College basketball coaching pioneer dies

Longtime Houston coach Guy Lewis led Phi Slama Jama team

Former University of Houston basketball coach Guy V. Lewis, best known for leading the Phi Slama Jama teams of the 1980s, has died. He was 93.

Lewis died at a retirement facility in Kyle, Texas, on Thursday morning surrounded by family, the school said.

Lewis coached the Cougars for 30 years. He guided Houston to back-toback NCAA title games in 1983 and ’84 but never won the national championship, losing to North Carolina State in the 1983 final on Lorenzo Charles’ last-second shot, one of the NCAA tournament’s greatest upsets and most memorable plays.

Lewis, who helped lead the integration of college basketball in the South by recruiting Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney to Houston, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. Lewis also coached All-Americans Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

Lewis was known for putting together the“Game of the Century” at the Astrodome in 1968 between Houston and UCLA. It was the first regular-season game to be broadcast on national television. Houston defeated the Bruins in front of a crowd of more than 52,000, which, at that time, was the largest ever to watch an indoor basketball game.

Golf

Matt Jones used homecourse advantage to shoot a 3-under 68 Friday and take a three-shot lead after the second round of the Australian Open. Jones, who is a member at The Australian Golf Club, had a 36-hole total of 7-under 135 in Sydney. Jordan Spieth (68-139) is four back.

IAAF

Sebastian Coe gave up his role as a special adviser to Nike Inc. that left the new president of the IAAF open to accusations that he was vulnerable to conflicts of interest.

Miscellany

Philadelphia 76ers rookie center Jahlil Okafor was involved in a fight outside a Boston nightclub early Thursday morning, according to a video obtained and published by the website TMZ.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The 76ers (0-16) lost to the Celtics on Wednesday night.

Jail records in Atlanta n show that former major league outfielder Otis Nixon was arrested on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and permitting an unlicensed person to drive.