Basketball fans share their memories

6/20/2024 – Doctor Richard Seifert talks basketball and Abe Lemons

I grew up listening to Kern Tips broadcast SWC games. He was the lead guy, so he usually did the Texas games. Occasionally, we got the “#2 guy.” It wasn’t the same. I need to send you both a picture of my old pocket-size schedules Humble gas stations gave out. I have all the scores written in. They are a real treasure.

Abe Lemmons was truly hilarious. One year, he came to speak at our Exes group along with Tom Penders, who was the current coach. Penders mentioned that when he got hired, he wanted the fans to still “like” the recently fired old coach. Then Abe chimed in and said, “When I get hired, I want the fans to hate the old coach.”

He shared a funny story about Arkansas, describing how he and Eddie nearly came to blows during one game. Abe said, “I like the Arkansas fans; I still get letters from them, and most of them are written in Crayola.” During his talk, he also addressed some issues Texas had with players getting “in trouble,” which made some fans critical of him. Abe asked, “How many of you have teenagers? Do you know where they are 24 hours a day?”

I’ve been involved with Tulsa University sports for several years and have gotten to know Todd Graham, Gus Malzahn, Chad Morris, and others. The new coach, Kevin Wilson—who was previously the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, head coach at Indiana, and offensive coordinator at Ohio State—is coming to go fishing at my place tomorrow. He’s very “old school” but has been really nice to me.

Unfortunately, smaller schools like TU are at a disadvantage today due to NIL deals and the transfer portal. For instance, the top scorer in basketball transferred to Memphis, and several football players have gone into the portal for better financial opportunities. This situation benefits Texas but is detrimental to mid- to lower-level programs. I’m not sure what the ultimate outcome will be, but if we can land an Adoni Mitchell every year, that will be good for us!

You probably don’t follow TU, but basketball was very successful 20 years ago. There were several Sweet 16s and one Elite 8 (the team got robbed at Irwin, and the refs gave the game to North Carolina). Just developing “2*” guys, those days are over.

Thanks again for the memories. I’ll text you a picture of that old pocket schedule.    Richard

2/22/2021

Deann Allen

I attended the University of Texas from the Fall of 1966 until December 1970, although I stayed in Austin until May 1972 to support my husband while he completed graduate school. Before college, I played half-court basketball for two years at a Class B high school (too small for six-man football) before transferring to a Class AA high school, which did not offer girls’ basketball, as most larger high schools did not prior to Title IX.

I lived in Littlefield Dorm for my first three years, where I met many girls from small towns. I served as the intramural manager during my sophomore year. Littlefield Dorm boasted great intramural teams thanks to those small-town girls. While there were university-wide women’s basketball and softball teams, they were not funded by UT. As a student balancing a scholarship and part-time jobs, I could not afford the time or money to participate in those programs.

In 1972, I became a CPA and began my career in Houston with international accounting firms. I also recruited at UT for the companies I worked for. Over the years, I have witnessed how involvement in sports, particularly team sports, has significantly improved the capabilities and prospects of young women in their lives and professional careers, regardless of whether they choose to pursue professional athletics.

I would venture to say that not every academic program at UT is financially sustainable, just as not every men’s sport is.

06/29/2021

Hello Billy,

Great stories with John Carsey and John Danks. However, the team picture recently included with Dank’s story wasn’t of the SWC & NIT Championship team. You might post this one.

It’s the official team picture of the 1977 – 78 Longhorns that shared the SWC title with Arkansas and won the NIT Championship. I was told after our NIT title game that we had set the record for winning by the largest point margin throughout the tournament.

1974 season under Coach Leon Black

From Former UT basketball player David Fisher:

Billy, thanks for the update on Coach. It’s much appreciated. Here’s a story you might enjoy.

During the 1974-75 season, the Aggies were coming to Austin for a Saturday afternoon game. Typically, a couple of days before an SWC team visited Austin, the Daily Texan would publish an article about one of their players or coaches. So, on the Thursday before the Aggie game, the Daily Texan ran an article about Coach Shelby Metcalf, highlighting his recent achievement of earning a Ph.D.

After reading the article, I realized some of his research related to a topic I was covering in my business communication class. On Friday afternoon, after we finished practice, the Aggies arrived for their workout. As we left to go to the locker room, I approached Coach Metcalf to congratulate him on his Ph.D.

He looked a bit surprised until I mentioned the Daily Texan article. He smiled and thanked me. I then asked him about his research, explaining it could be useful for one of my classes. He smiled again and, with his Southern drawl, replied, “I’m a little busy right now, but call my secretary Monday morning, and we’ll see what we can do.”

So, I called his secretary Monday morning. She was very kind and informed me that they had already sent some information to me. I was a bit taken aback but thanked her for their generosity. Later that week, during practice on Thursday, Coach Black walked in and approached me with a package addressed to me from the Texas A&M Athletic Department. He handed it to me with a puzzled expression on his face. I opened it and began explaining its contents to Coach. It turned out that Coach Metcalf had sent me a copy of his thesis! I couldn’t believe it. Coach Black looked at me, shook his head, and walked away—he often did that.

Anyway, I ended up with a B in the class and was thrilled. After school, I moved back to Houston. A couple of years later, while attending a Rockets game, I encountered Coach Metcalf at the concession stand. I approached him, reminded him I got a B, and he instantly turned to a friend and said, “I gave this T-sip my thesis, and all he could do was get a B on his report.” We all shared a good laugh, and I ran into Coach a few more times before he passed away, always sharing a laugh about that moment.

Billy, I still chuckle about that to this day. Most people don’t realize it, but, with a few exceptions, fan bases often harbor more animosity towards each other than the players and coaches do. Take care, stay safe, and keep up the great work!

Chris Barbee 2/22/2021

I covered the women’s basketball team for The Daily Texan during the 73-74 school year (Coach Page was Rodney Page). The girls had to fight with intramural teams for practice time at Gregory Gym. They pooled their money for gasoline to fuel team members’ cars. Where possible, they spent the night at team members’ homes, and they borrowed their uniforms from the volleyball team. I loved and respected those young ladies and Coach Page.