | Chicago Bulls |
| 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 |