Rice University recently announced a $23 million renovation of venerable Autry Court, the longtime home of the Rice basketball and volleyball teams. An $8 million donation by Rice alum Bobby Tudor spearheaded the renovation, which will begin in July 2007 and be completed by January 2009. In the interim, the Owls will play basketball and volleyball games at Reliant Arena, a small arena in Reliant Park that is used primarily for cutting horse competitions during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Autry Court was built in 1950, but to say that it has lagged behind other facilities is somewhat of an understatement. For Houstonians, probably the most incredible reflection of Autry’s antiquity is that air-conditioning — an essential element of life in Houston — was not added to the facility until 1991. This David Barron/Chronicle article passes along a couple of funny anecdotes about old Autry:

Consider the priorities associated with an institution of higher learning, and then consider the time Roy Williams brought his Kansas Jayhawks to play at Autry in November 1997. The team got off the bus and walked toward Rice’s sparking-new Shepherd School of Music before Rice athletic department publicist Bill Cousins intercepted them and said, “Uh, fellows, the gym’s over here.” . . .
[Autry Court] also [has] been renovated, in piecemeal fashion, to the point that finding the visitors’ locker room resembles a scene from the film This is Spinal Tap.
During Kansas’ 1997 trip, Mike PedÈ, Rice’s former marketing director for athletics, had the task of accompanying the Jayhawks to their quarters, a trip that required detours through the track and swim team locker rooms.
“I turn around and see Raef LaFrentz tearing up pieces of paper and dropping them on the floor,” PedÈ said. “Roy Williams says, ‘Raef, what are you doing?’ and he says, ‘Coach, I’ve got to figure out a way to get back to the court.’ “

My Autry Court anecdote has nothing to do with the facility, but with a brief conversation that I had there with former longtime Houston Rockets general manager Ray Patterson in the early 1980’s. A friend who is a Rice basketball fan took me to a game at Autry to see the Owls star of the time, Ricky Pierce. Patterson was at the game and my friend was also a friend of Patterson, so he introduced me and we watched a half of the game together. Pierce proceeded to put on a clinic, scoring over 20 points in the first half and completely dominating the game.
Stating the obvious, I turned to Patterson at the conclusion of the half and remarked: “Think Pierce will be available when the Rockets pick in the upcoming NBA draft?” Patterson, who made some of the worst draft choices in the NBA during his tenure with the Rockets (remember Lee Johnson?), replied:

“Wouldn’t touch him. Too short to play forward, not fast enough to play guard. He’s a ‘tweener.'”

The Rockets proceeded to pick the eminently forgettable Terry Teagle from Baylor rather than Pierce in the 1982 NBA draft. Pierce went on to enjoy a marvelous professional career, winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award twice with the Milwaukee Bucks and setting the then-record for consecutive free throws made with 75 in 1991 with the Seattle SuperSonics. He retired after 16 seasons, scoring almost 14,500 points for his career while shooting 50% from the field.
Teagle, on the other hand, lasted only two seasons in Houston before moving on to play with three other teams (Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers) in a journeyman NBA career. He also didn’t win any awards from the NBA.