Thomas Lewis Curtis[1] (January 8, 1952 – August 3, 2021)[2] was an American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins.

He left his home state of Florida to attend college at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

[5][3][4] His mother, Johnye Rogers Curtis,[6] was a social activist and a co-founder of the Florida chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

[5] His father, Tom, played college football as a fullback for Florida A&M,[6] and he later worked for Central Life Insurance Company.

[5][7] After Curtis' parents divorced when he was eight,[8] his mother became a professor at Florida State University,[5] and his father went into the construction business in Albion.

[5] Curtis began at UCLA along with Larry Farmer on the freshman squad; players were not allowed to play varsity basketball their first year in college, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) limitation at the time.

[12][18][19] Curtis played a large role with eight points and six assists in the championship game as UCLA defeated Florida State, 81–76.

Wooden replaced Lee in the first half with the quicker Curtis, which, along with a strong performance by Walton, helped turn an early deficit into an 11-point halftime lead.

[20][21] Curtis continued a Wooden tradition of quick, strong-shooting, black point guards at UCLA, established earlier by Walt Hazzard, Lucius Allen, Mike Warren, and Henry Bibby.

[12] Curtis sparked the team with 12 points off the bench in a 54–39 win over San Francisco in the quarterfinals of the 1973 NCAA tournament.

[24][25] UCLA defeated Memphis, 87–66, to complete another perfect 30–0 season and win an NCAA-record seventh straight title.

[26][27] During the season, the Bruins eclipsed San Francisco's NCAA record of 60 consecutive victories, defeating Notre Dame for No.

[30] The Fighting Irish scored the final 12 points of the game as UCLA missed six straight shots and committed four turnovers, including two by Curtis.

[37] Their bid for an eighth consecutive championship ended after an 80–77 defeat in double-overtime to North Carolina State in the 1974 NCAA tournament semifinals.