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HoustonChronicle.com - Cougar men hustle to historic 1,000th win

The 1,000th win for the men's basketball program is historic enough, but this little graf warms me up to Tom Penders as part of this tradition:

The win was the 1,000th in school history in 60 years of basketball, and Penders presented the game ball to Lewis, who picked up 592 of those wins as UH coach from 1956-86.

"This program has been a very proud one in the past, and we're trying to bring that back," Penders said. "Hopefully, (Lewis) will get some recognition for this (milestone) because he is the University of Houston."

And not just Penders ... players, too:

"We wanted to get that 1,000th win to get coach Lewis over the hump and put him to where he should be (the Basketball Hall of Fame)," [Brian] Latham said. "After the game, I told him that this game was for him. It was almost like he was coaching us."

As one who recalls the transition of eras towards those who didn't come of basketball age in the Phi Slamma Jamma period, it's precisely this sort of sense of tradition and pride that's great to see. Kudos to Tom Penders for helping reinstill that. Eat 'em up, Tom.