An article appeared recently about how many in the college-basketball community continue to rally around the cause of getting former University of Houston coach Guy Lewis, now 90 years old, elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Lewis has been elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame, which was established in 2006 in Kansas City. However, the Naismith Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts is much older, more encompassing (including pro and international, as well as college, hoops), and more prestigious.
Of relevance to this website, the article notes that:
Lewis was ... the visionary behind the groundbreaking "Game of the
Century," persuading John Wooden to bring Lew Alcindor and top-ranked
UCLA to play No. 2 Houston at the Astrodome in January 1968. The
Cougars' 71-69 upset of the Bruins was the first nationally televised
regular-season game and drew the largest crowd to witness an indoor
basketball game (52,693), a record that stood for three decades.
Similar articles have appeared over the years, but this one had some information I hadn't been aware of. Foremost is the fact that Elvin Hayes, the UH center in the Game of the Century and later an NBA star, has refused to set foot in the Naismith Hall since his 1990 election.
