Men’s Basketball 1951-1966
1951- 1956 Coach Slue Hull
From 1951-1959 The Longhorns won no tournaments and were never ranked.
1951 16-8 record Coach Slue Hull
TOPPING THE CHARTS 1952
1952 12-9 record Coach Slue Hull
The first year of The Final Four as we know it today.
in 1952- 7 of the 8 “major” sports were only played by men.
1953 16- 9 record Coach Slue Hull SWC Co-Champs
MOMENT NO. 44
Jan. 15, 1954: The Longhorns defeat their first opponent ranked in the AP Poll, when they knock off No. 15 Rice 74-66 at Gregory Gym. Fred Saunders paced the Longhorns with 26 points.
Front- Hughes, Waggener, Richardson, Ford, Powell, Saunders, Hull
Back – Nelson, Kidd, Schmid, Buchanan, Warren, Medina
Season started strong but the team faded in the second half of the season. Longhorns lost in the playoff with Rice and did not qualify for tournament play.
1954 4-20 record Coach Slue Hull
Worst record in Longhorn basketball history but they beat A & M twice.
MOMENT NO. 90
Feb. 12, 1955: Texas defeats Texas A&M in College Station 80-76. The contest marked the highest scoring game in series history at that time (156 points). Ellis Olmstead secured a Longhorns victory with a basket and free throw in the last 30 seconds. Raymond Downs led the way with 39 points and set a SWC record for free throws made (23).
It was the worse season in UT Texas basketball history
1955-1956 12-12 record under Coach hull
The team managed to beat Oklahoma A & M (State) for the first time since 1943. It was Oklahoma A & M’s first defeat in their gym. Longhorns played a semi-pro basketball team called the Phillips Oilers. Longhorns lost 108 to 91. It was the most points ever scored in Gregory Gym.
Front- Hull, Kidd, Buchanan, Stewart, Schmid, Howard, Hughes
Back- Baty, Groogan, Olmstead, Downs, Hooten, Medina
MOMENT NO. 12
Feb. 25, 1956: Raymond Downs ties the school single-game scoring mark with 49 points during a 101-95 win at Baylor. Downs connects on 18 field goals and 13 free throws en route to his point total.
Team managed to beat Oklahoma A & M (State) for the first time since 1943. It was Oklahoma A & M’s first defeat in their gym. Team played a semi-pro basketball team called the Phillips Oilers. Longhorns lost 108 to 91. It was the most points ever scored in Gregory Gym.
It is Coach Hull’s last year. Team finishes 4th in conference but beat the Aggies 98- 70 for Coach Hull’s last game. Ironically this team set the total team point record with 1,836 points and Raymond Downs broke the 600 point individual mark
TOPPING THE CHARTS 1956
Ellis Olmestead, at 6″10″, was the tallest man to date to play basketball at UT.
1956-1957 11-13 Coach Marshall Hughes
MOMENT NO. 24
Jan. 18, 1957: In the first Texas home game ever televised, the Longhorns defeat No. 18 SMU at Gregory Gym 77-68 in what was called the “Miracle on Speedway Street.” SMU entered the game as heavy favorites but behind Raymond Downs’ 22 points and 13 boards, the Longhorns beat what the Cactus Yearbook called the most heralded team in Southwest Conference history. The win snapped a 20-game SWC winning streak for the Mustangs.
Front- Groogan, Downs, Buchanan, Howard, Olmstead, Shaffer
Back- Medina, Hughes, Cleveland, Decker, Hooten, Dowd, Clark, Hull
In the cellar in the SWC again.
Bad fan behavior at Gregory Gym becomes a significant problem .
Jack Gallager of the Houston Post states ” Texas officials long ago gave up attempting to curb the tribal instincts of the student body.”
Lou Maysel of the Austin Statesman said “The University of Texas has a full-fledged crisis on its hands in the form of the howling rabble that turns out for basketball games …….It’s a Roman holiday for that element of the UT enrollment that has not completely bridged the Darwinian evolution from the primitive ape to civilized man.”
