50. Maurice Evans (2000-01)1 Shooting guard is lone season in Austin (after transferring from Wichita State) was certainly a successful one. Evans averaged 15.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals a night as a Longhorn before jumping to the next level.

49. Guillermo Myers (1989-91)2 added some physicality to the high-speed, high-scoring Texas teams of the late 1980s. Myers blocked 101 shots in his career, tying for 10th in school history in just two seasons on campus. photo pending

“RIP to Austin’s Frank Erwin Center (1977-2023). The Center and adjacent Cooley Pavilion is being demolished at a cost of $25 million. The demolition will make way for the expansion of UT’s Dell Medical School. The Erwin Center served as the home for the Texas men’s and women’s basketball teams for 45 years and hosted many concerts. It was replaced by the Moody Center a couple of blocks north.” (Jay Janner/AustinAmerican-Statesman.)

It’s 46 years almost to the day that Texas beat Oklahoma in the first basketball game played in the Frank Erwin Center (November 29,1977).

Designed by Wilson, Crain and Anderson, who also worked on the Astrodome, the Special Events Center opened in 1977 at a cost of $34 million; it was renamed the Frank Erwin Center in 1980. In addition to hosting games, graduations, rodeos, and circuses, many famous performers graced the Irwin Center stage, including David Bowie, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Earth Wind and Fire, Pearl Jam, Def Leppard, KISS, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and too many others to list here.”

1967- 1968  11-13 RECORD     COACH LEON BLACK

A Montage of Billy Arnold’s playing days as a Longhorn.

Front- Hamilton, Tennison, Smith, McWilliams- second- Brown, Baker, Overbeck, Lochner, Papp, Smith, Doyal- third- Coach Black, Lenoz, O’Shea trainer, Arnold, Matzinger, Bogan, Lake, Hutson manager, Rylander manager, O’Bannon , Doval

1968-1969 9-15 RECORD COACH BLACK

With only 10 team members, Coach Black chooses to slow down the offense.  The strategy did not work. The Horns had the worst season since 1959 and finished 6th in the conference.

Visiting teams at Gregory Gym only receive a $1300 guarantee, so the great teams refuse to play the Longhorns in Austin for such a paltry sum. 7 of 10  non-conference games are played on the road.  Kurt Papp leads the team in scoring.

1969-1970   11-13 RECORD   – COACH BLACK

Texas is listed in the pre-season top 20 nationally, but never fulfills that destiny. Coach Black changed the offense and defense to a fast-breaking and pressing game.  Wayne Doyal leads the team.

Sam Bradley is the First Black Athlete To play Basketball At Texas.

1970- 1971  12 – 12 RECORD      COACH BLACK

Eric Groscurt and John Wilson missed the whole year due to injuries. Then Mike Dukes was lost in mid-season, and Sammy Hyde left the school at semester break.

MOMENT NO. 63
Dec. 1, 1970: Lynn Howden sets the UT single-game rebounding record with 24 boards in an 80-78 home loss to Florida State. Howden’s mark still stands today.

Jimmy Blacklock transfers to Texas and leads the team in scoring.

The team ends in a 5th-place tie in the SWC.

STEER FORWARD, RALPH ELLIOTT WAS KILLED IN A CAR ACCIDENT.  HORNS UP!!

1971- 19-9 RECORD   COACH BLACK – CO-CHAMPS WITH SMU and made the SWEET 16.

Despite being demoted at the end of the 1972 season, Jimmy Blacklock’s career at Texas was a success. He and Larry Robinson helped pave the way for the full integration of the University of Texas basketball Athletic program.

Blacklock played for the Globetrotters for 13 years.

Horns have an impressive non-conference record.   Redshirts Groscurth and Wilson returned to the team to join Blacklock and Robinson.  This year, a mid-season slump did not slow down the Horns.

Texas Football Players Are Accused Of Attacking Some A & M Cadets at a Basketball Game.

Larry Robinson Is SWC Player Of The Year

MOMENT NO. 10
March 11, 1972: Larry Robinson posts 23 points and grabs 14 rebounds despite playing on a broken foot as Texas upsets No. 19 Houston 85-74 in an NCAA First-Round game in Las Cruces, N.M. The win was one of the most important of the Southwest Conference era, dominated by the Cougars’ rise to prominence in the late 1960s. It is still one Of The Biggest Wins In Longhorn Basketball History.

Brosterhous (shoulder), Lynn Howden (ankle), Scooter Lenox (ankle), and Robinson were all banged up for the Midwest Regionals. Sports Illustrated’s Curry Kirkpatrick wrote that the Midwest Regional “is the battle of the four C’s – the Cards, Cats, Cajuns – and Cripples.”

Coach Black had to resort to a zone defense to play Howden and Robinson for any length of time. The Wildcats pulled away in the last 4 minutes for a 66-55 win.

1972-1973 13-12 RECORD   COACH BLACK

Larry Robinson is the first Black athlete to sign a letter of intent to attend the University of Texas. On the Freshman Team, he scored 55 Points And collected 28 Rebounds In A Win Over TCU.

Texas lost to Memphis State, the runner-up to the national championship, 80-79. Texas did not break 100 points in any game this year. The Horns ended the season winning 7 of 10 games, but they needed those wins to place 5th in the conference.

The 57th most crucial moment in Texas basketball history.

Dec. 11, 1972: Larry Robinson records 26 points, and four other Longhorns reach double figures in scoring as Texas defeats Memphis State 80-79 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. The Tigers eventually played for the National Championship that season, falling to Bill Walton’s UCLA Bruins in the first primetime telecast of an NCAA Basketball Championship game.

The Horn’s chances of winning the SWC are diminished when Larry Robinson hurts a knee in the Oklahoma game. The irony is that this team at 13-12 was 5th in the SWC this year, and the following year, they are 12-15 and undisputed SWC Champs.

1973- 12-15 RECORD COACH BLACK AND UNDISPUTED SWC CHAMPS

The Longhorns are short in height. This is one of the shortest basketball teams in Division I Basketball, and they start the year with Robison coming off knee surgery. Horns run their way to the SWC championship. They lost their first 9 games and were 1- 11 in non-conference play before finally putting together a competitive team. Dan Krueger was the surprise player of the year with his outside shooting.

The Horns lost to Creighton College in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Robinson is the SWC’s MVP.

Black is named Coach of the Year in the SWC.

Harry Larrabee said about this year, ” this team doesn’t make sense….We lose two conference games at home and only one on the road.  We beat TCU by 51 points and then lost to them by one… I don’t know what it means. I quit trying to guess.”

1974- 10-15 season RECORD- It was a TRIAL AND ERROR year

Coach Black uses all 12 players this year but concedes, ” No team in the history of basketball has ever won using that many players, but we were in a situation in which everyone was equal.”

Dan Krueger has a great year and Black returns all starters but Tyrone Johnson.

