Retired history instructor and longtime Fort Bend resident Robert D. Jacobus, formerly at Foster High School in Richmond and Wharton County Junior College, wrote a book entitled Houston Cougars in the 1960s: Death Threats, the Veer Offense and the Game of the Century, to be published by Texas A&M University Press on October 23rd.
Houston Cougars in the 1960s features the first person accounts of the players, coaches and others involved in the integration of collegiate athletics in Houston, telling the gripping story of the visionary coaches, courageous athletes and committed supporters who blazed a trail, not only for athletic success but for racial equality in 1960s Houston.
Coach Guy V. Lewis integrated the University of Houston basketball program in 1964, when he recruited two young black men from Louisiana, Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney. By their senior season in 1968, Hayes and Chaney led the Cougars to a victory over the mighty University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins in college basketball’s “Game of the Century” in the Houston Astrodome on January 20, 1968.
Also in 1964, College Football Hall of Fame Coach Bill Yeoman, a Sugar Land resident for the last 40 years, recruited running back Warren McVea from San Antonio to integrate the football program. By McVea’s senior season in 1967, the Cougars led the nation in total offense and also blazed a trail of integration throughout the South.
Robert Jacobus will hold book signings at the following Fort Bend locations in December:
Sunday, December 6th
2 – 4 pm
Barnes and Noble
First Colony Mall
Sugar Land, TX 77479
Saturday, December 19th
10 am – Noon
Mugz Coffee Bar
503 FM 359, Suite 190
Richmond, TX 77406