View source for Guy Lewis

{{Short description|American basketball player and coach (1922–2015)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{for-multi|the college football player|Kemp Lewis|the U.S. Attorney|Guy A. Lewis}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Guy Lewis
| image = Guy Lewis, circa 1972.png
| alt = 
| caption = Lewis, c. 1972
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|3|19}}
| birth_place = [[Arp, Texas]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2015|11|26|1922|3|19}}
| death_place = [[Kyle, Texas]], U.S.
| alma_mater = 
| player_years1 = 1945–1947
| player_team1 = [[Houston Cougars men's basketball|Houston]]
| player_positions = [[Center (basketball)|Center]], [[Forward (basketball)|forward]]
| coach_years1 = 1953–1956
| coach_team1 = [[Houston Cougars men's basketball|Houston]] (assistant)
| coach_years2 = 1956–1986
| coach_team2 = Houston
| overall_record = {{Winning percentage|592|279|record=y}}
| bowl_record = 
| tournament_record = 26–18 ([[NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|NCAA Division I]])<br/>3–3 ([[National Invitation Tournament|NIT]])
| championships = {{Plainlist|
*5 [[List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach|NCAA regional—Final Four]] ([[1967 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|1967]], [[1968 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|1968]], [[1982 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|1982]]–[[1984 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|1984]])
*4 [[Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament|SWC tournament]] ([[1978 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament|1978]], [[1981 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament|1981]], [[1983 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament|1983]], [[1984 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament|1984]])
*2 [[Southwest Conference|SWC]] regular season (1983, 1984)
}}
| awards = {{Plainlist|
*2× [[Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year|AP Coach of the Year]] (1968, 1983)
*[[Henry Iba Award]] (1968)
*[[NABC Coach of the Year]] (1968)
*[[Sporting News Men's College Basketball Coach of the Year Award|''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year]] (1968)
*[[UPI College Basketball Coach of the Year|UPI Coach of the Year]] (1968)
*2x SWC Coach of the Year (1983, 1984)
}}
| coaching_records = 
| BASKHOF_year = 2013
| CBBASKHOF_year = 2007
| BASKHOF_id = guy-v-lewis
}}
'''Guy Vernon Lewis II''' (March 19, 1922 – November 26, 2015) was an American [[basketball]] player and coach.  He served as the head men's basketball coach at the [[University of Houston]] from 1956 to 1986.  Lewis led his [[Houston Cougars men's basketball|Houston Cougars]] to five appearances in the Final Four of the [[NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship|NCAA tournament]], in 1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, and 1984. His 1980s teams, nicknamed [[Phi Slama Jama]] for their [[slam dunk]]s, were runners-up  for the national championship in back-to-back seasons in 1983 and 1984. He was inducted into [[National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame]] in 2007 and the [[Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame]] in 2013.

==Coaching career==
Born in [[Arp, Texas]], Lewis was on the basketball and football teams of [[Arp High School]].<ref name="HSA Obit">Ashley Southall, "Storied basketball coach helped integrate game", ''Honolulu Star-Advertiser'' (via the ''New York Times''; November 27, 2015), p. B4.</ref> Lewis served as an Army Air Corps flight instructor in World War II. After serving in [[World War II]], Lewis enrolled at the [[University of Houston]] on the [[GI Bill]]. He played center and forward on Houston's first varsity basketball team, graduating in 1947. In 1953, he returned to UH as an assistant coach, succeeding [[Alden Pasche]] as head coach in 1956. As a coach, he was known for championing the once-outlawed [[slam dunk|dunk]], which he characterized as a "high percentage shot," and for clutching a brightly colored red-and-white polka dot towel on the bench during games.  Lewis was a major force in the [[racial integration]] of college athletics in the South during the 1960s, being one of the first major college coaches in the region to actively recruit [[African Americans|African American]] athletes.  In 1964, his recruitment of the program's first African-American players, [[Elvin Hayes]] and [[Don Chaney]], ushered in an era of tremendous success in Cougar basketball.<ref>{{cite news |last=Southall |first=Ashley |title=Guy Lewis, Coach of Houston's Phi Slama Jama Teams, Dies at 93 |date=November 26, 2015 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/sports/basketball/guy-v-lewis-coach-of-houstons-phi-slama-jama-teams-dies-at-93.html?hpw&rref=obituaries&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607195319/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/sports/basketball/guy-v-lewis-coach-of-houstons-phi-slama-jama-teams-dies-at-93.html?_r=0 |archive-date=June 7, 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref>  The dominant play of Hayes led the Cougars to two Final Fours during the 1960s and sent shock waves through Southern colleges that realized that they would have to begin recruiting black players if they wanted to compete with integrated teams.

