Weldon Drew-ESPN Coach of the Year

Led by Coach Drew, the Rams dominated Houston high school basketball taking a 27 game win streak into the regional playoffs.  From there, the Rams would beat Forest Brook 100-88, Port Arthur Lincoln 82-77, and in a thriller of a game, Worthing 91-90 taking their win streak to 30 games and overall record to 40-2 entering into Austin for the semi-finals. Because of superior shooting (45% to 39%) and rebounding (62-38), Kashmere would pull out a 3-point victory in the semi-finals over Denton.  Rams’ Co-Captain, Craig Reggins, declared after the semi-final win that when the team returned to Houston, they’d have the Class 4A state basketball championship.

This Ram team was battle tested throughout the playoffs, but not to the magnitude as the championship game vs. Dallas-South Oak Cliff. Down by as many as ten points in the first half, they fought back utilizing a “run and gun” offense and full court defensive pressure to eventually capture the lead.  They then went to the four corner offense with 2 minutes remaining to protect their lead and defeated SOC by a score of 91-87 to win the 4A State Basketball Championship. This was a bitter sweet victory for Coach Drew. In 1961, arguably his most talented team at 39-1 was denied playing for the state title because of an overcrowded arena. Coach Drew had put the safety of his team above winning, as he pulled them off the court therefore resulting in State Co-Champs.