The Houston Cougars’ NCAA tournament run came to an end in the Sweet 16, as the Miami Hurricanes clinched an 89-75 win to advance to the Elite Eight.
Multiple Houston players likely donned a Cougars jersey in a game for the final time on Friday, including Marcus Sasser. The versatile guard opted to return for his senior season after he initially declared for the 2022 NBA Draft.
Sasser managed to bolster his NBA Draft stock throughout his senior campaign. He took home AAC Player of the Year honors for the season, and he was named to the AP All-America first team earlier this month.
Overall, Sasser has no regrets about his call to return to Houston for the 2022-2023 campaign.
“It was an amazing run,” Sasser said during a postgame press conference on Friday. “Came up short, but the time that we got to spend throughout these months, I couldn't have for nothing better. Then just coming back to this program, coaching staff, it was just amazing.
“I'd pick that choice 10 out of 10 every time. So it was a great run for sure.”
Sasser is also much appreciative of the support that he received from Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson and the rest of the coaching staff over the past four seasons.
“It meant everything,” Sasser said on Friday. “From the day I stepped on campus, really, you could see the development, not just in me, but in a lot of players that came through here. Everybody is just a family here, so everybody cares about each other. The way they just take their time out of their day to come be in the gym with us all day when they've got families at home and other things to do, I couldn't thank them enough for that.
“Just becoming a better man. Coach and his coaching staff, they don't just teach us lessons on the court, they teach us a lot of lessons off the court too. So I really just couldn't thank them enough.”
Sasser, who is expected to soon declare for the 2023 NBA Draft, notched a 16.8 points per game average on 43.8 percent shooting this season.
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