COLLEGE

Houle suited up for Portland during the 1989-90 season and competed with the Pilots through 1993-94, redshirting one year due to injury and finishing his career as one of the program’s most efficient scorers and prolific perimeter threats under head coach Eric Reveno’s predecessor, with Jim Harrick-era continuity giving way to West Coast Conference competition throughout his tenure.

As a freshman in 1989-90, Houle started 19 games and played in all 28 contests while earning West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year honors, and he led the team in free throw percentage by shooting 31-of-35 (.886) while averaging 8.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game across the season.

He recorded a season-high 16 points in his collegiate starting debut against Seattle, going 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in that outing, and he finished his first year with consistent perimeter production that established him as one of the conference’s top first-year players.

In 1990-91, Houle emerged as Portland’s No. 3 scorer with 9.8 points per game overall and 11.5 points per game in West Coast Conference play, and he led the Pilots in field goal percentage at .530, including a .549 clip in conference games that ranked among the top five in the WCC.

That sophomore season also saw him rank as the team’s No. 2 three-point shooter, connecting on 21-of-46 attempts (.457) from beyond the arc while adding 3.0 rebounds per game and continuing to build on his efficiency as a perimeter scorer.

Houle declared a redshirt during the 1991-92 season due to an ongoing shoulder injury, preserving a year of eligibility before returning to competition the following season.

As a junior in 1992-93, Houle led Portland in five statistical categories, including all three primary shooting metrics, finishing with a .474 field goal percentage (No. 10 in the WCC), 46 made three-pointers (No. 5 in the WCC), a .393 three-point percentage (No. 6 in the WCC), and an .846 free-throw percentage (No. 2 in the WCC), while averaging 14.7 points per game to rank third in the conference.

He averaged 15.5 points per game in conference play and led the WCC in league-game free-throw shooting at 86%, further solidifying his reputation as one of the conference’s most reliable scorers at the stripe.

On February 13, 1993, in a 94-88 loss to San Francisco, Houle delivered a 43-point performance that set a new Portland single-game scoring record, surpassing the previous mark of 42 set by Hall of Famer Cincy Powell on December 6, 1964, and he became just the fourth player in school history to score at least 40 points in a game.

In that record-setting outing, Houle shot 17-of-23 from the field and 6-of-9 from three-point range, scoring 32 second-half points on 13-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, and a three-pointer from the left wing at the 3:57 mark of the second half established the new scoring standard and the highest single-game point total in the WCC for the 1992-93 season.

His 43-point explosion also broke the Chiles Center scoring record of 39 points previously shared by Loyola Marymount’s Bo Kimble and Portland’s Peter McKelvey, and his 17 made field goals set a new arena record while tying the school record previously achieved by three others, most recently by Darwin Cook against USF in 1978.

That junior season also included a then-career-high 28 points on 13-of-20 shooting at Weber State, two additional games of 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range, and a clutch pair of free throws with three seconds remaining to secure a 69-66 victory over Loyola Marymount.

As a senior in 1993-94, Houle earned All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mention recognition and averaged 16.6 points per game, totaling 465 points during the season to close his career with 1,284 points, ranking sixth on Portland’s all-time scoring list at the time of his graduation.

He led the West Coast Conference in free-throw percentage at .832 during the 1993-94 season and finished as the WCC’s fifth-leading scorer, while also concluding his career as Portland’s all-time leader in free-throw percentage at .828, converting 255-of-308 attempts and surpassing the previous program record of .824 set by Erik Spoelstra from 1988-92.

Houle completed his Portland career having played 110 games and averaged 11.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, and his 131 career three-pointers ranked second in school history at the time, underscoring his combination of perimeter accuracy and free-throw efficiency across his four competitive seasons with the Pilots.