A 6-foot 8-inch, 225-pound forward-centre, from Queen Anne High School in Seattle, Washington, Houbregs played for the University of Washington Huskies from 1949 to 1953 (his family moved to Seattle from Vancouver, British Columbia when he was a child[1]).

In 1953, as a senior, he was named NCAA Player of the Year, was a Consensus All-America selection, helped lead the 1952–53 Huskies to the Final Four in the NCAA tournament, and was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 34.8 points per game in the post-season.

[2] Houbregs was drafted by the NBA's Milwaukee Hawks with the second overall pick in 1953 and played five seasons (1953–1958) in the NBA with four teams: the Hawks, the Baltimore Bullets, the Boston Celtics, and the Fort Wayne (later Detroit) Pistons.

[3] Houbregs' father John was a minor league ice hockey player who moved to Seattle in 1934/35 with his family in order to play for the Seattle Sea Hawks of the North West Hockey League.

In 2000, Houbregs was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame for his significant contributions to the sport as a player.