The team finishes with a 5th place finish in the SWC.

1975– 9-17 RECORD COACH BLACK – placed 8th in the conference

Stating that he could not recruit big men to Texas, Coach Black resigned after this season. The Cactus states that Coach Black is “a great guy, a good coach, but a poor recruiter.”

Larry Robinson breaks his kneecap, and afterward, the season goes downhill.

Coach Black protests that two high school athletes were bribed by Texas A&M. The SWC Commissioner investigates, and the media castigates Leon Black. Coach Black responds to all the threats he receives by resigning. Coach Black says, “I love coaching, but it’s all the things that go with coaching that have become very distasteful to me.”

Leon Black was premature in doing the right thing by lodging a complaint about two Aggies getting $6000 each and a washer and dryer for their parents. If he had made this same complaint 10 years later, in 1985, when the NCAA was all over the SWC for compliance infractions, everyone, including the media, would have supported his courage to come forward.

Houston Cougars Join The SWC. This is the First Year For The Post Season SWC Tournament. George Breathalyze of The Austin American-Statesman questions the motives behind the tournament by saying, ” Eternal Hopes Means Extra Gate Receipts.” There is always hope for the worst team in the SWC during the Regular Season that they can Win The SWC Tournament.

TOP SONG 1976

Reflection Point- Coach Leon Black

 In most cases, great coaches are determined by either their won/loss record, successful runs at the conference championship, or national championships.

Unfortunately, those standards tend to celebrate transitory successes and minimize coaches’ long-term accomplishments. Winning should never be the only ingredient that defines a great coach. Poor coaching records are sometimes a reflection of uncontrollable events and insurmountable obstacles that are not coaching-related. Coach Black was challenged with this predicament.

History does a much better job of judging the full impact of a coach’s accomplishments, and from that prism, Coach Black passes the test of greatness. Changing the culture from losing to winning with a poor gym and racial conflicts is a long-term proposition requiring a pioneering spirit, persistence, vision, and insight. The process is slow and ugly.

Coach Bible in football in the late 1930s, and Coach Black experienced slow and ugly. Coach Bible’s first three-year record was 8-18, and Coach Black’s record was 31-41. While Bible turned the Texas football program around during his tenure, Coach Black did not.

However, it is no accident that Coach Black’s replacement, Abe Lemons NIT championship, had Coach Black’s signature all over it. Abe’s wins were set in motion by Coach Black a decade before.

 In a 2015 Daily Texan article discussing race, Coach Black says, “Look how far we’ve come.” “We’ve come so far that it doesn’t matter. You look for the best coach. If he’s black, he’s black; if he is white, he is white……………………..I think we’ve come that far.”

We could not have come “that far” without Coach Black’s pioneering spirit. Pioneers set the tone, and Coach Black was a tone-setter. 

Horns UP!

Barnes was the longest-tenured and winningest head coach in program history, coaching the Longhorns for 17 years from 1999 to 2015.

During his time on the Forty Acres, Barnes amassed a 402-180 overall record, leading Texas to three conference titles, 16 NCAA tournament appearances, and one Final Four appearance.

The History of Longhorn Basketball from Wikipedia:

The University of Texas began varsity intercollegiate competition in men’s basketball in 1906. The Longhorns rank 17th in total victories among all NCAA Division I college basketball programs and 25th in all-time win percentage among programs with at least 50 years in Division I, with an all-time win-loss record of 1749–1051 (.625). Among Big 12 Conference men’s basketball programs, Texas is second only to Kansas in both all-time wins and all-time win percentage.

The Longhorns have won 27 total conference championships in men’s basketball and have made 33 total appearances in the NCAA Tournament (11th-most appearances all time, with a 35–36 overall record), reaching the NCAA Final Four three times (1943, 1947, 2003) and the NCAA Regional Finals (Elite Eight) seven times. As of April 2015, Texas ranks fourth among all Division I men’s basketball programs for total NCAA Tournament games won without having won the national championship (35), trailing only Notre Dame (37), Illinois (40), and Oklahoma.

BARNES: BY THE NUMBERS AT TEXAS

One losing season in 17 years at Texas.

One time reaching the highest national ranking during the 2010 season.

Two National players of the year produced by Barnes — T.J. Ford in 2003, Kevin Durant in 2007.

Three Big 12 championships won (1999, 2006, 2008).

Four times Barnes was named Big 12 coach of the year.

5th – 7th was the Longhorn average NCAA Tournament seeding in the Barnes era.

Six NBA lottery picks from Texas during the Barnes era — Chris Mimh, Ford, LaMarcus Aldridge, Durant, D.J. Augustin and Tristan Thompson.

Eight All-Americans at Texas in the Barnes era.

Nine – Barnes became one of nine active coaches who had more than 400 wins at their schools.

Thirteen consecutive 20-win seasons (2000-12).

Sixteen Texas players drafted by the NBA in the Barnes era.

Sixteen NCAA Tournaments bids in 17 years.

19-16 is Barnes NCAA Tournament record.

178-84 is Barnes’ Big 12 record at Texas.

193 is the number of Total weeks Texas was ranked in the AP Top 25, including 92 weeks in the Top 10.

402-180 is Barnes’ overall record at Texas.

604-314 is Barnes’s career coaching record in 28 years. That’s a career-winning percentage of .658.

                If the facts above are not enough then consider these additions.

• 17 Of 17 Years Texas Went To The NCAA Tournament

• Three Times To The  Elite 8

• Five Times To The Sweet 16

• School Record  13 Consecutive 20 Game Winners

• Most Wins Ever At Texas In One Season (31)

• Five Time District 9 Coach Of The Year

• Four-Time District 7 Coach Of The Year

• 2009 John Wooden Legends Of Coaching Award Recipient.

Coach Barnes’s basketball philosophy was more flexible than Penders. Barnes’s ability to adapt to each game is his formula for success. He focuses his team on a strong defense that either Runs or slows down the offense depending on the circumstance.

1998-1999 19-13 record Rick Barnes – Big 12 conference champs

Rick Barnes’s first few months at Texas were chaotic. Following the tumultuous departure of Tom Penders, the team lost three players to transfer and faced eligibility issues that cost them one recruit and left another as a “partial qualifier.” By the 1998-1999 season, Barnes had only eight eligible scholarship players. However, he demonstrated his coaching abilities by previously playing with only four players on five during a game at Chapel Hill. His focus on conditioning was key in preparing his teams to win through strong defensive play. Four of the five starters returned from a 14-17 record the previous season.

Despite the turmoil after Penders’ exit, players like Chris Mihm and Royal Ivey chose to stick it out. Although Barnes only had seven scholarship players on the 1998 team, he led them to win the regular-season title in the Big 12 Conference and secured a seventh seed in the NCAA tournament. Barnes relied heavily on Mihm and Chris Clack to carry much of the team’s scoring load. Notably, Clack was the first McDonald’s All-American to play for Texas.

