I received an e-mail the other day from Vern Lewis, a member of the University of Houston basketball team during the 1966-67 and 1967-68 seasons. This is the first time anyone who played in the Game of the Century has been in contact with me, and I thank Vern for that.
As shown in the box score at the end of this UH basketball retrospective, Vern played four minutes in the Astrodome showdown against UCLA. I just played the DVD of the game (described in my posting immediately below the present one) over again and saw that Vern was in at the close of the first half, but apparently did not play in the second half.
In his message, Vern mentioned his continued involvement in college basketball via the South Padre Island Hoops organization, which hosts a tournament during the non-conference part of the season. In 2005, tournament officials conducted a canned-food drive at the games for the benefit of those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Vern's name also comes up as part of Item 50 in this NCAA basketball trivia quiz.