First televised home game
Raymond Downs still holds the record of 26.4 points per game average for a season. He is the first Longhorn ever drafted by the NBA. Downs scores 49 points in one game.
1957- 1958 Record 10-13 Coach Marshall Hughes pending
7th in conference play-
1958-1959 record 4-20 Coach Marshall Hughes
MOMENT NO. 88
Jan. 3, 1959: The Longhorns defeat SWC favorite Rice 61-58 in Houston. Albert Almanza led the team with 30 points as the Horns rallied back from a 19-point deficit to pull off the upset.
Front- Viramontes, Stewart, Santos, Gandy, Puryear, Beard, Davenport, Huhges
Middle- Furgerson, White, Wilson, Arnette, Loney, Mimms, Graham
Back- Cox, Almanza, Clark, Russell, Smith
Team finished last in the SWC.
Texas vs Texas A&M 1958 basketball game. Part 1 of 3. 2/15/1958.
Topping the Charts 1958
Albert Almanza
Albert participated in the Olympics under Mexico’s flag.
Coach Hughes resigns.
From 1959-1976 the Longhorns only participated in 4 NCAA tournaments and won the SWC championship only four times in 17 years.
1959-1967 Coach Harold Bradley
Harold Bradley was rebuffed by African American basketball players. Twice Coach Bradley thought that he had crossed the race barrier but he failed. James Cash was his best chance to recruit a black athlete. To show his commitment to Cash he visited the Austin City Council and exhorted the human rights commission to show that Texas was striving to improve race relations. Cash chose TCU over Texas. Coach Bradley also was so convinced that Lew Alcindor was going to attend Texas he had a preliminary press released written. With a sense of understanding Bill Little said of Coach Bradley’s plight “there were legitimate concerns on how do you integrate when you’ve had nothing that is an example of it.”
From 1959-1976 the Longhorns only participated in 4 NCAA tournaments and won the SWC championship only 4 times in 17 years.
1959 18-8 record coach Harold Bradley- sweet 16
MOMENT NO. 43
Feb. 29, 1960: Led by Jay Arnette and Albert Almanza, the Longhorns defeat Rice 86-62 to clinch their 12th SWC Championship in school history and their first outright title since 1947. The Longhorns finished the season with an 18-8 record, marking one of the biggest turnarounds in school history after a 4-20 mark in 1958-59. Texas would finish the season in the NCAA “Sweet 16.”
Front Row- Brown, Almanza, Arnette, Clark
Back row- Viramontes, Skeete, Laister, Leeser, Bradley
Inset is Brenton Hughes and Jerry Graham
MOMENT NO. 59
Feb. 16, 1960: The Longhorns defeat No. 11 Texas A&M 79-62 as Jay Arnette scores 25 points and Albert Almanza adds 18. The victory marks the highest ranked opponent that UT ever beat in the 47-year history of play in Gregory Gym.
Coach Bradley is One of the first Texas Coaches that thinks offering a scholarship is good for both the school and athlete.
Since SWC is a weak college basketball conference Professional sports in Texas jeopardized fan allegiance to the college game.
Sweet 16 appearance
MOMENT NO. 53
Jan. 5, 1960: Jay Arnette’s driving lay-up beats SMU 58-56. The victory sets the tone for an 11-3 mark in Southwest Conference play and helps the Longhorns post their first winning season in six years and first outright league title since 1946-47.
1960- 14-10 Record Coach Bradley
Front- Gilbert, Lasiter Ledbetter, Skeete, Heller, Graham
Back- Bradley, Ed Cullison, Ehman, Winborn, Porter, Almanza, Dugan, Brown
Team fell to 4 in Conference play. Donnie Lasiter led the team in scoring. Albert Almanza and Wayne Clark were also key to this teams point production and rebounds.
1961-1962 Record 16-8 Coach Bradley
The team loses to TCU by one point after 4 overtime periods.
Front- McMahon, Heller, Gilbert, Ledbetter, Puryear, Skeete.