Lewis led the [[Houston Cougars men's basketball|Houston Cougars]] program to 27 straight winning seasons, 14 seasons with 20 or more wins, and 14 trips to the [[NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship|NCAA tournament]]. His Houston teams advanced to the Final Four on five occasions (1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, 1984) and twice advanced to the national championship game (1983, 1984). Standout players Lewis coached during his tenure at Houston included Hayes, Chaney, [[Hakeem Olajuwon]], [[Clyde Drexler]], [[Otis Birdsong]], [[Dwight Jones (basketball)|Dwight Jones]], [[Louis Dunbar]], [[Dwight Davis (basketball)|Dwight Davis]], and [[Ken Spain]].

Lewis's Houston teams played a key role in two watershed events that helped to popularize college basketball as a spectator sport. In January 1968, his underdog Cougars, led by Hayes, upset [[John Wooden]]'s undefeated and top-ranked UCLA Bruins 71–69 in front of 52,693 fans at the [[Reliant Astrodome|Houston Astrodome]].  This was the first nationally televised regular season college basketball game and subsequently became known as the "[[Game of the Century (college basketball)|Game of the Century]]."  It marked a turning point in the emerging popularity of college basketball.  In the early 1980s, Lewis's [[Phi Slama Jama]] teams at UH gained notoriety for their fast-breaking, "above the rim" style of play as well as their overall success.  At the height of Phi Slama Jama's notoriety, they advanced all the way to the national championship game in 1983 and 1984, along the way notching consecutive 30-win seasons. In the first of those appearances, in 1983, the Cougars suffered a dramatic, last-second loss to underdog [[1982–83 NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team|North Carolina State]] in the 1983 NCAA Final that became an iconic moment in the history of the sport, one that solidified the NCAA basketball tournament in the cultural firmament as [[March Madness]].  Lewis's insistence that his teams play an acrobatic, up-tempo brand of basketball that emphasized dunking brought this style of play to the fore and helped popularize it amongst younger players.

