With each win and milestone this season, the University of Houston has been given a history lesson.

Best start since 1967-68.

First top-10 ranking since Phi Slama Jama.

Longest home winning streak in 34 years.

Walk through the Guy V. Lewis Development Facility, and reminders are everywhere, a trip down memory lane that includes a display of the “Game of the Century” against UCLA and a row of banners to commemorate 20 NCAA Tournament appearances and five Final Four trips.

Elvin Hayes.

Hakeem Olajuwon.

Clyde Drexler.

Otis Birdsong.

Michael Young.

The list of players to pass through goes on and on.

“It’s important to honor your past,” UH coach Kelvin Sampson said this week as the ninth-ranked Cougars get a six-day break before hosting South Florida on Saturday at Fertitta Center. “You just don’t live in it.”

When he took the job in 2014, Sampson said it was important to educate the current roster and pay homage to the school’s rich — albeit long ago — basketball history. The challenge has been to bridge a generational gap, more relevant for fathers and grandfathers than a roster composed of players born in the late 1990s or this century.

More Information With Sunday’s 85-50 destruction of Tulane, the University of Houston men’s basketball program reached the 25-win mark for the 11th time in program history. From “Big E” to Phi Slama Jama, a look at the previous 10: 1983-84 Record: (32-5) Coach: Guy V. Lewis For the third year in a row, the Cougars advanced to the Final Four, beating Virginia in the national semifinals before losing to Georgetown in the championship game. Behind NBA first-round picks Hakeem Olajuwon and Michael Young, UH went 15-1 in the Southwest Conference and swept the regular-season and tournament titles. 1967-68 Record: (31-2) Coach: Guy V. Lewis Led by All-American Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney, the Cougars began the season with 31 consecutive wins, including a 71-69 victory over UCLA in the seminal “Game of the Century” at the Astrodome, which snapped the Bruins’ 47-game winning streak and propelled the Cougars to No. 1 in the national rankings. UH scored at least 100 points in 18 games. The season’s only two losses came in the Final Four to No. 2 UCLA and Ohio State (in the third-place game). 1982-83 Record: (31-3) Coach: Guy V. Lewis This season is defined by a singular play as Lorenzo Charles’ dunk off an airball at the buzzer sent North Carolina State to a 54-52 upset of the Cougars in the national championship game. After dropping back-to-back games to Syracuse and top-ranked Virginia in Tokyo in mid-December, the Cougars won their next 26 games and went unbeaten to claim the Southwest Conference championship. 1976-77 Record: (29-8) Coach: Guy V. Lewis A three-year postseason drought ended as the Cougars were selected for the National Invitation Tournament. In a memorable showdown in the tournament opener, the Cougars held off Indiana State and Larry Bird 83-82. In a marquee matchup of two of the nation’s top scorers, Bird had a Hofheinz Pavilion-record 44 points and 14 rebounds, and Otis Birdsong had 30 points. With Birdsong on defense, Bird missed a shot that would have won the game at the buzzer. UH advanced to New York City, beating Illinois State and Alabama before losing to St. Bonaventure 94-91 in the championship game. 1966-67 Record: (27-4) Coach: Guy V. Lewis The “Big E,” Elvin Hayes, ranked among the nation’s best, averaging 28.4 points and 15.7 rebounds to lead the Cougars to their first Final Four appearance. Hayes scored at least 50 points in three games, including 62 against Valparaiso, still the school single-game record. UH lost to top-ranked UCLA 73-58 in the national semifinals before knocking off No. 4 North Carolina 84-62 in the third-place game. 2017-18 Record: 27-8 Coach: Kelvin Sampson An NIT qualifier the previous two seasons, the Cougars finally ended an eight-year drought by receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Playing at Texas Southern’s H&PE Arena while construction was underway on the Fertitta Center, the Cougars went 15-0 at home, with wins over No. 7 Wichita State and No. 5 Cincinnati. Rob Gray Jr. scored a career-high 39 points, none bigger than his scooping layup with 1.1 seconds left that beat San Diego State 67-65 for the Cougars’ first NCAA win since 1984. Two days later, UH would add another chapter to its heartbreaking NCAA history when Devin Davis missed two free throws with 3.9 seconds left, allowing Jordan Poole to hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Michigan to a 64-63 win and denying the Cougars a trip to the Sweet 16. 1969-70 Record: 25-5 Coach: Guy V. Lewis After missing out on the postseason the previous season, the Cougars closed with an 11-game winning streak to advance to the Midwest Regional semifinals. The season ended with back-to-back losses to No. 14 Drake and Kansas State (in the third-place game). 1981-82 Record: 25-8 Coach: Guy V. Lewis Behind Rob Williams and Larry Micheaux, the Cougars received at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. To reach a third Final Four in school history, the Cougars had to survive fifth-ranked Missouri 79-78 in the Midwest Regional semifinal and dispatched Boston College 99-92. In the national semifinals, UH lost to top-ranked North Carolina and Michael Jordan 68-63. Nicknamed the “Sultans of Slam,” UH had 123 dunks in 33 games. 1989-90 Record: 25-8 Coach: Pat Foster After a 12-6 start, the Cougars won 13 in a row before falling to No. 9 Arkansas in the SWC tournament championship game. UH lost to UC Santa Barbara in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. 1991-92 Record: 25-6 Coach: Pat Foster The Cougars tied Texas for the SWC regular-season title and then beat the Longhorns 91-72 in the league tournament championship game. UH had seven come-from-behind wins during the season, including a 16-point comeback at Texas A&M. Sam Mack led the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game, and Bo Outlaw was named SWC Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. The Cougars received a boost with the return of Craig Upchurch, who missed the previous season with a back injury.

