Clyde: ‘I’ll be pulling for my alma mater’
Clyde “the Glide” Drexler when he was a star for the University of Houston
It is a 2 1/2-hour drive from Houston to San Antonio, where the University of Houston Cougars will square off with Florida for the NCAA basketball championship Monday night at the Alamodome.
Will Clyde Drexler be there?
“I am thinking about it,” Drexler said Sunday night from his home in Houston.
When we spoke, Drexler had just returned from a four-day golf trip to South Carolina.
“I am dead tired,” he said. “Trying to figure out if I want to do it, because it is going to be a commitment. I have a lot going on. It is tax time, too.”
But the Cougars have caught the attention of one of their most famous alums. Their 70-67 comeback victory over Duke in Saturday’s semifinals was one for the ages. Clyde was watching on TV as the Cougars rallied from a 14-point deficit with little more than eight minutes remaining, outscoring Duke 9-0 over the final 33 seconds.
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“That is hard to do,” Drexler said. “That was one of the greatest comebacks I have ever seen. You never see a Duke team fold like that. (The Blue Devils) were having trouble just in-bounding the ball at the end of the game. You rarely see that from a good college team.”
Duke managed one field goal over the final 10 1/2 minutes of the game. After Cooper Flagg’s 3-pointer gave Duke a nine-point lead with 3:03 to play, the Blue Devils had a 95.5 percent win probability. But the Cougars, led by guards L.J. Cryer and Emanuel Sharp, made enough shots and defensive plays to claw their way back in it, and then steal the victory. Cryer, a 6-1 senior, finished with a team-high 26 points and Sharp, a 6-3 junior, added 16.
“Sharp is a good player, with good size and he shoots the ball so well, he has (an NBA) future,” Drexler said. “Cryer is smaller, but what he did against Duke was monumental. He is putting himself in the conversation.”
Drexler has great respect for Flagg, the 6-9 freshman who collected 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and two steals in 36 minutes of the semifinal.
“The thing I like best, he is not what I call a ‘bloody gunner,’ ” Clyde said. “When he makes his move, he is a good finisher around the rim, but some guys are going to shoot it no matter what. He looks to pass, and he is an excellent passer. I love that. And he still gets his 28, 30 points. If you can score that many points looking to pass, your teammates love you because you are giving them easy buckets and you are still getting numbers. That kid is going to be the real deal in the NBA.”
This is the third Houston team to make the NCAA Finals. The other two were in 1983 and ’84 with the fabled “Phi Slama Jama” teams.
In 1982-83, Drexler’s junior season, Hakeem Olajuwon (then “Akeem”) was a somewhat raw sophomore from Nigeria. They teamed to lead the Cougars to a 31-2 record and a national No. 1 ranking heading into the Finals in Albuquerque against Jim Valvano’s upstart North Carolina State club, which was 25-10. The Wolfpack controlled the pace and won when Dereck Whittenburg’s airball jump shot was caught underneath the basket and stuffed through by Lorenzo Charles at the buzzer for a 54-52 win.
Clyde and Hakeem Olajuwon teamed together for the Houston Cougars before moving on to Hall of Fame careers in the NBA
“That was completely lucky on their part,” Drexler said. “There is no good way to lose, but that has to be one of the worst ways. Some of (the losses) linger a little longer than others.
“I enjoyed the experience of being a top-notch team in the country. It was a badge of honor to just make it to the Finals. The best teams don’t always make it. I felt great knowing we had gotten there, but give NC State credit for being able to win that game.”
Drexler was upset in the losing locker room after the game.
“But I remember thinking, ‘This is the last game I’m going to play for free,’ ” Clyde said with a chuckle. “That was some consolation, I guess, but you still hate to lose.”
The next season, Drexler was a rookie with the Trail Blazers, but he followed closely his old team, led by Olajuwon and Michael Young. They made it to the Finals again, falling 84-75 to a Georgetown team led by Patrick Ewing.
Drexler, who grew up in Houston, not only played for the Cougars, he coached them for two seasons (1998-2000). They were forgettable years. His teams combined for a 19-39 record overall and 7-25 in Conference USA play.
After his playing days were over, Drexler spent 14 years as television analyst for the Houston Rockets. For three of those seasons, current Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson was an assistant for the Rockets.
“It has always been cordial,” Clyde said, “but we don’t really have a relationship.”
As for the Cougars, “I have stayed away from the program,” he said. “I don’t think I have gone to any games for the last 10 years or so. Whether I go or not, I will be pulling for my alma mater (Monday night). It is great when your university has a chance and you want to see it happen.
“I hope they win it, but I am not close to the program. Some people live and die by these games. That’s not me.”
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Men’s March Madness wraps up with (1) Florida Gators vs. (1) Houston Cougars. The game tips off at 5:50 PM on Monday April 7, 2025. Watch the game on CBS and the local Portland affiliate KOIN 6.
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