𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗧𝗦 𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗘𝗠 "𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠" 𝗢𝗟𝗔𝗝𝗨𝗪𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧 𝗕𝗬 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗙𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗡'𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗡 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗗𝗨𝗞𝗘

                                                                       

Hakeem Olajuwon as a Houston Rocket

An odd side story associated with Saturday's Final Four victory by the University of Houston over Duke Univerity and Cooper Flagg, was the fact that Houston legend Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon was stopped by security from joining the team on the floor to celebrate the victory.

Houston Texans football star J.J. Watt shared a reporter's video showing Olajuwon being stopped from joining the team.

"C'monnnnn, man!!! You let The Dream on the court.  What are we doing here???" Watt said on X.

Fans of a certain age remember Olajuwon emigrating to the United States in 1980 from Lagos, Nigeria.  Legend has it that young Olajuwon, unfamiliar with the schools in the U.S., told the cab driver to take him to the "University of Austin," but the driver took him instead to the University of Houston where he played for Coach Guy Lewis. (Olajuwon redshirted his first year awaiting clearance to play by the NCAA.)

Olajuwon played soccer in Nigeria, which contributed to great agility for a player listed at 7'0". (He was actually 6'10.")  He did not pick up a basketball till age 15. His skilled moves around the basket became known as the "Dream Shake."

As a Houston Cougar, Olajuwon took his team to the Final Four three times.

After college, Olajuwon was drafted by the Houston Rockets of the NBA, winning two NBA championships (1994 & 1995), plus many, many awards including Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, etc.

For several years Olajuwon was identified in news stories as "Akeem," until he finally corrected the spelling of his name to "Hakeem."

After Saturday's game, many Rockets fans were thrilled to meet up with Olajuwon at a local Buc-ees.