GOLF

Marty Fleckman (1964-66)

SWIMMING & DIVING

Dianne Johannigman (1978-81)

TENNIS

Margaret Kitchen (Redfearn) (1982-85)
UH Career: 1982-1985

Margaret Redfearn was an All American tennis star for the University of Houston in the early 80's compiling 153 wins (.823), which is still a school record. Holds the record for wins in a single season going 44-7 in the 1983-84 season Competed in the NCAA Championships in singles play all four years she was with the Cougars and in doubles three of her four years.

Class of 2004 Bios

Billy Ray Brown, Golf (1982-85)
In 1982, Billy Ray Brown became the last in a long line of Cougar golf greats to win an NCAA individual national championship - and he did so in impressive fashion. After shooting a 75 in the second round of the 1982 NCAA Championships at Pinehurst Country, Brown, a freshman, roared back to shoot a 7-under-par 65 in the third round. It is a record that still stands as the lowest round ever shot by a Cougar at an NCAA Championships. He followed that with a 70 in the final round and became the seventh and last player to win an NCAA individual national crown. By the time that his career ended, Brown was a member of three NCAA national championship teams, including back-to-back titles in 1984 and 1985. He was named to All-America Teams every year from 1982-85, with First-Team designations in 1982 and 1985, and ranks among the Cougars all-time career leaders in rounds played and strokes. After joining the PGA Tour in 1997, Brown won more than $2.3 million and won three tournaments. When his playing career was cut shot by wrist surgery, Brown moved into the media and has served as an on-course reporter for ABC's golf coverage since 1999.

Ollan Cassell, Track and Field (1958-61)
Ollan Cassell was a three-year letterman at Houston from 1958-61 and earned a bachelor of science degree in 1961. Cassell transferred to Houston from East Tennessee State after he won the 220-yard dash at the 1957 AAU National Championships. He began running the 440-yard run for the Cougars and also ran the anchor leg for the team's mile and 4x440-yard relay teams. Cassell recorded the nation's sixth-fastest time in the 440 yards in 1960 and was a NCAA semifinalist in the event in 1961. In 1962, he won a pair of Gold Medals in the 400 meters and 1600-meter relays, along with a Silver Medal in the 400-meter relay, at the World Military Championships. The following year, he won two Gold Medals at the 1963 Pan American Games. He also was a member of the U.S. team that won an Olympic Gold Medal in the 4x400-meter relay at the1964 Olympics. Cassell was the AAU national champion in the 440-yard dash in 1965. Cassell, who lives in Indianapolis, has been semi-retired since 1998 after serving as the track and field administrator of the AAU from 1965-72, Executive Director of the AAU from 1970-80 and Executive Director of USA Track and Field from 1980-97. He also was a founding member of the International Athletics Foundation that was created in 1988 and served as vice-president of the International Amateur Athletics Foundation (IAAF) from 1976-86. In 1997, Cassell created a nutrition company for international sports and businesses to help clear American products into foreign countries. Currently, he has scaled that business down and has created an education program for coaches through the USA Track and Field Coaches Association website and has been a realtor with Carpenter GMAC in Indianapolis since 1998. He also serves as an adjunct professor for Olympic Sports history at the University of Indianapolis and serves as the president of the Indiana Olympian Association.