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“None of these kids knew what Phi Slama Jama was,” Sampson said. “I had to tell them. They knew who Olajuwon and Clyde were. They knew who Elvin Hayes was. But they didn’t know anybody else. We made sure they understood.”

A rich tradition is also one of the reasons Sampson took the job.

“I wanted to be somewhere where they had a history of basketball,” he said. “That it had been done there before, and it could be done again.”

A 25-1 record — tied with Gonzaga for most wins in the nation — and top-10 ranking have brought back talk of the days when Olajuwon, Drexler and Young were rattling rims as “Texas’ Tallest Fraternity” during a memorable run that included back-to-back NCAA championship game appearances.

When the Cougars beat San Diego State last March, it was the school’s first NCAA win since the 1984 Final Four. When UH broke into the top 10 earlier this month, it marked the highest ranking since 1983-84. The current 32-game home winning streak is the longest in the nation and fourth best in school history.

With five games left, the Cougars are in position for their first regular-season title since claiming a share of the Southwest Conference in 1991-92.

“Phi Slama Jama has done everything we’re doing here,” Sampson said.

On any given night, the current Cougars play in front of a who’s-who of former UH greats. Olajuwon recently sat courtside for a game. Hayes is the color analyst for radio broadcasts. After a game a few years ago, guard Galen Robinson Jr.’s grandfather became excited at the opportunity to meet Hayes.

“My grandpa was the same age when Elvin was dominating, and he watched it all,” Robinson said. “It was a big deal to him.”

Armoni Brooks, a junior guard, said he did some research after receiving an offer from UH.

“I looked into the history and how many great players had played here,” Brooks said. “Just seeing all them and knowing all the history and winning they had done, it made the school even more attractive. Being able to bring back a winning tradition to this university is a big deal.”

Off the court, Sampson said, UH’s history is rooted in Lewis, a Hall of Fame coach who was one of the first college basketball coaches to embrace integration in the South with the signings of Hayes and Don Chaney as the school’s first African-American players.

“One of the greatest things I admire about him is when he took Elvin and Don Chaney and broke the color barrier,” Sampson said. “To me, that was so important. How Phi Slama Jama captivated the nation. They were the talk of college basketball.”

While the last sustained success was during the Phi Slama Jama era nearly four decades ago, UH has taken steps to reinvest in the basketball program with construction of the $25 million Guy V. Lewis Development Facility and $60 million renovation from Hofheinz Pavilion to the Fertitta Center.

UH also has benefited from timing, going from 13-19 in Sampson’s first season to 22, 21 and last season’s 27 wins as the Cougars came within a buzzer-beater of advancing to the Sweet 16. UH also could challenge the school-record 32 wins held by the 1983-84 squad.

“That got people excited,” Sampson said of last year’s run. “We had something now. When the new administration came on board, they had something to sell. You’re not selling a 7-20 or 16-7 season. We are nationally relevant.”

While the current team gives a nod to its past, Robinson said the satisfaction comes from helping turn around the program after years of struggling.

“It’s great to be part of a turnaround,” he said.

joseph.duarte@chron.com

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