Barnes transformed the team’s playing style from Penders’ “circus-style” approach to a more disciplined offense and defensive strategy. He emphasized that games are won from the inside out, rather than the outside in, and reminded his players that intensity cannot be turned on or off like a light switch—once you have it, it must be constant.

Barnes was hired for his tireless recruiting efforts and promotional skills, boasting a blend of Abe Lemons’ feistiness and Bobby Knight’s inner drive.

MOMENT NO. 81
Jan. 23, 1999: Despite playing without starting forward Gabe Muoneke (suspension), Chris Mihm blocks a pair of three-point attempts in the final 10 seconds to preserve a 73-70 upset over No. 23 Oklahoma State at the Erwin Center.

Gabe Muoneke punched a Wisconsin player and received a warning. In the game against Kansas, he threw three punches and was suspended for one match. Gabe apologized, stating that he was embarrassed for hurting both the team and his family’s reputation.

In an article in Sports Illustrated, All-Big 12 forward Gabe Muoneke discusses Chris Mihm’s decision to stay with the Longhorns for the 1998 season. He notes, “Chris made a very courageous decision to brave the storm.” Muoneke also mentions that if Mihm had left, he would have followed, and this might have influenced Rick Barnes’ decision to accept the Longhorns coaching job.

Barnes acknowledged Mihm’s potential, stating, “You can be one of the greatest ever to play this game.” NBA scouts agreed, describing Chris as “a great mix of old-school fundamentals and ’90s flair.”

Chris Mihm was a 2000 All-American center and a two-time first-team Big 12 selection.

1999-2000- 24-9 record Rick Barnes

Ivan Wagner is the track star who helped the basketball team improve. His video is below. He was the MVP two years in a row- 1998-1999 and 1999-2000.

MOMENT NO. 35
Nov. 27, 1999: Chris Mihm paces five Longhorns in double-figure scoring by recording a game-high 19 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocked shots to lead Texas to an 81-74 upset of No. 3 Michigan State in the championship game of the Puerto Rico Shootout in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The win marked the first time Texas had captured an eight-team, neutral-site in-season tourney title in school history. The Spartans, playing without All-America guard Mateen Cleaves, went on to win the NCAA Championship later that spring.

Texas enters the top 10 for the first time since 1982.

CBS pays 6 billion dollars for the exclusive rights to NCAA basketball for 11 years. This is double the amount of the previous Television contract and represents 90% of the revenue base.

MOMENT NO. 16
End of 1999-2000 season: Chris Mihm garners consensus first-team All-America honors, becoming just the second player in school history (and first in 65 years) to earn the accolade.

Texas sets a record for defense against Baylor, winning 60-38.

MOMENT NO. 33
Feb. 24, 1999: UT tops Baylor 62-52 in Waco to capture the school’s first-ever Big 12 Conference championship. Despite playing with just seven scholarship players for most of the season and struggling out of the gate to a 3-8 mark, first-year coach Rick Barnes remains patient and engineers one of the greatest midseason turnarounds in school history. The Longhorns win 16 of their final 21 games and post a 13-3 mark in the Big 12.

2000-2001 25-9 record rick Barnes -winning without swagger

Texas beats Kansas for the first time in 62 years. This is the Longhorns best team since 1981-1982.

MOMENT NO. 64
Feb. 5, 2000: Chris Mihm posted 18 points, 12 rebounds, and a school single-game record eight blocked shots to lead Texas to a 68-57 win at Massachusetts. During the victory, Mihm also breaks the school career blocked shots record, passing Albert Burditt’s previous mark of 236.

Roosevelt Brown overcomes eligibility issues, and Freddie Williams is the team’s MVP. Both are important components of the team’s plan prior to the season.

2001 – 2002- 22-12 record Rick Barnes -the team makes the Sweet 16

Texas claimed its 1,400 victory, beating Colorado.

2001-2002 season – overcoming injuries  – finished in 18th in the poll but made the Sweet-16.  The team was better away from home than at home, beating Stanford, Oklahoma State, Missouri (twice), and Texas Tech.  The team featured USBWA National Freshman of the Year Ford, who was the first Freshman in NCAA history to lead the nation in assists.

Royal Ivey sets a record for most starts in a career (126)

MOMENT NO. 91
Feb. 24, 2001: Maurice Evans recorded a career-high 28 points while hitting 10-of-14 field goals (including 5-of-6 from three-point range) to pace the Longhorns to a 94-78 upset of No. 6 Iowa State at the Erwin Center before an ESPN national television audience.

The team reaches the Sweet 16.

MOMENT NO. 78
2001-2002: T.J. Ford becomes the first freshman in NCAA history to lead the nation in assists (8.27 avg.) while earning several National Freshman of the Year accolades (USBWA, CNNSI.com, CollegeInsider.com).

Converting Longhorn academic success to the business world.

Deginald Erskin was a walk-on transfer from UNT and a major force in the paint during the post-season run. Deginald led the team in field goal percentage and was second in blocks.  Jason Klotz was the most improved player during the 2001-2002 season.

2002- 2003 26-7 Record Under Coach Barnes Final 4

Buckman and Paulino had a great basketball ride for the Longhorns. Three sweet 16 appearances. On their home court, the two were 59-4, and in their final game, they beat Oklahoma to share the Big 12 title. They also were part of a school record for most wins in a season.

2002-2003 was the best season in the 97-year history of Longhorn basketball. Texas advanced to the final four for the third time in the school’s history (1943 and 1947 were the other two years). Texas was ranked #3 in the final poll.

Before this season, UT had made only three appearances in the AP Top 10. #6 in 1978-1979, #7 in 1982, and #5 in 1982.  2002-2003 Texas was ranked in the top 10 for 19 weeks, including 13 weeks in the top 5.   #2 on December 2, 2002, was the highest preseason billing in school history, besting the #6 ranking in 1978-1979.   Ford won the Naismith and Wooden awards, becoming the first person in UT history to earn National Player of the Year.

MOMENT NO. 41
December 2, 2002: Texas climbs to No. 2 in both The Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. This marks the highest ranking in both polls in school history (before the 2005-06 season).

The Horns reached the Final 4 for the third time in Longhorn basketball history—first, Bully Gilstrap’s in 1942, and Jack Gray’s in 1946.

This basketball team ties the school record for most wins @ 26.

T. J. Ford  Receives The Naismith College Player Of The Year; John R. Wooden Award; Sporting News Men’sMen’sege Basketball Player Of The Year; CBS/Chevrolet National Player Of The Year; SI.Com National Player Of The Year; And Espn.Com Player Of The Year.

On February 9, 2002, Longhorn basketball won their 1500 game in the program’s history.

ESPN and AP ranked the Longhorns as number 2 during the year. This is the highest ranking ever for Longhorn basketball and the first time the Longhorns have received a Number One seed.

