The 2024-25 season was a season of firsts for Houston under legendary coach Kelvin Sampson: It was the first to win the Big 12 by at least four games since Baylor in 2020-21; it was the first in school history in men’s and women’s basketball to achieve 35 total wins, eclipsing the previous record of 33 set in 2022-23; and it was the first UH men’s hoops team in the modern era since the bracket expanded to play in the final game of the college basketball season.
Now the Cougars are back on the prowl hunting for a sweeter finish to offset the sour — and incomprehensible — note they left off on last season.
Gone are LJ Cryer and J’Wan Roberts from that special team, the leading scorer and the primary vessel of courage and toughness, respectively. But back are the following: Emanuel Sharp, Milos Uzan, Joseph Tugler and Mercy Miller.
They also add in five-star freshman Chris Cenac Jr. as part of a four-player signing class that ranked No. 2 in the Team Rankings for the 2025 cycle. If any team is worthy of preseason No. 1 status given its returners and additions, it’s the Cougars. There’s a real chance they have the best defensive player in college basketball (Tugler), the best veteran guard in college basketball (Uzan), the best coach in college basketball (Sampson) and two lottery-level freshmen in Cenac Jr. and Isiah Harwell.
Purdue, Duke and Kansas all have strong cases to be preseason No. 1. But for my money: there is Houston, and there is everyone else.
Here’s what I’m expecting next season.
The Houston Cougars suffered utter heartbreak in the National Championship game last April. The team will be a bit younger this year, but the sky is the limit for the Cougars. Can they avenge that heartbreak next season? Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander discuss the 2025-2026 Houston Cougars in the 2nd episode of the 2025 Summer Shootaround.
Projected starting lineup
PG Milos Uzan | 6-4 | 190 | Sr.
Few players improved their standing in NBA circles in the last month of the regular season than Uzan, helping guide Houston to a Big 12 title with scoring outbursts of 22, 19 and 19 vs. top-15 ranked teams. He returns after testing the NBA Draft with keys to the Houston kingdom in hand upon the graduation of Cryer. This will be a role he played much of last season as the lead distributor, but Houston will ask infinitely more of him this season as a scorer, too. He will deliver the goods.
SG Isiah Harwell | 6-6 | 200 | Fr.
Sampson has not started two true freshmen for the majority of a season’s games at any point during his Houston tenure the last 11 years and never did so previously during his two seasons at Indiana from 2006-2008. In fact, the last time two true freshmen started the majority of a season’s games under Sampson was in 2003-04 — when Drew Lavender and Lawrence McKenzie started 31 and 20 games, respectively, for the Sooners.
It’d go against what Sampson has typically done over his coaching career if Harwell and Cenac start the majority of games. But this may be a unique circumstance, because Cenac and Harwell are one-and-done caliber talents that haven’t typically played under Sampson. I have Harwell slotted as a starter for now. This is a big void Houston will look to fill after losing LJ Cryer and he has the talent to do it.
SF Emanuel Sharp | 6-3 | 210 | R-Sr.
Sharp was Houston’s second-leading scorer and the leader in steals last season while canning a career-best 40.7% of his 3-point attempts. His primary function last season was as a wing to ensure both Uzan and Cryer were also in the lineup, but he could be an interchangeable shooting guard or small forward depending on how Sampson shakes out his rotations.
PF Chris Cenac Jr. | 6-10 | 230 | Fr.
Houston will have roster flexibility in spades next season with Cenac Jr. and Tugler both interchangeable at both power forward and center. Tugler’s shot-blocking skills and defensive upside makes him a virtual lock to be in the starting lineup so here I have Cenac, a fluid forward with incredible movement skills at his size, slated to be at the 4. He and Tugler do a lot of the same things — and both do them well — so the challenge for Houston will be finding ways to maximize both their bigs and finding favorable roles for them.
C Joseph Tugler | 6-8 | 230 | Jr.
