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Houston Basketball: Preview of Cougars 2019-20 season

By Ben Andreatta

HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 07: (L-R) Fabian White Jr. #35, Dejon Jarreau #13, Nate Hinton #11 and Armoni Brooks #3 of the Houston Cougars look on in the closing moments of the game at Fertitta Center on March 07, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 07: (L-R) Fabian White Jr. #35, Dejon Jarreau #13, Nate Hinton #11 and Armoni Brooks #3 of the Houston Cougars look on in the closing moments of the game at Fertitta Center on March 07, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 29: Nate Hinton #11 celebrates with Breaon Brady #24 of the Houston Cougars against the Kentucky Wildcats during the 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at Sprint Center on March 29, 2019, in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 29: Nate Hinton #11 celebrates with Breaon Brady #24 of the Houston Cougars against the Kentucky Wildcats during the 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at Sprint Center on March 29, 2019, in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

After a trip to the Sweet Sixteen last season, Houston Basketball looks to continue the momentum as a program. Will they be an NCAA Tournament team once again?

Houston Basketball felt that they were contenders last year but saw their dreams fall short following a Sweet 16 loss to Calipari’s Kentucky. Houston still had a great season finishing 33-4 and winning the AAC Regular Season but Kelvin Sampson and crew weren’t satisfied. Unfortunately for them Corey Davis and Armoni Brooks have moved on leaving Houston to rely on some of their youth to help carry the team this season.

A foreign tour this summer couldn’t have come at a better time for a program that saw both of their main offensive threats leave for the NBA. Transfer Quentin Grimes made headlines this summer by transferring from Kansas but the star guard will not be eligible for this season. If his performance on the summer tour was a preview of what Cougars fans can expect, they have to be ecstatic. The summer tour allowed a lot of different guys to get minutes and surely gave Kelvin Sampson a big advantage in seeing what exactly he has to work with.

Kelvin Sampson will turn to guys like Dejon Jarreau, Nate Hinton, and Caleb Mills to carry the scoring load this season. The fact that there’s only one senior on the roster makes Houston one of the youngest teams in the conference, Sampson will need leaders to emerge from his young group of guys if Houston wants to build on that Sweet 16 appearance. There’s still plenty of talent on the roster and Houston are primed to contend for the AAC title again.

I’ll break down who I think will be starting the season for Houston, look at the key reserves who should get big minutes off the bench. Take a look at the non-conference schedule and some of their biggest matchups. I’ll take a look at how Houston compares to the other front-runners of the American Athletic Conference and finally give my thoughts on what kind of outlook Houston fans should have for their team this season.