The Cougars also lost in the 1984 NCAA Final to the [[1983–84 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team|Georgetown Hoyas]] led by [[Patrick Ewing]]. On January 21, 1986, Lewis announced that he would retire from coaching after the end of the 1985-86 season.<ref>https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/01/22/The-sight-of-Guy-Lewis-tossing-a-red-polka-dotted/1709506754000/</ref> When asked who he would suggest to replace him, he suggested long-time assistant [[Donnie Schverak]]; the team replaced Lewis with [[Pat Foster]]. Lewis retired at number 20 in all-time NCAA Division I victories, his 592–279 record giving him a .680 career winning percentage.  In 1995, the University of Houston named the playing surface at Hofheinz Pavilion (now the [[Fertitta Center]]) "Guy V. Lewis Court" in Lewis' honor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/hou/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/09MBB_105_140.pdf |title=History & Tradition |publisher=Houston Cougars athletics |work=2008-09 Media Guide |access-date=2008-12-08 |archive-date=2016-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412133213/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/hou/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/09MBB_105_140.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Later life and honors==
Lewis was hospitalized for a stroke on February 27, 2002.<ref>COLLEGES: MEN'S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP. New York Times. February 27, 2002. ''GUY LEWIS HOSPITALIZED: Guy Lewis, the former University of Houston coach who took his team to 14 N.C.A.A. tournaments and 5 trips to the Final Four, was hospitalized yesterday for treatment of an apparent stroke. Lewis, who will turn 80 next month, was taken to Houston's Methodist Hospital about 2 a.m. The university said in a statement that Lewis was under observation but was alert and speaking and would be undergoing tests to determine the severity of what doctors believed was a stroke.''</ref> He later recovered, but experienced some lasting effects from the episode.<ref>JOHN MARSHALL: [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gNfGrppcPgml6VUCkijmwL4mGGvQD8T0FPDO0 Abdul-Jabbar Honored by College Hall] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070609092030/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gNfGrppcPgml6VUCkijmwL4mGGvQD8T0FPDO0 |date=2007-06-09 }} Associated Press. November 18, 2007. Notes: ''(Guy) Lewis, who was too ill to attend the ceremonies, led Houston to five Final Four appearances and 27 consecutive winning seasons, including the 1983 "Phi Slamma Jamma" team that came within seconds of a national title.'' (Lewis had suffered a stroke and gave a videotaped acceptance speech.)</ref> From 1959 until his death, Lewis resided in the [[University Oaks, Houston|University Oaks]] subdivision adjacent to the University of Houston.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1987_484553/lewis-runs-afoul-of-uh-garbage-masher.html |title=Lewis runs afoul of UH garbage masher |author=Stancill, Nancy |date=1987-08-26 |newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]] |access-date=2010-01-20}}</ref> Lewis was the honoree at the 2012 Houston Aphasia Recovery Center luncheon benefit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.harctx.org |title=HARC 2012 Luncheon Benefit}}</ref>

Lewis died on the morning of November 26, 2015 at a retirement facility in Kyle, Texas, at the age of 93.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story?id=14230875&_slug_=hall-fame-coach-guy-lewis-houston-cougars-dies-age-93|title=Guy Lewis, coach of 'Phi Slama Jama' Houston Cougars, dies at 93|date=26 November 2015 |publisher=ESPN Go.com|access-date=November 26, 2015}}</ref>

