University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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SPLITS: Senior guard Travis Mays comes down from an attempted re- bound against Baylor. photo by Hannes Hacker. MID-AIR: Senior guard Lance Blanks looks tor some- one to pass to against U [ -Arlington. - photo by George Bridges. PAIN- FUL CRASH: Against Arkansas, Junior guard Courtney Jeans grim- aces after falling. photo by John David Phelps. CONGRATS: Mays celebrates breaking the school scor- ing record at the Rhode Island game. photo by Francis Teixiera 140 Men ' s Basketball

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LONGHORN CLASSIC Manhattan 108-63 UT-San Antonio 89-86 Texas-Arlington 116-66 Long Beach 87-89 Florida 105-94 VMI 98-74 SMU 73-67,79-68 Stetson 102-82 Louisiana State 1 13-124 Texas Tech 109-71,97-77 Baylor 108-89,96-91 TCU 83-80,85-77 Oklahoma 84-103 Texas A M 96-94,79-73 Rhode Island 107-86 Arkansas 100-109.96-1030T Rice 96-84,86-84 Houston 93-102,79-84 DePaul 9-79 SWC TOURNAMENT Texas A M 92-84 Houston 79-54 NCAA TOURNAMENT Georgia 100-88 Purdue 73-72 Xavier 102-89 Arkansas 85-88 QUICK HANDS: Senior guard Travis Mays turns back for a pass against Houston. photo by John David Phelps. ASCENT: Amid Australian players, sophomore Benford Williams jumps to lay up. photo by Hannes Hacker. LAYING IT IN: Junior forward Locksley Collie forces the ball in against Arkansas. photo by Carrie Dawson J Men ' s Basketball 139

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SYMPTOMS EVIDENT Or NEWFOUND SUCCESS Anyone who doubted the Texas men ' s basketball team ' s success in 1989 was made a true believer by the ac- complishments of the Runnin ' ' Horns in the 1990s. The symptoms of the ' Horns ' newfound success were evidenced by increased fan support, media coverage, broken school records and opposing schools ' bids for Fenders. This was a great crowd, said Ar- kansas Coach Nolan Richardson re- garding the third sellout Texas crowd to witness the ' Horns in action. This sentiment was frequently echoed by ri- val coaches and players in the confer- ence, as Texas saw its game attendance increase even over 1989 ' s record- breaking numbers. Attendance was boosted by additional sellout crowds against Rhode Island and Texas A M. Attendance, however, was not the only sign of renewed interest in Texas basketball, for media coverage both on the national and local levels increased as well. Five regular season games were televised nationally on such major net- works as CBS, ABC and ESPN. I don ' t think the coverage had that big of an effect on our playing because it wasn ' t our first time on national TV, senior guard Lance Blanks said. From the other side of the camera, as far as the fans getting to see us play, I think it had a much bigger impact. The only people who remained im- mune to the success of the team were the coaches and journalists who rank the teams for the AP and UPI polls. Despite Fenders ' repeated claims that Texas was a top 25 team, the ' Horns remained on the outskirts, unranked among the national elite. However, Fenders ' word proved to be good, as his team defeated such na- tional powers as DePaul, Georgia, Purdue and Xavier. It just proves we ' re a much better team. It all goes back to the big question of scheduling, junior guard Joey Wright said. I think we ' ve scheduled a lot tougher teams this year, and we ' re playing at that lev- el. Along with this success came near disaster stemming from reports that other schools were in hot pursuit of Texas ' most prized commodity, Fenders. All fears were laid to rest, though, when Fenders accepted a sev- en-year, $735,000 contract from UT. Although the athletic department was able to prevent the loss of Fenders at the end of the season, there was noth- ing that could be done about the break- up of Texas ' ultimate scoring ma- chine: BMW Blanks, senior guard Travis Mays and Wright. The high- performance machine came to a screeching halt as Texas graduated sen- ior guards Blanks and Mays. In addi- tion, senior center George Muller, left the ' Horns with graduation. Mays ' and Blanks ' invaluable contri- butions to the team were highlighted by the shattering of numerous school records. Despite suffering an injury to his hand, Mays still set the record for most career points scored in the con- ference and was named SWC player of the year for the second time. He ' s not your average kid, Fenders said about Mays. He ' s our best all-around player, offensively and defensively. After transferring from the Univer- sity of Virginia, Blanks scored 1,322 points for Texas, setting a Texas record for the most points made by a two-year player. These accomplishments led to an ex- citing season for Longhorn basketball highlighted by new team records as well. The high-scoring ' Horns im- proved 1989 ' s mark of ten 100-point games to 11. Other feats included a first-place finish at the Longhorn Clas- sic tournament, hosted by Texas at the Erwin Center, and competitive play against nationally ranked teams like Florida, Oklahoma and LSU. Although not as positive a highlight, the players will always remember a particularly ex- citing overtime loss to Arkansas on na- tional television. I will never forget that game, said Blanks. To this day I can ' t figure out how we lost that game. Though the loss was disappointing, the Runnin ' ' Horns bounced back with a six-game winning streak marked by five conference victories a nd a necessary win over perennial power DePaul. The combination of talented players, a good coach and vital wins at the end of the season vindicated Fenders ' claims when the team earned a berth in the NCAA tournament. Alyssa Barucky SLIPPERY FINGERS: Sophomore guard Benford Williams reaches for the rebound against TCU. photo by Clayton Brantly Men ' s Basketball 141