The Houston Cougars continued their solid start to the season following their 67-60 win against Cincinnati on Saturday. Houston improved to 13-1 on the season, and 1-0 in Big 12 Conference play. But following the game, Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson explained that he did something in the game that wasn’t very smart, as per Keegan Nickoson of BearcatJournal.com.
“Believe it or not, I played four freshmen in the first half,” Sampson said. “Who does that? Nobody has ever accused me of being very smart.”
Although Kelvin Sampson did get off a good joke at Cincinnati’s expense, it’s not like the Houston freshmen that played were just your every day, run-of-the-mill freshmen. Two of them, Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac Jr., are projected first round picks in the 2026 NBA Draft, and potentially even lottery picks.
In Flemings’ case, he’s used a strong start to the season to vault his draft stock as he initially wasn’t seen as a possible one-and-done player.
This is Houston’s 12th season with Sampson at the helm as head coach. He helped oversee the program’s transition from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12 in 2023. Across those 12 seasons, he’s compiled an overall record of 312-85. He’s led the Cougars to seven NCAA Tournament appearances including six Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights, two Final Fours, and one appearance in the national championship game.
Sampson has established himself as one of the best coaches in the country. Prior to arriving at Houston, he spent two seasons at Indiana that ended amid an NCAA investigation into potential recruiting violations. Before that, he had an overall successful run at Oklahoma that yielded 11 NCAA Tournament appearances in 12 seasons.
This year, Houston is currently ranked as the No. 8 team in the country as per the AP men’s basketball poll. With freshmen like Flemings and Cenac helping lead the way, the team has big aspirations.