==Head coaching record==
{{CBB Yearly Record Start | type = | conference = | postseason= | poll = }}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name       = [[Houston Cougars men's basketball|Houston Cougars]]
 | conference = [[Missouri Valley Conference]]
 | startyear  = 1956
 | endyear    = 1960
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1956–57 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1956–57]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 10–16
 | conference   = 5–9
 | confstanding = T–5th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1957–58 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1957–58]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 9–16
 | conference   = 4–10
 | confstanding = T–6th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1958–59 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1958–59]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 12–14
 | conference   = 6–8
 | confstanding = 5th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1959–60 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1959–60]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 13–12
 | conference   = 6–8
 | confstanding = T–4th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name       = [[Houston Cougars men's basketball|Houston Cougars]]
 | conference = NCAA University Division / Division I Independent
 | startyear  = 1960
 | endyear    = 1975
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1960–61 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1960–61]]
 | name         = [[1960–61 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 17–11
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = [[1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division Regional Fourth Place]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1961–62 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1961–62]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 21–6
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = [[1962 National Invitation Tournament|NIT Quarterfinal]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1962–63 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1962–63]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 15–11
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1963–64 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1963–64]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 16–10
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1964–65 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1964–65]]
 | name         = [[1964–65 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 19–10
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = [[1965 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division Regional Fourth Place]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1965–66 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1965–66]]
 | name         = [[1965–66 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 23–6
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = [[1966 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division Regional Third Place]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1966–67 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1966–67]]
 | name         = [[1966–67 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 27–4
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = [[1967 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division Third Place]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1967–68 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1967–68]]
 | name         = [[1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 31–2
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = [[1968 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division Fourth Place]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1968–69]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 16–10
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1969–70 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1969–70]]
 | name         = [[1969–70 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 25–5
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = [[1970 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division Regional Fourth Place]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1970–71 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1970–71]]
 | name         = [[1970–71 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 22–7
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = [[1971 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division Regional Third Place]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1971–72 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1971–72]]
 | name         = [[1971–72 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 20–7
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = [[1972 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division First Round]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1972–73 NCAA University Division men's basketball season|1972–73]]
 | name         = [[1972–73 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 23–4
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = [[1973 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|NCAA University Division First Round]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1973–74]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 17–9
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1974–75 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1974–75]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 16–10
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name       = [[Houston Cougars men's basketball|Houston Cougars]]
 | conference = [[Southwest Conference]]
 | startyear  = 1975
 | endyear    = 1986
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1975–76 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1975–76]]
 | name         = [[1975–76 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 17–11
 | conference   = 7–9
 | confstanding = 6th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1976–77]]
 | name         = [[1976–77 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 29–8
 | conference   = 13–3
 | confstanding = 2nd
 | postseason   = [[1977 National Invitation Tournament|NIT Runner-up]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference tournament
 | season       = [[1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1977–78]]
 | name         = [[1977–78 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 25–8
 | conference   = 11–5
 | confstanding = 3rd
 | postseason   = [[1978 NCAA Division I basketball tournament|NCAA Division I First Round]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1978–79]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 16–15
 | conference   = 6–10
 | confstanding = T–5th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1979–80]]
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = 14–14
 | conference   = 8–8
 | confstanding = T–4th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference tournament
 | season       = [[1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1980–81]]
 | name         = [[1980–81 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 21–9
 | conference   = 10–6
 | confstanding = T–2nd
 | postseason   = [[1981 NCAA Division I basketball tournament|NCAA Division I First Round]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1981–82]]
 | name         = [[1981–82 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 25–8
 | conference   = 11–5
 | confstanding = 2nd
 | postseason   = [[1982 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|NCAA Division I Final Four]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = confboth
 | season       = [[1982–83 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1982–83]]
 | name         = [[1982–83 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 31–3
 | conference   = 16–0
 | confstanding = 1st
 | postseason   = [[1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|NCAA Division I Runner-up]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = confboth
 | season       = [[1983–84 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1983–84]]
 | name         = [[1983–84 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 32–5
 | conference   = 15–1
 | confstanding = 1st
 | postseason   = [[1984 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|NCAA Division I Runner-up]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1984–85 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1984–85]]
 | name         = [[1984–85 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 16–14
 | conference   = 8–8
 | confstanding = T–5th
 | postseason   = [[1985 National Invitation Tournament|NIT First Round]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
 | season       = [[1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1985–86]]
 | name         = [[1985–86 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston]]
 | overall      = 14–14
 | conference   = 8–8
 | confstanding = 6th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name         = Houston
 | overall      = {{Winning percentage|592|279|record=y}}
 | confrecord   = {{Winning percentage|134|98|record=y}}
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record End
 | overall = {{Winning percentage|592|279|record=y}}
}}

==See also==
* [[List of NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four appearances by coach]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Basketballhof|guy-lewis}}

{{Navboxes| list1 =
{{Houston Cougars men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year}}
{{Henry Iba Award}}
{{NABC Coach of the Year}}
{{Sporting News Men's College Basketball Coach of the Year}}
{{UPI College Basketball Coach of the Year}}
{{Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame}}
{{2013 Basketball HOF}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Guy}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
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[[Category:American men's basketball coaches]]
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[[Category:Centers (basketball)]]
[[Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States]]
[[Category:Houston Cougars men's basketball coaches]]
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[[Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:People from Arp, Texas]]
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[[Category:Power forwards]]
[[Category:American military personnel of World War II]]
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[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]