The UH men’s basketball team is having one of its best seasons in recent history. As of today, they’re 18-5 and in second place in Conference USA with a 7-2 conference record. Its only losses in conference play were to the No. 1-ranked Memphis Tigers. They are closer than they’ve been in a long time to winning a conference championship and going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 26 years.
These student athletes are doing their best to represent this great university every time they step on the court. But my question for you is: where is the fan support? This season, the UH men’s basketball team has hosted perennial powerhouses such as Kentucky, Arizona and Memphis at Hofheinz Pavilion. For these three games, we’ve had outstanding crowds with an average of 8,441 fans a game. What puzzles me and everyone involved with the Athletics Department is this: why doesn’t the outstanding attendance at the big games carry over into the other games? For the other 10 "smaller" games this season, we’ve only averaged 3,785 fans. Are our fans coming to watch the opposing teams or are they coming to support their Coogs?
As an alumnus of this University, this greatly concerns me and makes me question the school spirit at UH. What are you waiting for? What more could a school want out of its basketball team? We have heard all of the excuses for years as to why students can’t make it to the games, such as work, living off campus, studying and more. The excuses must stop. Admission is free at all home athletic events with your student ID and the basketball games only last two hours. Why not take advantage of this great deal?
It’s time for all Cougars, students and non-students, to step up and support their basketball team. When the fans show up, our team plays better – plain and simple. If you want them to keep winning, then you need to start increasing your attendance at our four remaining home games: 7 p.m. Saturday against Southern Methodist, Rice on Feb. 23, Southern Miss on Feb. 27 and Central Florida on March 5th.
Initially, the purpose for writing this column was to challenge students to start coming to support our two basketball teams. In the end, what it’s all about is your school spirit. Do you have any? If so, then prove it by coming out to Hofheinz Pavilion to support your fellow Cougars and UH. For the remainder of this season, show the nation "whose house" Hofheinz really is.
Daniel, director of marketing for the Athletics Department, can be reached via [email protected].
