Jimmy Viramontes

Sport: Basketball (multi)
Position: multi
Inducted: 2005
Hometown: Las Cruces, N.M.

BASKETBALL (1951-52, Guard; 1957-63, Asst. Coach)

Called "one of the most colorful performers in school history" when he concluded his career as a guard on the Longhorn basketball team, Jimmy Viramontes would go on to a successful career in coaching in a long commitment to basketball at Texas. A playmaking guard from Las Cruces, N.M., the 5-7 Viramontes helped lead the Longhorns to a Southwest Conference championship in 1951. After graduating from Texas, he became a high school coach at Austin McCallum. His teams won two district championships in three years, and Viramontes returned to Texas as a freshman coach for the 1956-57 school year. In three seasons, he led the UT Frosh to a 30-6 record. Viramontes served as an assistant to Harold Bradley from 1960-63 and helped guide the Longhorns to two Southwest Conference championships (in 1960 and 1963). He took a head coaching job at what was then West Texas State in 1964, and eventually returned to Austin where he retired after many years as a high school principal at Reagan High School.