In the 1966–67 season, Durham recruited and coached the first African-American basketball player in Florida State sports history.
There would only be one white player on the 13-man Seminole roster, John Amick, who played in 11 games and sported a lengthy ponytail.
Cowens had been a part of Durham's first recruiting class as the head coach at FSU that had also included Lenny Hall.
Durham's talented, defensive-oriented but underrated squad was led by Ron King, Reggie Royals, Rowland Garrett and diminutive point guard Otto Petty.
In the Mideast Region Semifinals, the Seminoles defeated Big Ten champion University of Minnesota, 70–56.
In the NCAA Semifinals, FSU upset the heavily favored University of North Carolina Tar Heels, 79–75.
The Tar Heels, coached by Dean Smith and led by future NBA stars Bob McAdoo and Bobby Jones were the Atlantic Coast Conference Champions.
Florida State was not a member of a conference for the first ten seasons Durham was head coach in Tallahassee.
Durham immediately embarked on a remarkable transformation project that produced the most prolific era of Georgia basketball still to this date.
That season, Durham led Georgia to the school's first ever post-season tournament as the Bulldogs received an NIT bid.
UGA also reached the 1981 SEC tournament championship Game behind the electric play of Dominique Wilkins, Terry Fair, Vern Fleming and James Banks.
As a result, not much was expected of the 1982–83 Georgia basketball team and the Dawgs were picked to finish near the bottom of the SEC going into the season.
As a result of the title, Georgia earned its first NCAA Tournament bid in school history on the way to a 24–10 record.
Georgia beat VCU by two points in its first game in Greensboro to advance to the NCAA East Region in Syracuse, NY.
The starters were Vern Fleming, Terry Fair, James Banks, Lamar Heard and Gerald Crosby with Richard Corhen, Donald Hartry, Derrick Floyd and Horace McMillan coming off the bench.
The ACC Champion Wolfpack was coached by the late Jim Valvano and led by Derrick Wittenberg, Sidney Lowe, Thurl Bailey, and Lorenzo Charles.
Georgia's 6-7 center Terry Fair suffered a knee injury at Friday's practice and was severely limited against NC State's 6–11, 6–10, 6-7 front line.
Fair, a senior and former McDonald's All-American in high school, had scored 27 points in Georgia' NCAA regional semifinal win against St. John's.
The Bulldogs were led by Joe Ward, Cedric Henderson, Gerald Crosby, Donald Hartry, Horace McMillan, and Richard Corhen.
In 1986–87, Durham was voted SEC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year as Georgia earned its third NCAA Tournament bid in five seasons behind the play of Willie Anderson, Chad Kessler, Derrick Kirce, Eric Burdette, Dennis Williams, and Patrick Hamilton.
In 1989–90, Durham led Georgia to the school's first ever SEC regular season Championship and another trip to the NCAA tournament.
Georgia outlasted LSU and Shaquille O'Neal to clinch the SEC title in a heart pounding game in Athens that was nationally televised.
A free throw by Neville Austin with five seconds left in overtime gave Georgia the 85–84 win.
The 20–9 Bulldogs were led by the late Alec Kessler, Litterial Green, Marshall Wilson, Antonio Harvey, and Neville Austin.
In 1990–91, Georgia advanced to the NCAA tournament for the fifth time in nine seasons behind the play of Litterial Green, Rod Cole, Jody Patton, Marshall Wilson, Antonio Harvey, and Neville Austin.
In 1994–95, Durham finished his career at Georgia by leading the Bulldogs to their 12th post-season tournament appearance in his 17 seasons as head coach.