MOMENT NO. 50
Mar. 17, 2002: Royal Ivey hits a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to lift Texas to a 68-64 victory against Mississippi State in a NCAA Second Round contest at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The win sends the Longhorns to the “Sweet 16” for the third time since the tourney expanded to 64 teams.

The Longhorns are relatively small, but 6’8″ sophomore center James
Thomas had some good number after Owen’s injury the year before. . Though only a sophomore, “He really filled the void for us, and he’s just scratched the surface of his talent,” says Texas coach Rick Barnes. Height is also on the way from freshman 6’8″ forward Brad Buckman.

 Brandon Mouton is the leading scorer in three of their five
tournament games with 25 points against a loss to Syracuse in the Final Four semis.

MOMENT NO. 5
April 12, 2003: T.J. Ford concludes his collegiate career by capturing the John R. Wooden Player of the Year award in a formal ceremony at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. One day earlier, Ford receives the Naismith Award during a banquet in Atlanta. Ford becomes the first person in UT history to earn National Player of the Year honors.

The Seniors On This Team Win The Most Games In School History (98)

2003-2004 25-8 Record Coach Barnes Team makes sweet 16 but loses to xavier.

2003-2004 team advances to the sweet 16 for the third consecutive season.   The Horns also made the sweet 16 in 1960, 1963, 1972, 1997, and 2002. Making the elite 8 in 1990. This was the second consecutive year the  Horns won 25 games in the season.  The team ended the season with a #12 ranking. It was the 6th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament.  The defense was the team’s trade mark.

Barnes said this team had no superstars but was blessed with a lot of talent and a deep bench so he used an 11 man rotation. Coach Barnes is a master of exploiting the opposing team’s weaknesses and converts team synergy to get the best performance from each player.

MOMENT NO. 87
Jan. 17, 2004: Royal Ivey hits a 16-foot fade-away jumper with 2.4 seconds left to give No. 18 Texas a 63-61 victory against Nebraska at the Erwin Center.

Jan. 5, 2004: P.J. Tucker goes coast-to-coast and drops a five-foot finger roll through the basket as time expires in overtime to lift No. 18 Texas to a 79-77 win at No. 25 Providence before an ESPN national television audience. With the score tied at 77-77 and 3.7 seconds left in overtime, Tucker took the inbounds pass in the UT backcourt, drove the ball to mid-court, used a behind-the-back dribble to cut to the middle of the floor, and then drove to the basket. Officials reviewed the play for 10 minutes using television replays before determining that Tucker’s shot had left his right hand before the red light behind the backboard (used to determine the official ending of the game clock) lit up. Barnes signs three McDonald’s All Americans LaMarcus Aldridge, Daniel Gibson, and Mike Williams. Many thought this was the best recruiting class in the country in 2004.

MOMENT NO. 56
Jan. 13, 2004: P.J. Tucker tallies a team-high 21 points and seven rebounds to lead the Horns to a 94-81 upset over No. 4 Wake Forest at the Erwin Center before an ESPN2 national television audience. UT defeated the second-highest AP-ranked opponent at home in school history. Texas has beaten the No. 3 ranked team twice before at the Erwin Center.

Two starters are lost after the team was off to a great start with a 14-3 record. Freshman forward LaMarcus Aldridge suffered a hip injury, and sophomore swingman P.J. Tucker was declared academically ineligible.

MOMENT NO. 8
April 5, 2003: Texas falls to eventual national champion Syracuse 95-84 in the National Semifinals in UT’s first appearance in modern history at the Final Four. The teams play in front of 54,432 fans at the Superdome in New Orleans, marking the largest crowd to ever see a Texas basketball game.

MOMENT NO. 1
March 30, 2003: Texas players and coaches cut down the nets in San Antonio’s Alamodome following an 85-76 victory against Michigan State in the NCAA South Regional final. The game is played before a pro-Longhorn crowd of 30,169. The victory sends the Horns to the Final Four for the third time in school history and first since 1947, a span of 56 years.

MOMENT NO. 13
March 8, 2003: T.J. Ford scores 14 of his team-high 18 points in the second half to rally the No. 4 Longhorns from a 15-point deficit to a 76-71 win against fifth-ranked Oklahoma in Norman. Texas trailed 58-43 with 13:48 left before a Brian Boddicker three-pointer ignites the comeback. The contest marks the first time in school history that UT had been involved in a match-up of two AP Top Five teams.

2004-2005 20-11 Record Under Coach Barnes

P.J. Tucker decided to quit telling Coach Barnes he was physically drained from strength and conditioning coach Todd Wright. Adding to this exhaustion was the emotional struggle he had to overcome when he was academically ineligible. He did more than just overcome the obstacles in his life; he excelled in the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Hall of Honor inductee P.J. Tucker was Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and was one of 10 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, given by the USBWA to the national college player of the year.

In the middle of the season, the Horns lost Alridge and Tucker to injuries. In the first part of the season, the team had a strong record of 14-3, but after the injuries, their performance declined to 6-8. There were additional challenges this year, including Mike Williams facing eligibility issues, Dion Sowell suffering from a shoulder injury, Kenton Paulino struggling with a hamstring injury throughout the season, and Sydmill Harris dealing with a groin injury and back spasms all year long.

Despite these setbacks, the team still managed to win 20 games and received an NCAA tournament bid for the 15th time in 17 seasons. However, Texas did not achieve a ranking this year. The Horns set a new record with a 38.8% shooting percentage from three-point range. Additionally, Daniel Gibson was named the consensus Big 12 Freshman of the Year.

This Team Sets The Texas Record For Most Rebounds (1498);

This is Coach Barnes 7th year at Texas and he has set all kinds of Longhorn basketball records:

1) three years in a row to the sweet 16

2) six straight trips to the NCAA tournament

3) 5 consecutive years winning 20 games or more.

MOMENT NO. 61
Jan. 26, 2004: Brandon Mouton nailed a three-pointer as time expired in regulation to force overtime, and the Longhorns went on to record a 62-61 victory against No. 13 Texas Tech before a sellout crowd in Lubbock and an ESPN “Big Monday” national television audience. After two Ronald Ross free throws gave Tech a 55-52 lead with 3.2 seconds left, Brian Boddicker rifled the inbounds pass beyond half-court to Royal Ivey who promptly called timeout. Ivey then tossed a crosscourt pass to Mouton who took one dribble and launched a deep three-pointer that found the net at the buzzer.

Coach Barnes made some changes in the lineup in 2004 by moving P.J. Tucker from power forward to wingman. This team struggled with internal issues. Tucker had academic issues, Alridge suffered knee problems, and Klotz was suspended for a game for hitting a Memphis player. Texas is one-and-done in the Big 12 tournament and barely makes the NCAA race to the championship.

