Houston Cougars
- 2025-26 record: 30-7 (14-4)
Roster departures
● Kingston Flemings (16.1 ppg and 5.2 apg)
● Emanuel Sharp (15.5 ppg and 3.0 rpg)
● Milos Uzan (11.1 ppg and 4.0 apg)
● Isaiah Harwell (3.6 ppg and 2.0 rpg)
● Kalif Sakho (2.4 ppg and 2.6 rpg)
● Chris Cenac (9.5 ppg and 7.9 rpg)
Roster returnees
● Joseph Tugler (8.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg)
● Mercy Miller (5.0 ppg and 1.8 rpg)
● Chase McCarty (4.1 ppg and 2.5 rpg)
Roster additions
● Dedan Thomas Jr. (15.3 ppg and 6.3 apg at LSU)
● Corey Hadnot II (20.4 ppg and 3.5 apg at Purdue Fort Wayne)
● Delrecco Gillespie (17.7 ppg and 11.3 rpg at Kent State)
● Braden East (12.8 ppg and 9.1 rpg at Lamar)
● Ikenna Alozie (4-star guard prospect)
● Arafan Diane (4-star center prospect)
All three top-20 freshmen prospects from last year’s class are gone for Houston. But with Flemings and Cenac becoming first-round picks and Harwell not in the rotation, which led to his departure from the portal, none of their leaving was a surprise. But as expected, the Cougars were able to keep the other guys with eligibility, including former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Tugler.
The best aspect of the program’s offseason was the pickups. Thomas and Hadnot were two of the best perimeter players from the portal, while Gillespie was easily among the top bigs in the portal, ranking in the top-5 in all of rebounding from Kent State.
Assuming that Alozie and Diane are impact freshmen, Houston will have plenty of depth and, hopefully, star power at the top. The perimeter defense is something to watch from the newcomers, but outside of a drop-off, this roster has a great shot at contending in the Big 12 again.
Grade: A
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