Who remembers the '81-82 basketball team?

I remember suffering through a lot of pretty mediocre basketball leading up to Abe. Everyone was wanting some change in basketball. Abe was it.

Ron Baxter (think PJ Tucker) and Jim Krivacs, he of the least possible arc on a shot but one of the Horns best distance shooters in that era, made it look like old Abe had found his home after they won the NIT. That jarred loose some money for the administration, always a sucker for the bright lights of New York and a big TV trophy.

LaSalle Thompson, who did play in the pros, and Wacker, who never played as well after the injury, were a potent duo under the basket: height and grace, in synch, with Thompson just a scoring machine. Despite a lot of depth where it counted, they went after it in 81-82.

The really sad part of it, the reason that Abe kept on driving past Waco and on to Austin, was that he knew he'd lost his shot at the big time. After years in small arenas, he finally hit a school with resources, enough to play with the big boys. He was a floor coach and he wanted to get in that big arena. The NIT was a a brief whiff of that rarified air. But time was running out. There had been some trouble carried from NYC when questions arose about who paid for meals for the team. When Wacker went down, it all went down. The team chemistry was undone, the strength inside became a weakness because Wacker was the anchor; the anticipation of the fans was sorta like how we felt this year after KSU but much more. The improbable - at least to us - happened. The thrill of winning 14 straight turned into the anguish of losing 12 or 13 in a row. It became a bad time.

There are some books and articles about this I've read over time. Also some features by sportswriters, 'cause Abe crossed their path and made some humorous copy. The texassports site is virtually devoid of basketball history. Where's Bill Little when you need him.

From his obit.

Lemons' personality and up-tempo style of play revitalized basketball at Texas in the late 1970s. As interest soared, the Longhorns went 110-63 in six seasons, winning a share of two Southwest Conference titles. His firing as Longhorns' coach in 1982 stung Lemons for many years.

He finished his career by returning to Oklahoma City in 1983. He retired after the 1989-90 season with a record of 599-343. He lost by one point in his bid for victory No. 600.