top of page
HOUSTON
COUGARS
IN THE 1960s

 

 

Death Threats,

the Veer Offense,

and the Game of the Century

 

On January 20th, 1968, the University of Houston Cougar basketball team upset the UCLA Bruins, ending a 47 game winning streak.  Billed as the “Game of the Century,” the defeat of the UCLA hoopsters was witnessed by 52,693 fans and a national television audience – the first-ever regular-season game broadcasted nationally.

​FOLLOW ME

  • Facebook Classic

I lived it, covered it, and wrote about those times. Kudos to Bob Jacobus for his masterful recreation of the role the Houston Cougars played in changing the realms of sports and race in the '60s and forever.

-Mickey Herskowitz, author and sports journalist

 

“In the 1960s the battle for civil rights was fought on many fronts – including the football field and basketball court. Relying on interviews with the University of Houston’s first African American athletes, and the people who coached and played alongside them, Robert Jacobus demonstrates how these pioneers changed the face of college athletics in the South and, in the process, attitudes toward integration. Engaging, informative, and well-researched, this book will appeal to sports enthusiasts and those interested in civil rights history alike."

-Debbie Harwell, managing editor at Houston History Magazine

bottom of page