Carin Cone, Swimming & Diving (1958-60)
Considered by many to be the first nationally-acclaimed student-athlete in UH history, Carin Cone won 16 U.S. Senior National championships in her career. She literally came on like a hurricane to win her first Senior National Championship in the 200-yard backstroke. It was at Philadelphia in the middle of a hurricane in August 1955. Two days later she won the 100 backstroke, an event in which she continued undefeated in the Nationals, Indoor & Outdoor, for the next five years. Her moment of greatest triumph, and yet disappointment, was at the 1956 Olympics, where she and Great Britain's Judy Grinham had identical times, and yet the judges picked Grinham first. Carin set four World and 24 American records all in backstroke. This "queen of backstrokers" in her time­like Eleanor Holm and Gloria Callen before her, and Lynne Burke afterwards­was also a cover girl supreme. The four of them, all from the New York area, were on more magazine covers than four full-time models, which all were invited to be. Cone became the first UH student-athlete to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1960. Cone had just two coaches in Marie Giardine at the Women's Swimming Association in New York and Phill Hansel at the University of Houston. Perhaps Cone's finest year was 1959 when she began by winning both women's backstroke titles at the Indoor AAU meet, and she was a finalist for the Sullivan Award, which honors the nation's top amateur athlete. In July of that year, Cone lowered her own World's Record in the 220-yard backstroke, slicing more than three seconds from her 1956 time. Two months later at the Pan American games in Chicago, Cone won the 100-meter backstroke title, and also established a world's record of 1:11.4 on the lead off backstroke leg in the medley relay. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1984.

Richard Crawford, Men's Golf (1959-61)
In the storied history of Cougar Golf, Richard Crawford's name stands out among a group of renowned players. While the Cougars have won 16 NCAA team national championships and eight individual national championships, Crawford is the only Cougar to win two individual titles. In 1959 and 1960, Crawford placed his name atop the collegiate golf word and became the first player in NCAAA history and one of only four players to win multiple titles. During his stay with the Cougars from 1959-61, Crawford was a part of two NCAA national championships, two Missouri Valley Conference championships and was named a First-Team All-American in 1960 and 1961. He was recently inducted into the state of Arkansas Hall of Fame.

Lovette Hill, Baseball (1950-74)
While he was the fourth coach in Houston Baseball history, Lovette Hill established himself as the Father of Cougar Baseball by the time his career ended. As the Cougar skipper for 25 years from 1950-74, Hill's Cougar teams compiled 343 victories with five first-place finishes in the Missouri Valley Conference. Only three seasons after he became head coach, Hill guided the Cougars to their first-ever appearance in the 1953 NCAA College World Series. As impressive as that achievement was, Hill would add an even more impressive accomplishment toward the end of his career. In 1967, Hill's Cougars advanced to the NCAA District 6 Playoffs against Texas. In the championship game, UH rallied from a three-run deficit to take a 4-3 win and advance to the NCAA College World Series again. But the Cougars were not finished in Omaha. After dropping the first game to Stanford, Hill's Cougar team - which featured future Major Leaguer Tom Paciorek - won three straight games before bowing out to Arizona State in the National Championship game. By the time his career ended, Hill had recorded 343 victories, good enough to rank as the third-winningest coach in program history. In addition, his 25 years as the leader of the Cougar program was more than double the closest coach in school history.

Jolanda Jones, Track and Field (1985-88)
After growing up in Houston's Third Ward, Jolanda Jones overcame numerous odds to become one of the most successful student-athletes at the University of Houston and later became the owner of a law practice and highly successful consulting firm. While at UH, Jones received one of the most prestigious awards given by the NCAA, the Top Six Award after becoming the first three-time NCAA heptathlon champion (1986, 1987 and 1989) and earning GTE/Academic All-American honors. She also was a member of USA Track and Field's national teams at the 1985, 1987 and 1989 World University Games, the 1987 Pan American Games and the 1986 Goodwill Games. In addition, she won three Southwest Conference high jump championships, and still holds the school record in the event. Jones was the SWC Female Athlete-of-the-Decade runner-up for the 1980s. In addition, Jones graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in political science, was a member of the Dean's List every semester from 1985-89, was a Rhodes Scholarship nominee and was named the UH Alumni Organization's Most Outstanding Senior. Following graduation, Jolanda received a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and earned her Juris Doctorate at the UH Law Center in 1995. She also has received the Houston Area Urban League's Marguerite Ross Barnett Leadership Award, UH Black Alumni Association Award of Excellence and NAACP Alex Award. Inducted in the Verizon Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 1999, Jolanda was the most requested speaker for Verizon's Life's Playbook Program. This year, Verizon is changing the emphasis of its program to focus on establishing literacy programs at various schools. She also ran for a City of Houston Council position in 2003.

