About the Guy V. Lewis Award….
The Award is in honor of College Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Guy V. Lewis, who led the University of Houston program from 1956-1986. Also an alumnus of the University of Houston, Guy V. Lewis led the Cougars to five Final Fours, won nearly 600 games and was a pioneer for the game. One of Lewis’ finest ideas, the 1968 “Game of the Century” pitted his Houston Cougars, with All American Elvin Hayes, against the powerhouse from UCLA, with Lew Alcindor, in the Astrodome in front of a national television audience and a regular season attendance record of more than 52,000 fans. That attendance numbers still stands as the fourth largest regular season NCAA game, some 43 years after it was played.
“Guy V. Lewis had a keen eye for the local talent in the Houston area and was integral in making Houston the new hotbed for recruiting in the country,” said GHBC Chair Rob Lopez. “Coach Lewis revolutionized the game and the way it was perceived in the country and he really put the spotlight on Houston. And now with Coach being a finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame, this year’s award has even more of a spotlight.”
Voting for the Guy V. Lewis Award is comprised of three voting blocks. The Houston Area Basketball Coaches Association and a panel of local Houston media members will share equal voting weight. And fans will have the opportunity to vote online for their candidates at the Award’s website, GuyVLewisAward.org. A “watch list” of players us released prior to the start of each high school basketball season, comprised of candidates nominated by the basketball coaches in Houston. That list is eventually pared to the Top Ten Finalists, with the final votes being tallied in early March. The voting coincides with the Texas high school basketball playoffs. The announcement of the 2016 Guy V. Lewis Award will occur in April 2016 and during Final Four week, a fitting spot for the award, considering that only eight coaches ever took their teams to more Final Four’s than Lewis.
The Greater Houston Basketball Committee is an organization whose mission is the promotion of the game of basketball at all levels in the greater Houston area. That area is defined by Harris County and every Texas County that is immediately adjacent to Harris County. The Board of Directors of GHBC is comprised of twenty members with an Executive Committee of five members. The website listed above is the official website to find more information about the Greater Houston Basketball Committee. The group will hold an annual event to welcome the ten finalists for the Guy V. Lewis Award in March or April each year with all proceeds from any event going to projects that will put the spotlight on the game of basketball in Houston.
“We are very excited to have the cooperation and input from the Houston Area Basketball Coaches Association, our partnership with VYPE Magazine, our great sponsor, committee and the local media give our award the credibility it needs,” Lopez added. “The GHBC always feels like the best high school basketball in the country is right here in the Houston area. And by honoring Coach Lewis every time we give it out, we feel like we are carrying on the tradition of recognizing great Houston talent like he did when he was coaching.”