On most days, it was not uncommon to see visiting NBA players sitting in the seats at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Crowds would come to watch practice - the type of following that made the University of Houston's famed Phi Slama Jama teams of the 1980s a national phenomenon.

"It was like being with the Beatles," Clyde Drexler, a star guard on UH's greatest teams, said.

Phi Slama Jama, featuring future Hall-of-Famers Drexler and Akeem (later Hakeem) Olajuwon, introduced a fastbreak, above-the-rim style that made dunks as trendy as denim jackets and corduroy pants. The Cougars made three straight Final Four appearances in 1982, '83 and '84, twice losing in the national championship game.

"Everywhere we went, people would meet us at our hotel or get to the arena early to see the dunk show in warmups," Drexler said. "It was a cult following. It wasn't just from the University of Houston people, but from people around the world. I always thought that was incredible. You'll probably never see that again."

Dunks, dunks and more dunks. It's a word that became synonymous with UH basketball and part of the Cougars' DNA.

More Information Phi Slama Jama By the numbers: 31: Wins for the Cougars in the 1982-83 season. The team lost only three games; one was the NCAA championship. 18:The average number of points the Cougars beat their opponents by in 1982-83. 200: The Cougars are estimated to have dunked more than 200 times in the 1982-83 season. 88-16: Overall record for Phi Slama Jama. 3: Trips to the Final Four. 6: All-Americans. 10: Players selected in the NBA draft.

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"We strived for dunks," center Greg Anderson said years later. "If we get out on the break, we're running for a dunk."

Phi Slama Jama helped usher in a new era in college basketball with a high-flying, throw-down dunking style that had seldom been seen. The NCAA banned the dunk from 1967 to 1976. Six years later, Phi Slama Jama - influenced by the defunct ABA and Julius Erving of the 1970s - unveiled a brand of dunking that would become its calling card.

"I think we were right at the turning point the way the game changed and evolved into the game it is today," forward Michael Young said.

What made Phi Slama Jama so effective, Drexler said, was the teams were "fundamentally sound" and had a coach in Guy V. Lewis who was able to mesh so much talent and personalities.

Of course, it always came back to putting on a show for crowds.

"We could play basketball," Drexler, fittingly nicknamed "The Glide," added, "but we also had a degree of showmanship and entertainment."

Lewis, inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, was a champion of dunks, calling them "high-percentage shots."

"(Phi Slama Jama) was a golden era in college basketball and one that the University of Houston and Guy Lewis had been chasing for a long time since the great Elvin Hayes teams," Drexler said.

Drexler credits Rob Williams and Larry Micheaux, a pair of homegrown players, as the "catalysts" who started Phi Slama Jama. From there, "Texas' Tallest Fraternity" would assemble a cast of stars that included Drexler, Akeem "The Dream" Olajuwon, Larry "Mr. Mean" Micheaux, Michael "Silent Assassin" Young, Greg "Cadillac" Anderson, Reid Gettys, Benny Anders, Alvin Franklin, Ricky Winslow, Dave Rose and Lynden Rose.

During its three-year run, Phi Slama Jama had 14 Houston-area players on the roster, including Drexler, who attended Sterling High School, and Young, the state's player of the year from Yates. Olajuwon arrived from Nigeria before the 1981-82 season.

"So the joke always was Coach Lewis could have recruited on his bicycle," Gettys said.

Thomas Bonk, a columnist for the Houston Post, coined the nickname Phi Slama Jama after a non-conference game against Pacific. Bonk counted 29 dunks in the 112-58 win.

On Jan. 3, 1983, Phi Slama Jama was born:

"As members of the exclusive college roundball fraternity Phi Slama Jama, the Houston chapter has learned proper parliamentary procedure."

"That was such an interesting team, I'd go hang out at their practices," Bonk recalled. "It was a magical time. They were so quotable, so much fun to watch. They deserved a great nickname."

The nickname was an instant hit. T-shirts were made. Fans brought signs to arenas. Later that season, players began to don the signature nylon Phi Slama Jama jackets during pre-game warmups.

"It was catchy," Young said. "The name fit."

In 1982, UH lost in the national semifinal game to Michael Jordan and North Carolina, 68-63.

The national semifinal game on April 2, 1983, between Phi Slama Jama and Louisville's Doctors of Dunk is still regarded as one of the greatest NCAA Tournament games of all time. No. 1 vs. No. 2.

Houston had 13 dunks, 11 coming in the second half, to erase an eight-point deficit and beat Louisville 94-81. Olajuwon, who had 21 points, 22 rebounds and eight dunks, called it "a game you remember for a lifetime."

"I've never seen a dunking display like that during a real game," Louisville's Scooter McCray said afterward.

Ironically, in the national championship game, it would be a dunk that would deliver the biggest gut-punch in program history. Lorenzo Charles' putback dunk at the buzzer sent North Carolina State to a 54-52 win that remains one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history.

Drexler left early for the NBA. The following year, led by All-Americans Olajuwon and Young, the Cougars returned to the national championship game. Again, the Cougars came up short, losing to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown, 84-75.

Olajuwon left school a year early and was the No. 1 pick of the Rockets; Young went in the first round to the Boston Celtics.

Phi Slama Jama was no more.

More than three decades later, Young said it's still tough not winning a national title. But he also puts the achievement of reaching three straight Final Four appearances in perspective.

"I don't think people understand how tough it is to get to the Final Four," Young said. "It's not an easy task.

"Of course we wanted to win at least one. I'm still proud of us as a team, and I know all my teammates feel the same way."