Each of the last seven NCAA Tournaments have ended with Houston reaching at least the Sweet Sixteen and that was certainly true again last year. Kelvin Sampson has done an otherworldly job transforming this program from irrelevant in the AAC to a national contender in the Big 12. Last season was Houston’s fifth-straight 30-win campaign, though things will look a bit different as the Cougars try to extend that streak.
Three members of last year’s team heard their names called in the NBA Draft, including elite freshmen Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac. Emanuel Sharp is gone after a brilliant career while Milos Uzan also departs, with those two quite important in the backcourt. Fortunately, defensive stalwart Joseph Tugler is back for his senior season while both Chase McCarty and Mercy Miller return for junior years that should see more significant minutes.
Doesn't look elite, but we know it will be
The recruiting class doesn’t jump off the page as much as last season, but Houston fans should be excited for a pair of 4-stars in 7-footer Arafan Diane and point guard Ikenna Alozie. The transfer portal also provided much more of a boost this season compared to last. Delrecco Gillespie put up nearly 18 points a game in Kent State’s frontcourt last season while Braden East nearly averaged a double-double at Lamar. The backcourt gets a scoring boost from Corey Hadnot, who averaged 20.4 points at Purdue Fort Wayne as a junior.
A more significant backcourt addition comes to town in Dedan Thomas Jr. He’s a 6-1 guard originally from Las Vegas who starred at UNLV in his first two collegiate campaigns and was even Mountain West Rookie of the Year in 2024. After brilliant figures, he transferred to LSU last season, though a foot injury limited him to just 16 games with the Tigers. He still managed 15.3 points and 6.5 assists per game, numbers comparable and even better than his time out west.
Bunch of changes
With the crazy offseason changes at LSU, it wasn’t shocking to see Thomas in the portal, but he’s landed in almost the perfect spot. Throughout this recent run of success, Houston has leaned heavily on elite backcourt play, with names like Marcus Sasser, Jamal Shead, and LJ Cryer spearheading deep postseason runs. Thomas can certainly slide into a similarly important role for the Cougars and is a fantastic scorer, distributor, and facilitator all over the court.
Combine those returning pieces and some interesting additions and you have another year where Houston looks like they can make some serious noise. Sampson and his staff added a ton of scorers and certainly will hope to continue building Houston’s elite defense in these players. No one is more important to that cause than a veteran point guard like Thomas who’s shown he can compete at a high level.
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