Early Years
Drexler lived in the South Park area in Houston. Drexler attended Ross Sterling High School in Houston, Texas, where he was a classmate of tennis player Zina Garrison. As a sophomore, he made the varsity baseball team as a first baseman, but soon quit in order to focus on basketball. He didn't try out for the basketball team until his junior year, and was promptly cut during tryouts due to lack of conditioning. Drexler played as a 6'6" center as a senior, and started receiving attention from college coaches following a 34-point, 27-rebound performance against Sharpstown High School during a 1979 Christmas tournament.
After graduating in 1980, he was recruited by New Mexico State, Texas Tech, and the University of Houston, the latter after childhood friend Michael Young told an assistant to head coach Guy V. Lewis that Drexler was the best player he had faced in high school; Houston was able to recruit them both due to Drexler's friendship with Young and his desire to stay home. In addition to basketball, he majored in finance and worked at a bank during the summer. Lewis recalled in 2003 that he initially received hate mail from Houston supporters and alumni for recruiting Drexler, as they felt that he wasn't good enough to play for the school.
Read more about this topic: Clyde Drexler
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