FINAL 4 Appearances 1982-84....High-Flying Acrobats...the HOUSTON COUGARS...aka PHI SLAMMA JAMMA..led by DREAM n the GLIDE

They played above the Rim and ran the court like gazelles and cheetahs. Late Coach GUY LEWIS was the architect for the Houston UNIVERSITY COUGARS Program and the corner stones were HOUSTON Native Clyde the GLIDE DREXLER and Nigerian-Born Soccer Enthusiast Akeem the DREAM OLAJUWON.

There was nothing like the HOUSTON COUGARS and their dominance through the OLD Southwestern Conference in the Early 80s with a style not seen before in COLLEGE BASKETBALL. They made Loyola-Maramount's Paul WESTHEAD's Fast Break system look like the Princeton Offense. TARK the SHARK's UNLV teams look like they were in a traffic jam on an LA Freeway.

Never out of a game and always had the FIREPOWER to get in a game was the 1981-84 Houston COUGARS. They may have been the 1st Team, at least from the BLUEDUDE's Perspective, for the WHOLE TEAM could DUNK at anytime including the Equipment guys and managers. They played ABOVE the RIM and you could not leave your set for you knew if you did that missing a few dunks were a possibility.

Guy LEWIS' Teams were led by BIG-TIME NBA Talents in Clyde the GLYDE DREXLER and Akeem the DREAM OLAJUWON which are both TOP 50 NBA PLAYERS of ALL-TIME. Then you sprinkle in guys like Benny ANDERS, Andre FRANKLIN, Larry MICHEAUX, Micheal YOUNG, and Greg ANDERSON...you had the most-athletic team any UNIVERSITY could ever put on the floor not to mention most if not all these young men were drafted into the LOGO.

The best TEAM that PHI SLAMMA JAMMA ever put on the floor was the 1982-83 Team that lost at the BUZZER to a LATE Jim VALVANO aka JIMMY V and NC STATE WOLFPACK team led by the dynamic back court of Sidney LOWE and Derek WITTENBURG and the late Lorenzo CHARLES (who caught WITTENBURG's Shot at the RIM and dunked it for the WIN) and Thurl BAILEY at the Forwards, and Charles SHACKLEFORD at Center.

Although they never WON the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP the Houston COUGARS will forever go down as arguably the MOST TALENTED NCAA MEN's BASKETBALL Team ever assembled to PLAY above the rim and go full-throttle for all 40 minutes.

They will forever in the BLUEDUDE's Mind as I remember vividly that missed jumper and put back by the WOLFPACK...AS THE DUNK HEARD AROUND THE WORLD.