MOMENT NO. 39
March 20, 2004: Royal Ivey posts a team-high 17 points, including 9-of-10 free throws, to pace the Longhorns to a 78-75 win against No. 18 North Carolina in an NCAA second-round game in Denver. The victory sends Texas to the “Sweet 16” for a third consecutive year, a first in school history.

MOMENT NO. 65
Feb. 21, 2004: James Thomas sets the UT career rebounding mark in Texas’ 68-63 win at Oklahoma before an ESPN national television audience. Thomas breaks the record that had stood for 22 seasons at the 18:12 mark of the first half with his second rebound of the contest.

 MOMENT NO. 31
Feb. 8, 2004: The University of Texas officially retires the No. 11 jersey of T.J. Ford in a halftime ceremony during a 66-37 victory against No. 22 Oklahoma. The 29-point win marked the largest margin of victory for the Longhorns in the all-time series with the Sooners.

2005- 2006  30-7 Record Under Coach Barnes- happy birthday to longhorn basketball – the team makes the elite 8

2005-2006 draft Lamarcus Alridge, P.J. Tucker and Daniel Gibson.

2005-2006 is the 100th year of Longhorn basketball. The team’s record over the last 99 years was 1,477-911. Texas played its first basketball game on March 10, 1906, defeating Baylor 27-17. It posted a 7-1 record. This is Barnes’s eighth year as the Longhorn basketball coach. Barnes’s record at Erwin Center is 90-15. The Horns have won 44 of the last 47 home games.

The Longhorn Nation has experienced a roller coaster ride of emotional ups and downs over the last 100 years, but the ride is what makes Longhorn basketball exciting. Fans live vicariously through their team, holding on during the ride up and screaming on the way down.

Daniel Gibson is considered one of the top point guards in the country.

Brad Buckman a McDonald All-American was the third player In UT history to post 20 points in 20 rebounds in a game.  Brad earned the title “Double Double Man”

The Longhorns Have their First 30-game Winning Season, And The Seniors On This Team replace the 2004 team as the winningest team in school history (101).

Aldridge returns and Tucker regains eligibility and these horns record the first 30 game win season in the history of Longhorn basketball and make the Elite 8.

2006-2007 25-10 Under Coach Barnes pending

Texas won their 1500 game in 2006.

Only one player and 14% of the scoring returned from the 2005-2006 Elite 8 team. However, this team also recruits one of the best freshman classes in the history of Longhorn basketball. Kevin Durant, Damion James, Dexter Pittman, Matt Hill, and D.J. Augustin are part of this class. This Horn team could have easily had 5 freshmen in the starting rotation for 2006.

Four freshmen and one sophomore finish third in the Big 12 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament.  Texas finished the season ranked  #11 in the country.  Kevin Durant tied LaMarcus Aldridge as the highest NBA basketball draft pick in Longhorn sports history.  This was the 9th consecutive year the Horns received a NCAA tournament bid.

#1 tandem in points scored through 2006 = Kevin Durant/A.J. Abrams, 2)  1989-Travis Mays/Lance Blanks, 3)  1988-Travis Mays/Lance Blanks as one of the top-scoring duos in school history during the 2007-2008 season.

Kevin Durant is the first freshman ever to win a National Player of the year award.  He wins all 10 of the awards presented in 2007. He receives the  Naismith College Player of the Year; John R. Wooden Award; USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy; Adolph Rupp Trophy; Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year, NABC Play of the Year, Sporting News Men’s College Basketball Player of the Year; CBS/Chevrolet National Player of the Year; SI.Com National Player of the Year; and Espn.com Player of the Year. He is also selected for the Olympic team in 2012.

Ed Reese (the Texas swimming coach)  gives Barnes some coaching advise that improves Barnes coaching style.

2007- 2008 31-7 Record Under Coach Barnes – won the Big 12 regular season championship

Rick  Barne’s formula for winning has always been to pay attention to the fundamentals and details. He is a master at adjusting his game plan to fit the strength of his personnel.

Texas set a school record for the most victories in a season by winning 30 games three years in a row. The Horns also set records for most wins in regular season (26-5) , most home victories 17-1, most total games played (38) and tied the record for most away victories (14-6).

 During the season, Texas beat 20 of the 38 opponents who played in the NCAA tournament.  Memphis beat Texas 85-67 to end NCAA tournament play. During the season, Texas beat UCLA and Kansas. UCLA marked the highest-ranked AP team that the Horns beat in school history.   The attendance set a record of 13, 815 fans at home games.  Connor Atchley was one of the breakout players of the season.

Horns won the Big 12 conference and attended the 10th consecutive NCAA tournament.   Augustin was first-team all-American and academic first-team All-big 12.

Since Barnes’s arrival, the Horns have held 165 of their 340 opponents to under 40% FG shooting.

Texas returned 4 starters and 7 of their top eight scorers from last years team. The Horns claimed the Big 12 conference title and advanced to the Elite 8 for the 7th time  (1939, 1943, 1947, 1990, 2003, and 2006.  The 31 wins set a school record for most wins in a season.  This was the second visit to the Elite 8 in the last 3 years.   Texas finished the season ranked #7.

The year before Augustin was eclipsed by the great Kevin Durant. ” But without Durant, Augustin is the floor leader chosen by Rick Barnes

Augustin lost 20 pounds and spent considerable time in the gym planning to lead the Horns after Durant was drafted. Barnes respected his work ethic and rewarded him with more floor leadership responsibility in 2007.

It is fair to say that the 2007 team was more balanced without Durant. Augustin the field general, A.J. Abrams, and Connor Atchley’s points per game in 2007 were higher than when Durant dominated the court.

D.J. Augustin – consensus first-team All American. He was the 1st  Longhorn to earn both a consensus and Academic All American in the same season.  In the Tennessee game for the first time, the Horns had 4- 20 point scorers in one game (Augistin, Atchley, Abrams, and Mason.

Augustin and Abrams’s combination ranks 4th in points scored in 2007-2008.   1)2006 = Kevin Durant/A.J. Abrams, 2)  1989-Travis Mays/Lance Blanks, 3)  1988-Travis Mays/Lance Blanks as one of the top-scoring duos in school history during the 2007-2008 season.

Music topping the charts

2008-2009  23-12 Record Under Coach Barnes pending

 Texas won 23 out of 24 games with Baylor. Abrams tied the Big 12 career record with his 338th three-pointer.  7th-seeded Horns Lost to Duke in the NCAA   tournament.

Barnes and the staff have the best combination of depth and experience since 2003-2004. The Horns return four starters and their top ten scorers from the previous year.

2009 24-10 Record – Coach Barnes

Talent – check  – Dexter Pittman and Damion James

Experience- check- Texas returns 4 starters who made the NCAA second round the previous year.

Depth- check- The roster is two-deep at every position

Inspired by T.J. Ford, Bradley was a Longhorn for one year before declaring for the NBA draft. As a freshman in 2009–10, Bradley averaged 11.6 points for the Longhorns and established himself as one of the top defensive guards in the country. He earned Big 12 All-Rookie Team and All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors. Avery Bradley played for the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.

