Class of 2004 Bios | Previous Induction Classes | Photo Galleries
Hall of Honor Gala
Friday, November 5, 2004, 6:30 pm
Intercontinental Hotel (2222 W. Loop)
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.
Previous Hall of Honor Induction Classes
Class of 1971
Guy V. Lewis, basketball (1946-47)
Rex Baxter, Jr., golf (1955-57)
Gene Shannon, football (1949-51)
Class of 1972
Gary Phillips, basketball 91959-61)
John E. Hoff, tennis coach 91946-66)
Class of 1973
J.D. Kimmel, football (1952)
Class of 1974
Hogan Wharton, football (1957-58)
Dick Post, football (1964-66)
Elvin Hayes, basketball (1966-68)
Class of 1975
Corbin J. Robertson, former chairman of athletics committee (1946-65)
Class of 1976
Elmo Wright, football (1968-70)
Paul Carr, football (1951-53)
John Mahaffey, golf (1968-69)
Jason Morton, tennis (1948-51)
Don Boldebuck, basketball (1955-56)
Class of 1977
Ken Hebert, football (1965-67)
Robert Newhouse, football (1969-71)
Al Lawrence, track and cross country (1960-61)
Class of 1978
Tom Paciorek, football/baseball (1965-68)
Homero Blancas, golf (1958-62)
Class of 1981
Johnny Goyen, City Councilman
Don Chaney, basketball (9166-68)
Bill Rogers, golf (1969-73)
Class of 1982
Alden Pasche, basketball coach (1946-56)
Bo Burris, football (1964-67)
Class of 1983
Harry Fouke, director of athletics (1946-79)
Class of 1998
Clyde Drexler, basketball (1980-83)
Sue Garrison, director of women's athletics (1945-79)
*Flo Hyman, volleyball (1974-76)
Carl Lewis, track and field (1980-81)
Guy V. Lewis, basketball coach (1957-86)
Hakeem Olajuwon, basketball (1982-84)
*Ken Spain, basketball (1966-69)
*Wilson Whitley, football (1973-76)
Dave Williams, golf coach (1952-87)
Bill Yeoman, football coach (1962-86)
Class of 2000
Otis Birdsong, basketball (1974-77)
Leroy Burrell, track and field (1986-90)
Fred Couples, golf (1977-80)
Doug Drabek, baseball (1981-83)
Steve Elkington, golf (1982-85)
John and Rebecca Moores, philanthropists
Richard Stotter, football (1965-67)
Andre Ware, football (1987-89)
Tom Wilson, athletics trainer (1953-93)
Class of 2002
Danny Davis, football (1976-78)
Dwight Jones, basketball (1971-73)
Carol Lewis, track and field (1982-85)
Bruce Lietzke, golf (1970-73)
Jim Nantz, sports broadcaster
Tom Tellez, track and field coach (1977-98)
*--inducted posthumously
 2004 Hall of Honor Inductees |
