Colorado University Athletics
Hoops Reunion Set For Buffs' Apke Era
January 28, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — If you're a longtime Colorado basketball fan, names such as Jay Humphries, Jacques Tuz, Torin Williams, Scott Wilke and Billy Houston will ring a bell — as will the name Tom Apke.
Apke coached at Colorado for five seasons (1981-86), a stretch that included a 16-13 record and fourth-place finish in the Big Eight in 1984. Apke's teams also recorded three wins over Kansas in his tenure, including a 75-74 win in Lawrence in 1983 — the last time a Colorado team won on the Jayhawks' home floor.
This weekend, the CU Athletic Department will host an “Apke Era” reunion, with a number of activities on tap, including attending a Buffs practice on Saturday and Sunday's 3 p.m. matchup with Cal at the CU Events Center.
Apke and three of his CU assistants — Randy Eccker, Bob Hofman and Ralph Patterson — are slated to attend (former assistant Alvin Gentry is now head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans and won't be in attendance).
Players and staffers from the era who have confirmed that they will be at the weekend's activities include Kevin Cornish (1981-83), Ken Countryman (1985-88), Brad Helms (1980-83), Graham Hill, Billy Houston (1981-83), Dave Kuosman (1985-89), Todd Lovrien, Curtis Rayford (1980-82), Russ Tearney (1980-84), Bill Thompson (1981-83), Jacques Tuz (1977-82), Brent Vaughan (1986-90), Joe Washington (1978-82), Torin Williams (1984-87), Scott Wilke (1984-88) and Don Yowell (1982-86).
Those attending this weekend's activities will be introduced at halftime of Sunday's Colorado-Cal game.
Three players from the Apke era — Jay Humpries, Alex Stivrins and Matt Bullard — went on to play in the NBA and two others, Rob Gonzalez and Jacques Tuz, were selected in the NBA Draft.