Warren McVea, Football (1965-67)
Warren McVea helped the University of Houston set the standard in civil rights by becoming the Cougars' first African-American football player. A three-year letterman for legendary head coach Bill Yeoman, McVea helped the Cougars reach the national spotlight, as both the 1966 and 1967 teams finished the season ranked in the national polls (19th and 16th, respectively). McVea was a two-time All-America selection, picking up honorable mention accolades as a junior in 1966 and second-team honors a year later as a senior. He topped 100-yards rushing six times in his career, with three a piece in both the '66 and '67 seasons. McVea was a "do-everything" for the Cougars, playing running back and flanker and returning kicks and punts. He currently ranks tenth all-time in all-purpose yards, racking up 3,009 yards rushing, receiving and returning. His average per play of 6.73 currently ranks as the fourth-best career effort every time he touched the ball, while his career rushing average of 6.7 yards per catch trails only Chuck Weatherspoon's number-one mark of 8.2. McVea also was on the receiving end of the longest pass play in Houston history, a 99-yard scoring strike from Bo Burris against Washington State in 1966. Upon completing his UH career, McVea participated in the 1968 Hula Bowl and was a fourth-round draft pick of the AFL's Cincinnati Bengals. McVea played one season for the Bengals before moving on to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played for five seasons (1969-73), including the 1970 Super Bowl won by the Chiefs.

Ted Nance, Sports Information Director (1957-79, '88-94)
In his 33-year association with the University of Houston, Ted Nance witnessed hallmark events. As the school's sports information director, Nance promoted Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware; Lombardi Award winner Wilson Whitley; college basketball's "Game of the Century"; college basketball's 1968 Player of the Year, Elvin Hayes, and Coach of the Year, Guy V. Lewis; along with a host of All-American golfers and football, basketball and baseball players. He also witnessed Houston's 1967 upset over defending national football champion Michigan State, the Cougars first two NCAA Final Four appearances, 13 of Houston's 16 NCAA Golf Championships and the school's first College World Series appearance. His association with the University began as a student, when he served as the sports editor for The Daily Cougar and Houstonian Year Book. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism in 1956, Nance spent one year as a general assignment reporter in the city room before returning to UH to begin a career in sports information. He first served as an assistant under Jack Scott, before serving as sports information director from 1960-79. Nance left the University of Houston to work in the private sector and then as the Executive Director of the Bluebonnet Bowl. He returned to UH in 1988 and achieved what many would regard as his greatest accomplishment, promoting Ware for the Heisman Trophy a year later. Nance targeted his campaign by comparing Ware to some of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game in weekly "Air Ware" mail outs and making Ware accessible to as many newspaper and radio interviews as his schedule allowed. He was elected to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame and retired from UH in 1994.

Michael Young, Men's Basketball (1980-84)
Current assistant coach Michael Young is one of three Cougars to score 2,000 points in their collegiate careers. Young, who scored 2,043 points during his UH career, is the only Cougar player to start on three NCAA Final Four teams and four NCAA Tournament squads. Houston had a 109-25 overall record during his collegiate career, and he was the scoring leader for two of Houston's most successful teams. Young led "Phi Slama Jama" with a 17.3 scoring average in 1982-83, and the 1983-84 NCAA Finalist with 19.8 points per game. He also led the 1983-84 squad in steals with 1.8 per game. A 1984 first-round selection by the Boston Celtics, Young played three years in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers. He also played two seasons with the Detroit Spirit of the CBA, where he was named the CBA's Player-of-the-Year in 1986 after averaging 26 points per game. In addition to playing in the NBA and CBA, Young enjoyed an illustrious 14-year playing career overseas in the Philippines, Spain, Italy, France and Israel. While he was in France, Young averaged 23 points per game while leading the Limoges Club to the 1992 European Club Championship. It was the first time a French athletic club won a European title in any sport. In January 2003, Young was inducted into the French Sports Hall of Fame and his number was retired. He was named assistant coach on April 29, 2003, after serving five years as the strength and conditioning coach for the Cougars.