HOUSTON, Texas---Chet Gladchuk, the Director of Athletics at the
University of Houston, announced today that head basketball coach Clyde
Drexler will not return to coach the Cougars next season.
Last evening Drexler informed Gladchuk that after 20 years of
basketball, including the two recent years as head coach of the Cougars
program, he did not want to return to coaching in order to spend more time
with his young family.
"The time away from home has been difficult," commented Drexler.
"Despite my enthusiasm for the job, the University and the
student-athletes, I need to reprioritize my lifestyle so that I can spend
more time with my family.
"Returning to lead this program has been a reflection of my
intentions to bring back the excitement and success I enjoyed during my
playing days as a Cougar. We have worked hard as a staff to set the stage
for the future, and I hope my contributions will be viewed as such.
"After 20 continuous seasons, I have simply concluded my family
needs to come first. The day-to-day rigors and demands of this profession
take me from them, and at this point I want to watch my children grow."
Gladchuk is thankful for Drexler's contribution to the Houston
basketball program.
"I sincerely appreciate the efforts Clyde and his staff have made
to reingratiate our Cougar community," said Gladchuk. "We have taken some
giant steps forward with the competitiveness of the program, and the
national attention it has brought, opening many eyes to the terrific
opportunity we have to keep some outstanding local talent home.
"We will use what Clyde has established as a building block and
continue to support our basketball program with the resources necessary to
bring a championship to Houston."
Drexler-one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of all-time-compiled a
19-39 record in his two seasons as U of H's head coach, laying the
foundation for a roundball rebirth at his alma mater. Despite the
back-to-back seasonal struggles, Drexler had the Cougars pointed in the
right direction, especially this past season.
Even though the Cougars finished at 9-22 in 1999-2000, Houston upset
Marquette in the opening round of the Conference USA and took fourth-seeded
Tulane into the final minutes before succumbing in the quarterfinals. The
Cougars were a competitive team all season, with 59 percent (13 of 22) of
their losses coming by 10 points or less.
Drexler had done a great job in elevating the level of recruiting at
Houston. Not only did 1997 All-Greater Houston Player of the Year Bernard
Smith chose to transfer to UH from the University of Texas, but Drexler
also signed both the 1999 and 2000 All-Greater Houston Players of the Year
in George Williams and Alton Ford, respectively. Williams was the first
All-Greater Houston Player of the Year to sign out of high school with the
Cougars since 1984.
The Cougars' 2000 signing class was rated by several media outlets as one
of the top 15 in the nation. Season tickets sales quadrupled in Drexler's first season, and sellouts at Hofheinz Pavilion became a regular occurrence. For the first time since 1960, the Cougars played both a number-one (Cincinnati) and number-two ranked (Connecticut) team in the same season.
Under Drexler's tutelage outgoing senior guard Gee Gervin was the
Cougars' first-ever Conference USA first-teamer in 1998-99. Gervin also was
a first-team selection this past season, while Williams became the first
Cougar to be selected to the C-USA's All-Freshman Team and received numerous
votes for the league's top freshman honor.
As a star in the NBA, Drexler was one of only three players in
league history to accumulate 20,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 6,000 assists.
Before his NBA career, Drexler led Houston to two NCAA Final Four
appearances and ended his career as the only Cougar to amass 1,000 points,
900 rebounds, 300 assists and 250 steals.
A search for Drexler's replacement will begin immediately.