2010  28-7 Record – Coach Barnes

This Is The Only Season In The History Of Texas Basketball That Texas Is  Number 1 In A Weekly National Poll. 

This year begins with dreams of greatness, winning their first 17 games, but ends in despair as the Horns do not win at the Big 12 tournament and fall in the first round with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime to Wake Forest.

The play of the Longhorns in the second half of the season was inconsistent. The Horns were ranked #1 but fell to #10 Kansas State 71-62, breaking the 17-game winning streak. Horns lost to Connecticut the next week and their downward trend in the polls to #9.  Losses continued to Baylor and Texas A & M. Texas made history with this team.

The Horns are the 5th #1 to fall out of the top 25 in the same season.

The Horns were ranked #15 but lost to the #11 A & M in the Big 12 quarter-finals.  Texas then fell to #26.

Cory Joseph started all 36 games in his freshman season, leading the team in scoring four times and in rebounding twice. Following the end of the season, Joseph declared for the NBA draft and was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman team. In 2014 Cory played for the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

Tristan Thompson played for the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers.

The 2010-2011 draft marked the second straight year and third time in school history that the Horns had three players selected in the same draft.  Avery Bradley, Damion James, and Dexter Pittman.

Texas led the number of Academic All-Big 12 selections from 2008-2011.

 2011 Record Under Coach Barnes pending

This was A & M last year in the Big 12, so it was important to win the last game.  It was a great game, tied at 66-66 with a minute to go, but the Horns were up to the task and sent the Aggies to the SEC with a loss. Texas’ final numbers combining the SWC and Big 12 totaled 137 wins for Texas and 85 for the Aggies.

The Longhorns lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament.  But the Horns had an abysmal record of 0-7 against ranked teams.

J’covan Brown had a stellar season leading the Big 12 in scoring.

2012-2013  16-18 Record Under Coach Barnes pending

Through 2014 Texas had 6 different individuals earn conference player of the year – Ron Baxter  1979-1980, John Brownlee 1985-1985, Travis Mays 1988-1986, Terrence Rencher 1991-1993, Kris Clack 1995-1996, P.J. Tucker 2005-2006, and Kevin Durant 2006-2007.

Texas won all three games against the Aggies.  Jordan Hamilton led both the team in scoring against the Aggies.

Texas A &M is favored to win so the fans had a hex rally to beat the Aggies.  Horns dominate Kansas and broke Kansas 69 home game winning streak.  In 2012 the Horns got ahead and stayed ahead.

2013 24-11 Record Under Coach Barnes pending

 Rick Barnes said that even though they lost twice to West Virginia,, he thought the teams second meeting was a big step in terms of being a team from the inside out.

2014- 2015 20-14 Record Under Coach Barnes ending

2014-2015 the Men’s basketball team GPA is the highest in Horn basketball history – 3.20.

Texas wins against ranked Kansas State on a three-pointer by Jonathan Holmes with no time left to start .  Texas wins the next three games against ranked appoints but disappoints in the NCAA tournament.

Reflection Point – Coach Barnes

Kirk Bohls said it best. He supported the release of Rick Barnes – the coach, but he wanted to celebrate Rick Barnes -the man. Kirk said, “ I genuinely and deeply like and respect Barnes, who is as genuine as any person I’ve ever dealt with professionally. “ Most UT decision-makers agreed that it was time to change direction with Longhorn basketball. Barnes teams were playing poorly in the Big 12 portion of the schedule, and the team barely made the NCAA tournament his last year and UT was beaten 56-48 opening-game loss to Butler that kept Texas out of the Sweet 16 for the seventh March in a row. Kirk looks at Barnes’s accomplishment thru the prism of history giving credit to Tom Penders for making basketball relevant in Austin but to Barnes for keeping UT basketball “relevant and stable and nationally prominent for a glorious decade, even with only one Final Four”. Barnes took Texas to the highest and most elite levels since the days of Coach Jack Gray’s final 4 team in 1946.

The research on the history of Longhorn Sports ends in 2014.  Information will be added at a future date.

Texas athletic Steve Patterson has released an open letter to men’s basketball season ticket holders. The letter is listed below in its entirety:

First, I wanted to take the time to thank you for your continued support of Texas Athletics and particularly our men’s basketball team by corresponding directly with you.

Over the weekend, we decided to change the leadership of our men’s basketball program. These decisions are never pleasant, but I felt they were necessary to ensure that our men’s basketball team and our student-athletes have the greatest chance to succeed.

Secondly, as I said in our announcement Sunday, the University owes Rick Barnes a great deal of gratitude and respect for all he’s done to put Texas on the basketball map. This decision was not easy because of the heights that Coach Barnes took our program and how he did it – with integrity, respect, and focus on developing the all-around student-athlete. We thank Rick for his many years of service to Texas and wish him continued success in the future.

Third, we are committed to ensuring our men’s basketball team competes at an elite level, challenging for the Big 12 title every year and making deeper runs in the NCAA Tournament.

We also are committed to creating an unmatched home game atmosphere in the Frank Erwin Center. We have begun our search for a new basketball coach, which we expect to complete in a thoughtful yet expeditious manner. You can be assured the successful candidate will be someone who will represent the University with the utmost competence and integrity and someone who has a history of winning and building a winning culture that ultimately leads to championship performance consistently. We want a bright leader who can recruit and develop young men to the utmost of their abilities both on and off the court.

Lastly, we appreciate your continued support and look forward to many exciting years of Longhorns basketball.

Thank you, and Hook ‘em,

Steve Patterson

Shaka Smart 2015-2021

Shaka Smart   2015 to present

Longhorn basketball is tradition-rich

2015 – Shaka’s Smart Start

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.

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.

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.

 MOMENT NO. 12
On February 25, 1956, Raymond Downs tied the school record for single-game scoring with 49 points during a 101-95 victory at Baylor. He achieved this by making 18 field goals and 13 free throws.

The team also marked a milestone by defeating Oklahoma A&M (State) for the first time since 1943. This victory was particularly significant as it was Oklahoma A&M’s first loss in their home gym. Additionally, the team played against a semi-pro basketball team called the Phillips Oilers, suffering a defeat with a final score of 108 to 91; this game saw the most points ever scored in Gregory Gym.

This season was Coach Hull’s final year. The team finished fourth in the conference but ended on a high note by beating the Aggies 98-70 in Coach Hull’s last game. Ironically, this team set a total point record of 1,836 points for the season, while Raymond Downs exceeded the 600-point mark individually.

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.

In the cellar in the SWC again.

