Although I have yet to run across the rest of this 1978 NCAA men’s basketball game of the week….I have decided to go ahead and post this game…..cuz it features two legendary coaches….in DePaul University Coach Ray Meyers and Texas University Coach Abe Lemons.
Raymond Joseph Meyer (December 18, 1913 – March 17, 2006) was an American men’s collegiate basketball coach from Chicago, Illinois….who was well known for coaching at DePaul University from 1942 to 1984….while compiling a 724–354 record. Meyer coached DePaul to 21 post-season appearances (13 NCAA, eight NIT). In total, Meyer recorded 37 winning seasons and twelve 20-win seasons….which included seven straight from 1978 to 1984. Two Meyer-coached teams reached the Final Four (1943 and 1979….and in 1945, Meyer led DePaul past Bowling Green to capture the National Invitation Tournament, the school’s only post-season title.
A.E. “Abe” Lemons (November 21, 1922 -– September 2, 2002) was an American college basketball player and coach….who as a head coach at Oklahoma City University, Pan American University and the University of Texas at Austin….was able to compile a record of 594 – 343 in 34 seasons…..so, these two college coaching legends….they compiled a combined record of 1318 – 697 between them. Abe Lemons took the head coaching position at the University of Texas in 1976…..when in 1977, he served as president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 1977….and was named National Coach of the Year in 1978…..after his team dismantled the competition in the N.I.T…..although this team should have been in The Big Dance….as SWC co-champion Arkansas went to the Final Four….after Abe’s Longhorns had beaten Eddie Sutton’s Razorbacks twice during the season….with once being at Barnhill Areana….the home court of the Razorbacks. Lemons’ last season at Texas was 1981–82.
I have written often about the special relationship that our Bone Daddy, the original Sportsphile, had with Coach Abe during his tenure at Texas in Austin…..as Bone Daddy’s sports bar and restaurant….Madison Square Garden, The Sports Place at 302 E. 6th Street in Austin, Texas was the host of the weekly Abe Lemons Longhorn Booster Luncheon every Thursday at noon during basketball season….so, even this video clip with the last 2 minutes of play between Texas vs DePaul is another piece of “pure gold” in our treasure chest of vintage memories at ImaSportsphile.
