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You Tube Gold: Phi Slamma Jamma

Houston ‘82 was surreal. Until the Cougars hit NC State.

By JD King
University of Houston Cougars v North Carolina State Universtiy Wolfpack
ALBUQERQUE, NM - APRIL 4: Benny Anders #32 of the University of Houston Cougars goes up for the slam dunk against the North Carolina State Wolfpack during the National Championship Game in Albuquerque, New Mexico on April 4, 1983. The Wolfpack won 54-52.
Photo by Houston/Collegiate Images via Getty Images

Everyone of age remembers Lorenzo Charles dunking Dereck Whittenburg’s miss against Houston (he still says it was an assist) and rightly so.

And most basketball fans know the term Phi Slamma Jamma, which was the nickname of Houston’s high-flying team.

In the Final Four, Houston put on an aerial assault that has become legendary. They dunked all over Louisville and it got to the point that some Louisville players were getting off the bench to watch the highlights on a nearby monitor.

No one had ever seen anything like it.

As Benny Anders said after, “we took ‘em to the rack and we stuck ‘em.”

Did they ever.

It’s 38 years old and still seems fresh.

However, in the NCAA championship game, Jim Valvano’s Wolfpack didn’t allow Houston a single dunk. In fact the only dunk of the entire championship was Charles’ magnificent winner, still a staple during tournament time.

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