Poor fan behavior at Gregory Gym has become a significant issue. Jack Gallagher of the Houston Post observes that “Texas officials long ago gave up trying to rein in the tribal instincts of the student body.” Lou Maysel of the Austin Statesman adds, “The University of Texas is facing a serious crisis due to the unruly crowd that attends basketball games. It’s a Roman holiday for that segment of the UT population that has yet to fully evolve from primitive instincts to civilized behavior.”

First televised home 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.

Team finished last in the SWC.

Topping the Charts in 1958 was Chuck Berry

Albert participated in the Olympics under Mexico’s flag.

Coach Hughes resigns.

From 1959-1976, the Longhorns participated in only four NCAA tournaments and won the SWC championship only four times in 17 years.

1959-1967 Coach Harold Bradley

Harold Bradley faced rejection from African American basketball players during his coaching tenure. On two occasions, he believed he had successfully crossed the racial barrier, but he ultimately failed. His best opportunity to recruit a Black athlete was James Cash. To demonstrate his commitment to Cash, Bradley visited the Austin City Council and urged the Human Rights Commission to show that Texas was working to improve race relations. However, Cash ultimately chose to attend TCU instead of Texas.

Coach Bradley was also convinced that Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) would attend Texas and even had a preliminary press release prepared in anticipation. Bill Little articulated Coach Bradley’s challenges by saying, “There were legitimate concerns about how to integrate when there had been no prior examples of it.”

From 1959 to 1976, the Longhorns participated in only four NCAA tournaments and won the Southwest Conference championship just four 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.”

 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 coaches in Texas who believes that offering scholarships benefits both the school and the athlete. The Southwest Conference (SWC) is regarded as a weak college basketball conference, which has jeopardized fan allegiance to the college game due to the popularity of professional sports in Texas. Despite this, the team achieved a 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

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.

1962-  21-5 record    Coach Bradley – sweet 16

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.

This marked the first season since 1948, when the team achieved 20 wins. Jay Arnette was both an All-American and an Olympian, while Brenton Hughes ranked second in scoring for the Longhorns. The starting lineup included Brenton Hughes, Jay Arnette, Donnie Lasiter, Jimmy Brown, and Wayne Clark. Unfortunately, Texas was defeated by Kansas and DePaul in the NCAA tournament.

Lou Maysel from the Austin American-Statesman referred to Bradley as “a cage magician” who had “transformed a dozen bumpkins into impressive-looking chargers who look like they might run away with the SWC.”

However, bad sportsmanship reached a peak when, after Texas defeated A&M in Austin, Longhorn fans taunted the Aggies, leading to physical confrontations. Doctors were called in to treat the injured. Consequently, the administrations of both universities considered changing future games to a neutral site.

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.

The team is the SWC co-champion

SWC imposes scholarship limitations

Leon Black is hired as Asst. coach

Basketball is starting 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.”

According to Richard Pennington’s book “Longhorn Hoops,” Coach Bradley states that SWC teams should avoid playing the Houston Cougars because Houston’s academic standards are lower than those of SWC teams. This gives Houston a significant recruiting advantage. Fred Sanner from the Austin American-Statesman refers to Houston as one of the “outlaw schools.” Additionally, Coach Bradley remarks, “I think Texas Tech has the worst crowd in the U.S.”

1966- 1967 14-10  record   Coach Bradley

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

Gilbert Ford College Career: From 1950–1954, he played for the University of Texas Longhorns, serving as co-captain his senior year when UT was co-champion of the Southwest Conference. He was named to multiple All-SWC teams and later inducted into the UT Longhorn Hall of Honor (1986).
• Olympic Path: After graduation, Ford joined the Air Force and played on the 1956 All-Air Force and All-Armed Forces teams, which qualified for the Olympic trials. He was selected to the U.S. Olympic Basketball Team and helped secure the gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Games

Jay Arnette was a member of the original Olympic basketball “Dream Team” In 1960. Jay went on to play both pro basketball and pro baseball before coming back to Austin and becoming an orthodontist. Here is a story from one of his teammates, Oscar Robertson, talking about just how dominant that team was. Steve Ross

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/sports/olympics/08robertson.html

Information from Wikipedia concerning the Texas Longhorns men’s basketball program follows:

The University of Texas began competition in men’s basketball in 1906.

• As of 2018, the Longhorns rank 17th in total victories among all NCAA Division I college basketball programs with 33 appearances in the NCAA tournament, 3 visits to the final 4 (1943, 1947, 2002), 7 visits to the Elite 8, and one National Champion recognition from the Premo-Porretta Power Poll in 1933.

• Texas is second only to Kansas in both all-time wins and all-time win percentage in the Big 12 with 27 conference championships

• Texas played in two Final Fours and one Elite Eight during the first decade of the NCAA Tournament.

• Texas has the 4th longest winning streak in college basketball history.

Longhorn History in Tournament Play

1936-1937 13-10 Coach Gray

1937-1938 11-11 Record Coach Gray

The center jump after each field goal is eliminated. The scores start to climb.

1938-1939 19-6 Coach Jack Gray Makes the NCAA regionals

Longhorn Student enrollment was approximately 12,000 students.

Denton Cooley

In the book “Texas Our Texas Remembrances of the University, compiled and edited by Bryan a. Garner, Denton Cooley talks about the great coaching staff at Texas when he played basketball. He says,

The athletic program at the University of Texas was a major attraction for me. Dana Bible had just been appointed the athletic director and head football coach. Replacing Jack Chevigny. Mr. Bible was a remarkable and inspiring person quite the antithesis of his predecessor.

He encouraged the football players to become involved in the campus activities other than athletics and even urged them to improve their scholastic achievements and political and social involvements. Many athletes began to join fraternities and enjoy fellowship outside the football dormitory. It it was indeed a new era.

Theodore Roosevelt Award from the NCAA. The award is presented annually to a prominent American “for whom competitive athletics in college and attention to physical well-being thereafter have been important factors in a distinguished career of national significance and achievement.” Cooley graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1941 with a B.A. in zoology. He then attended Johns Hopkins Medical School, earning his M.D. in 1944. During his medical career, Cooley pioneered open-heart surgery, performing the first successful heart transplant in the U.S. in 1968 and implanting the first totally artificial heart in a human in 1969.

Denton Cooley plays a major part in the season. His oral history is in the links below.

http://www.cah.utexas.edu/projects/ut_oral_history_cooley1.php

http://www.cah.utexas.edu/projects/ut_oral_history_cooley2.php

The Denton A. Cooley Pavilion facility was built in his name. 

SWC Champions – won of Jack Gray’s best teams

First-year for the NCAA basketball tournament

Texas is invited to the first NCAA tournament and loses to the eventual national champion Oregon Ducks.

58,000 attend the SWC tournament

1939 18-5 record under Coach Gray

MOMENT NO. 49
Dec. 26, 1939: Texas defeats the Manhattan Jaspers 54-32 in the school’s first trip to New York and Madison Square Garden. The defeat marked the worst defeat to that point handed to a New York team in the Garden. The game was played in front of 18,000 people, the largest crowd ever to see a Texas basketball game then.