For as good as the defense is for Tugler, it’s stunning how much of a zero he can be on offense. That’s a growth area for him this season. He can finish lobs and clean up around the basket but he has to be a shooting threat outside the paint to elevate from a defensive stopper to a two-way terror.
Off the bench
Houston is synonymous with homegrown talent so its roster construction is largely from players who have been in the system a year already or high school additions. In fact, only one newcomer is courtesy of the transfer portal — the second consecutive offseason it adds just one via the portal — and that is Sam Houston State’s Kalifa Sakho.
For Houston, that means the incoming freshmen class — led by Cenac Jr. and Harwell — will no doubt play big roles. But it also means big names who have been biding their time are in line for promotions. Those could include:
Mercy Miller | 6-4 | 200 | Soph.
On a deep 2024-25 team loaded with veterans in the backcourt, Miller appeared in just 22 games and averaged only 8.6 minutes per contest. He’s a strong candidate to earn a bigger role this season though as Houston looks to recoup lost production at guard. The former four-star recruit from Virginia was a top-60 player in his class.
Kordel Jefferson | 6-3 | 200 | R-Soph.
Surgery on both wrists in the summer of 2023 forced Jefferson to redshirt in 2023-24, and he only played 16 games as a redshirt freshman in 2024-25. But the former top-100 recruit was once ranked as a top-10 player from the state of Texas. If he can recapture his pre-injury form and develop his consistency as a scorer he could be a needed depth piece for this team’s backcourt.
Chase McCarty | 6-6 | 200 | R-Fr.
Word out of Houston is that McCarty could be a meaningful contributor this season after redshirting in 2024-25. He’s a former top-100 national recruit who brings good size and skill as a combo forward.
Jacob McFarland | 6-11 | 215 | R-Soph.
Coming off a redshirt season in 2023-24, McFarland sustained a broken leg in October 2024 and was unable to play last season. However, he has a nice pedigree as a former four-star recruit and brings good size to the center spot. Ideally, Houston could use him as part of a rotation to ensure Cenac Jr. and Tugler stay fresh.
Ramon Walker Jr. | 6-5 | 215 | R-Sr.
Across four seasons at Houston, Walker has played in 73 games and made two starts, averaging 2.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. He’s coming off a season in which he played a season-low eight games due to a hand injury that required surgery in December, but could be a vital piece of Houston’s remade guard rotation.
Filling out the roster
Houston’s remaining roster is comprised of a handful of freshmen and former redshirt players who have played only sparingly to this point. Kingston Flemings is the big name of the bunch as a four-star national recruit rated No. 20 in the class by 247Sports, while Bryce Jackson is a three-star recruit. Redshirt sophomore Cedric Lath is a former three-star prospect who has averaged 5.6 minutes per game in his young career but could be primed to make an impact this season.
Kingston Flemings | 6-3 | 170 | Fr.Bryce Jackson | 6-8 | 205 | Fr.Cedric Lath | 6-9 | 260 | R-Jr.
Market watch
Houston odds to win 2026 NCAA Tournament (via Fanduel): +1000
Houston has the second-best odds to win the 2025-26 national championship behind only Purdue — and yet, as I wrote earlier this week, the Cougars are the best value among true contenders.
By my count there are six teams I’d place in the “contender” bucket right now who I think can realistically win it all. Houston would be No. 1 on that list. I think at +1000 they are a screaming value as the second team on the betting board. They are a bad break away from entering the season as reigning national champions, and coach Kelvin Sampson brings back Milos Uzan, Emanuel Sharp and Joseph Tugler from a team that last season won 35 games. Oh, and: Chris Cenac Jr. — the highest-rated signee in school history — is also joining the fold.
Expectations are high around Houston and it is absolutely, positively warranted. This is the best team on paper in college basketball. Coming off a season in which it finished as the national runner-up, it’d be none too surprising to see the Cougars avenge that by cutting down nets in Indy next April.
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