UH To Retire Dwight Davis’ Number In Basketball as Kelvin Sampson Sticks Up For History — a PaperCity Exclusive

The University of Houston is retiring the number of Dwight Davis, one of the most prolific players in its storied basketball history, PaperCity has learned. Davis’ name and number will be put up on the Fertitta Center’s wall (UH’s buzzing on-campus arena’s version of the rafters) at the game against Arizona State on January 18th.

This comes the season after Houston finally retired Don Chaney’s number and continues UH coach Kelvin Sampson’s push to right history and make sure the basketball program’s all-time great players get the recognition they deserve.

“I just thought they were a lot of things that were just dying on the vine,” Sampson tells PaperCity. “. . . We needed to retire some jerseys. Some people told me, ‘Well, we haven’t done it.’ What’s that got to do with anything? This is what you do at a big-time program. . .

“I think we should honor the past. We shouldn’t live in it. But we should honor it. All the guys who have already had their jersey retired. You want to make sure that the guys that deserve to be honored — that they should be honored. Don’t pass that on to the next guy or the next guy. If you can do something about it, then it should be done.

“Dwight Davis was a stalwart here. He was a great representative of our program. And he’s been a huge supporter of mine and this program since I’ve been here. I’m proud of Dwight. And it’s well earned and well deserved.”

Davis found out his name and number were being retired a week ago in a call from UH executive associate athletics director Alvin Franklin, who Davis says made the honor feel even more special with the way he presented the news.

“Being a native Houstonian and reflecting back on when I made the decision to come to the University of Houston, it was just emerging as a big-time university,” Davis tells PaperCity. “Don Chaney, Elvin Hayes and Warren McVea had just come to the school three years earlier (integrating UH athletics). . . I was highly recruited and had opportunities at the University of Texas and all around.

“But I wanted to stay home where my family could see me.”

Now Davis will return home to H-Town from his wife Gayle’s home state of New Hampshire where the couple lives for the ultimate UH athletics honor. He expects to have close to 70 people at the ceremony during that January 18th game, including one of his former professors — Dr. Joel Bloom.

Dwight Davis averaged 20.7 points and 11.4 rebounds over his three-year UH career from the 1969-70 through 1971-72 seasons, showing remarkable consistency for Cougar teams that made the NCAA Tournament every one of his seasons (no small feat in an era when only 25 teams made the field) and battled in regionals, a step or two from the Final Four. He became the third overall pick in the 1972 NBA Draft and played five years in the league.

Still, Davis swears that he was “really bad” when he first started playing hoops in middle school. But he set about teaching himself how to be better. “It was just working at the game,” Davis says. “I learned early starting that I didn’t have any offensive talent. I read a couple of books by (legendary Boston Celtics coach) Red Auerbach and I found a little pamphlet Bill Russell had written, and I learned how to play defense and be an asset.

“And that’s how I got recruited in high school. And by the time I got to college, I was able to refine my offense a little bit. And worked on it. And it finally came around.”

That’s putting it mildly. For Dwight Davis turned himself into one of Houston’s best players ever, still ranking seventh in career scoring for the school.

Davis will see his name and number immortalized by the university he loves at age 76, the season after Don Chaney had his No. 24 retired at age 78. Kelvin Sampson and those who long advocated and championed for UH honoring its history, are happy it’s happening now. When the moment can still be enjoyed by those who earned it.

“It means a lot,” Bill Worrell, the former Cougars baseball pitcher turned legendary play-by-play announcer who’s long been one of UH’s most vocal supporters, tells PaperCity. “It means a lot. We had two egregious numbers that were missing from the wall. One was Don Chaney. We got that done last year. Something that should have happened 20 years ago.

“And Dwight Davis. He had a sensational college career. And had a really better than average pro career. And he represented us well.”

“Dwight Davis was a stalwart here. He was a great representative of our program. And he’s been a huge supporter of mine and this program since I’ve been here. I’m proud of Dwight. And it’s well earned and well deserved.” — UH coach Kelvin Sampson

Dwight Davis, Star Turned Community Champion

If Dwight Davis played in more TV-centric times, using his 6-foot-8, 220-pound frame and athleticism to wreak havoc and suction up rebounds with his quick jumps, people would be making videos of his highlights and declaring, “Dwight Davis was a problem.” But you can’t YouTube search extensive clips of Davis’ games in the late ’60s and early ’70s so the true extent of his skills tends to get overlooked. But not by the UH diehards who are old enough to have seen him play for Hall of Fame coach Guy V. Lewis.

“He was just such a dynamic athlete,” Worrell says. “He could shoot with either hand. He blocked shots. He was really a force. And he led us so close to a couple of Final Fours. And we just couldn’t get over the hump. But it wasn’t because of him. He was a hell of a player.

“He needs to be up on that wall. And now, he will be.”

Davis wore No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson and tells PaperCity that he hopes he can become the second UH No. 42 retired, joining Michael Young whose Houston 42 already has been retired and is on the wall. Players wore odd numbers on the road back then in college so Davis did also wear No. 43 for road games as a Cougar.

Davis went though some rough times after his NBA career ended due to a devastating complete quadricep tear, but his second half of life rebound has seen him change many lives for the better. Davis, who grew up in Houston and went to Worthington High School, and his wife Gayle have supported, worked at and raised money for after-school programs for kids and programs that help seniors stay in their own homes and still receive the care they need in New Hampshire. He and his wife have run Senior Helpers of Southern New Hampshire  for the last 11 years. He also served as chair, vice chair and a member of the board of directors for the National Basketball Retired Players Association for several years and remains a strong voice for the organization.

The player known as Double D turned himself into a community champion.

“He just makes you proud to say, ‘There goes Dwight Davis, a Houston Cougar,’ ” Worrell says.

Davis jokes to his friends that he has the longest commute to home games in America, making the trip from New Hampshire to watch Sampson’s team play in Fertitta three or four times every season. He went to a UH road game against UConn early in Sampson’s run at Houston, before many people found the bandwagon, and the two men quickly bonded. Whenever Davis is around, Kelvin Sampson always invites him to come watch practice and spend time around his players.

“I would have loved to have Kelvin as a coach,” Davis says. “I think I could have even done more. Because Kelvin has a way of motivating. I see some of his players like Ja’Vier Francis and J’Wan Roberts. He got more out of those guys than I think 99 percent of college coaches could. He taught them how they could be effective.”

The Big Moment

Now, Double D is getting his rightful recognition as one of the all-time players in UH hoops history. Kelvin Sampson and his staff (particularly UH basketball’s handle-anything-and-everything chief of staff Lauren Sampson) made honoring the program’s history a priority and it’s steadily happening now. One past great who seemed to be almost forgotten by prior athletic department administrations after another.

We had two egregious numbers that were missing from the wall. One was Don Chaney. We got that done last year. Something that should have happened 20 years ago. And Dwight Davis. He had a sensational college career.” — Bill Worrell

To Worrell, having a coach like Kelvin Sampson who cares about history and basketball beyond just the guys he personally coached, has changed everything. He notes how Kelvin and Lauren Sampson elected to honor Bo Outlaw, another oft-underappreciated former Cougar standout, at this season’s Tipoff Dinner.

When PaperCity broke the news that Don Chaney’s number would be retired last season, Sampson was already thinking that Davis needed to be the next name and number that went up on the wall.

“Kelvin, he’s the best,” Worrell says. “He knows the people that needed to be honored. And he takes care of them.”

It is Dwight Davis’ time now.