The NCAA Tournament was born in 1939 with an eight-team format. Four from the West and four from the East. Winners in each bracket played in New York for the championship.

Texas Tech and Texas compete in basketball for the first time

Coach Gray pushs for more inter-sectional rivalry and accepts an invitation to play in Madison Square Garden ; the New York fans love the Texas fast break and are awed with the accuracy of the Texas “one” hand shots.

The first smoking ban was implemented AND enforced at Gregory Gym.

Coach Gray was one of the first Coaches to tally statistics and use the resultant numbers to his advantage. 

9000 fans, the largest crowd to date to see a basketball game, saw Rice beat Texas. All-American Moers scored 19 points, but Texas lost 42- 41.

1940 14-10 record under Coach Gray

9000 fans, which was the largest crowd up to this date to see a basketball game, saw Rice beat Texas .  All-American Moers had 19 points.  Texas lost 42- 41.

Denton Cooley plays a major part in the season. His oral history is below

http://www.cah.utexas.edu/projects/ut_oral_history_cooley1.php

http://www.cah.utexas.edu/projects/ut_oral_history_cooley2.php

1941-1942 Record 14-9 Coach Jack Gray

This team had a lot of trouble, but they managed to beat Arkansas and ruin their chance of an outright SWC championship.

Coach Gray and his assistant Ed Price join the military service for WWII

1942-1945 Coach H.C. “Bully” Gilstrap

1942-1943- 19-7 record Coach H.C. Gilstrap

MOMENT NO. 6
March 26, 1943: Texas beat Washington 59-55 in the NCAA Western Regional in Kansas City. Since the NCAA Tournament used an eight-team field, the win advanced the Longhorns to the National Semifinals (regional final). It marked the Horns’ first of three appearances in what became the Final Four. UT’s season ended with a 58-54 loss to Wyoming on March 28.

SWC Co-Champions

The 1942 Longhorns advanced to the NCAA tournament and beat the Washington Huskies before losing to the ultimate winners of the National Championship – Wyoming Cowboys.  John Hargis scored  59 points in two games to set a record that was once established at 43 points.

But it was a 17-year-old freshman Roy Cox who helped Texas notch its first tourney win. Cox cut through the Washington defense for a layup that gave Texas a lead it would not relinquish. The Horns won, 59-55, and were one win away from punching their ticket to the tournament final in New York.

Hargis nearly surpassed his own NCAA Tournament scoring record in the West Region but Wyoming won 58-54 and ultimately won the national championship against Georgetown, 46-34.

1943-1944 14-11 Record Coach H.C. Gilstrap

1944-1945 10-10 Record Coach H.C. Gilstrap

They won the first five games but then fell apart as a team. The first game against the Aggies set a conference scoring record of 77 points and then another record of 81 points at the end of the season.

1946- 1951 Coach Gray

1945 16-7 record Jack Gray returns from WWII

Finished a disappointing 5th in the SWC.

MOMENT NO. 27
Dec. 6, 1945: After three years of Naval duty during World War II, Jack Gray returns to Austin as head coach of the Longhorns. Texas defeats San Antonio YMCA 58-23 in Gray’s first game back at UT. Gray would continue to coach the Longhorns for the next six seasons (1946-1951), leading them to two SWC Championships (1947, 1951) and the highest national finish in school history in 1947 (third place).

Attendance increases

1946- 1947 26-2  record under Coach Gray

One of the best teams in Texas Basketball history, the Horns had the best record in the country going into tournament play.

The mighty Mice – Al Madsen, Slater Martin, and Roy Cox all under 5’11” in height lead the team.

John Hargis plays an important role in the 1942-1943 and 1946-1947 teams.

MOMENT NO. 2
March 25, 1947: The Longhorns defeat City College of New York 54-50 in Madison Square Garden in the NCAA Third-Place Game. This marks the highest national finish in school history. UT’s legendary “Mighty Mice” team, featuring three starters 5-10 or shorter, posts a 26-2 mark, the best record in the country.

Texas 42, Wyoming 40 March 21, 1947 Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City

Hall of Famer Slater Martin helped Texas tear through the Southwest Conference in 1947, as the Longhorns went 24-1 overall and 12-0 in SWC play.

The Longhorns got revenge against Wyoming and, although it took four years, Hargis was there to help. Following the 1942-43 basketball season, Hargis enlisted in the Marines and served for three years before returning to school and the Horns’ hoops roster.

Back on the team, Hargis made up half of a dynamic duo with guard Slater Martin. Both went on to play in the NBA, but Martin made the greater impact at the game’s highest level. In professional ball, Martin played on the NBA championship teams for the Minneapolis Lakers (1950 thru 1954) and St. Louis Hawks (1958). Martin entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.

With Hargis and Martin leading the way, the Horns tore through the SWC in 1947, winning all 12 of their league games and compiling a 24-1 record during the regular season.

1947-1948

20-5 record Coach Gray NIT quarterfinals

NIT Invitation but lost to NYU in the last second. Team led the nation in free throw shooting with a .730 average. (351 of 481 shots)

Front- Martin, Hamilton, Langdon, Zomlefer, Madsen, White

Back- Huffman, Zastaupil, George, Green, Clark, Gray

1948 17-7 record Coach Gray

Recruiting athletes instead of selecting athletes after tryouts has a profound impact on college sports. This is one of the first years that there is a  competitive struggle between universities for the “services” of a high school athlete. 

Gray thinks recruiting is a disgusting degrading process, and it is one of the major reasons he quits in 1951.

Point shaving becomes a problem, particularly in the North East. 

The team played very poorly and then played sensationally but ended in 4th in the SWC.  Slater set a new conference scoring record.   Al Madsen represented the team spirit.

MOMENT NO. 11
Feb. 26, 1949: Slater Martin sets the UT single-game scoring record with 49 points in an 81-60 victory against TCU in Gregory Gym. Martin converts 21 field goals and seven free throws en route to his point total.

1949 13-11 record   Coach Jack Gray

 Slater Martin scores 49 points against TCU.

MOMENT NO. 77
Feb. 22, 1949: Texas enters the Associated Press Poll for the first time at No. 20.

MOMENT NO. 66
Jan. 14 and Feb 28, 1950: Texas defeats A&M 48-46 on a Joe Ed Falk shot at the buzzer at Gregory Gym. Later that year in the season finale at College Station, Bill Huffman’s lay-up and a Frank Womack free throw gave Texas another last-second victory (53-52) over the Aggies.

Texas and Baylor had their 100th meeting. it is the oldest college Basketball state rivalry.

1950 – 1951  Record 13-14  Record Coach Gray

Leon Black and George Scaling led the team. Coach Gray said that both players played so hard he felt they would faint. Both players helped the Horns to an SWC Co-Championship.