Back row- Bradley, Ehman, Price, Humphrey, Dugan, Fisher, Brown , Weaks
1962- 21-5 record Coach Bradley – sweet 16
1962 basketball Paul Olivier, John Bush, John Robinson, and not known
MOMENT NO. 25
Mar. 9, 1963: Texas defeats favored Texas Western 65-47 in Lubbock to claim its second appearance in the NCAA “Sweet 16” in a four-year span. Mike Humphrey led the way with 18 points and ten boards while John Paul Fultz added 16.
First 20 game win season since 1948. Jay Arnette is an All American and an Olympian . Brenton Hughes was number 2 in scoring for the Longhorns. The starters included Brenton Hughes, Jay Arnette, Donnie Lasiter, Jimmy Brown and Wayne Clark. Texas loses to Kansas and Depaul in the NCAA tournament.
Lou Maysel from the Austin American Statesman called Bradley ” a cage magician…{who has} transformed a dozen bumpkins into impressive-looking chargers who look like they might run away with the SWC.”
Bad sportsmanship reaches its peak. After Texas beats A & M in Austin, Longhorn fans taunt the Aggies and hand to hand combat ensues. Doctors are called to treat the wounded. The administration from both universities considers changing future games to a neutral site.
Larry Franks HOH
Lou Maysel even suggests a new arena is needed to separate the fans from each other and to eliminate the close proximity of fans to Players.
1963 15-9 Record Coach Bradley –
MOMENT NO. 83
Feb. 15, 1964: The Longhorns defeat then-SWC frontrunner Texas Tech 78-76 in front of an excited Gregory Gym crowd. Bobby Puryear hits a free throw with three seconds left to put the game out of reach. Joe Fisher led the way with 13 points and 15 boards, while Larry Franks added 16.
Texas Board of Regents votes to desegregate all athletic activities at UT Austin.
TOPPING THE CHART 1964 THE SONG YOU’VE LOST THAT LOVIN’ FEELIN’
1964 16-9 record Coach Bradley
MOMENT NO. 86
Mar. 4, 1965: The Longhorns claim their 14th SWC Championship with a 79-75 win against Baylor in Waco. The Longhorns trailed by three with six minutes to go but went on to score the game’s next 11 points en route to the victory. Mickey White and Larry Franks led the way with 19 and 17 points, respectively.
Team is SWC Co- Champion
SWC imposes scholarship limitations
Leon Black is hired as Asst. coach
Basketball starts to lose popularity in Texas because high school coaches focus more on football and high school gyms are locked at 4:00 p.m. The high school pipeline that makes the SWC so great in football is not adequate for basketball . The Gyms need to stay open later to attract pick-up games.
Bradley plans a press release to announce that Lew Alcindor will sign with Texas. Lew Alcindor attends UCLA.
1965-1966 12-12 record- Coach Bradley has a ‘vocal year”
1965- Coach Bradley says “I think Texas Tech has the worst crowd in the U.S.”
Bo Rothchild, Coach Bradley, trainer Joe Street, Coach Black – First row- Paul Oliver, Bob Ittner, Gary Overbeck, Charley Turnbough, Mickey White, – back row- Dale Dotson , Minton White, Larry Lake, Noel Stout, Mike Gammon , Billy Arnold
According to Richard Pennington’s book Longhorn Hoops Coach Bradley states that SWC teams should not play the Houston Cougars because Houston’s academic standards are lower then SWC team and this results in a major recruiting advantage for Houston. Fred Sanner from the Austin American Statesman starts calling Houston one of the “outlaw schools”
Coach Bradley says “I think Texas Tech has the worst crowd in the U.S.”
1966- 1967 14-10 record Coach Bradley
Smith, Stout, Bradley, Brender, Black and Gammon
sitting Lake, Bown, Overbeck, Turnbough, Matzinger, Arnold
This year, the SWC compiles the worst record ever against non-conference competition.
Coach Bradley literally throws in the towel against Baylor, and the Longhorn fans also decide to throw in various objects.
Coach Bradley resigns
Coach Black and Bradley
