Last Year: 32-5; 15-3, Big 12 Conference regular season champions, lost in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament appearances
Head Coach: Kelvin Sampson (11th Year; 264-79 at Houston, with six NCAA Tournament)
Projected Starting Lineup
G Milos Uzan – 6’4″, 190 Junior
G LJ Cryer – 6’1″, 190 5th-year Senior
G Emanuel Sharp – 6’3″, 210 Junior
F J’Wan Roberts – 6’8″, 235 5th-year Senior
F Ja’Vier Francis – 6’8″, 235 Senior
Experienced Reserves
G Mylik Wilson – 6’3″, 175 5th-year Senior
G Ramon Walker, Jr – 6’5″, 215 Senior
W Terrance Arceneaux – 6’6″, 205 Sophomore
F/C Joseph ‘Jojo’ Tugler – 6’8″, 230 Sophomore
C Cedric Lath – 6’9″, 260 Sophomore
Freshmen
G Kordelius Jefferson – 6’3″, 200 (redshirt)
G Mercy Miller – 6’4″, 200 / Top 50 recruit
F Chase McCarty – 6’6″, 220
F Jacob McFarland – 6’11”, 215 (redshirt)
Injuries may have robbed a great team of its ultimate potential last season, but Houston is ready to make another run at a natty.
While it’s true that iconic point guard and Big 12 Player of the Year Jamal Shead has moved on, head coach Kelvin Sampson is returning most of the key pieces from one of the best teams in America last year. At a time when even strong, cohesive teams have seen significant defections, the Cougars held together this offseason.
There’s an obvious reason why Sampson’s veterans remain in H-Town. It may be one of the most overused sports clichés of them all, but Houston really and truly has unfinished business in March. Last season, the Cougars just kept on losing guys from their rotation due to injury. First, rising sophomore Terrance Arceneaux was lost for the season with a torn Achilles just 11 games into the year. Then, solid reserve guard Ramon Walker hurt his knee just as the calendar was turning to March, and impact freshman Joseph ‘JoJo’ Tugler broke his foot a few days later. Houston overcame all of those hits to the team’s depth, but when Shead went down in the first half of a Sweet Sixteen matchup against Duke, it proved fatal to the Cougars’ hopes. The guys who are back have dealt with the bitterness of that defeat all summer, and it has sharpened their resolve.
After winning the Big 12 in their conference debut, Houston is set to ward off blows from an even larger gauntlet of foes. To do so, Sampson has added a couple of exciting new faces to his returning core. Everyone who has signed up with the Cougs this year knows the objective, and they’re going to have some fun on the way to their ultimate goals in March.
Houston’s reputation for playing suffocating, tireless, outstanding defense has become the stuff of legend, and that was never more on display than last year. The person who best embodies what this program is all about is sixth-year senior J’Wan Roberts. After first taking a redshirt – something else which has become synonymous with the way Houston does things – Roberts spent two years developing as a reserve. Over the past two seasons, he’s established a reputation as one of the finest rebounders and defenders in America. Now, with all of the experiences he’s accrued plus time spent improving his game, Roberts is looking to be the most complete player he’s ever been.
Despite moving up from the American Athletic Conference – where in three seasons he grabbed the 11th-most offensive rebounds in league history – Roberts immediately made his mark in the Big 12. He snagged the fourth-most total rebounds in the conference in his debut, as well as 95 offensive boards, which was good for second place. He converted a terrific 84.2% of his putback stabs, per Hoop-Math, and Roberts finished second in his new conference by shooting 59.8% from the floor. It’s occasionally tough to measure the impact Robert makes purely based upon statistics, but he led the Big 12 in win shares per 40 minutes, as measured by Sports Reference. As the foremost beast in Sampson’s ‘monster’ approach to guarding pick-and-roll’s, Roberts uses his length, strength, awareness and aggression to neutralize opposing bigs when they range close to the rim. He has also developed a great deal as a passer, and Roberts handed out the third-most assists of any Cougar last season.
The final frontier of his game is for Roberts to add some range to his jump shot and find genuine consistency at the free throw line. From about 12 feet and in, Roberts is devastating. He can hit tough, well-guarded leaners and hook shots, power through contact to get off layups, and Roberts can drop the hammer in close. His 59.8% rate didn’t just happen because Roberts is a dunker, though; he sank a reliable 44.4% of his 126 mid-range tries, per Bart Torvik. If he can extend his threat out from the elbow a bit more, it could help to open things up in the paint for Roberts and his friends. Two years back, he made 68.6% of his freebies, but last winter, Roberts shot just 51.7% at the line. An uptick there would help to further solidify the impact Roberts makes offensively as he leads the Cougars on another pursuit of greatness.
Houston’s finesse on the perimeter is best exemplified by LJ Cryer, who returns for his final season of eligibility as one of the country’s most prolific three-point marksmen. Despite his transfer between Texas schools, Cryer has led the Big 12 in three-point percentage each of the past two seasons, and Cryer is still growing aspects of his game. He won a national title as a freshman at Baylor, and Cryer wouldn’t mind adding some more bits of net to his trophy case to cap off a fantastic career.
In addition to being tops in rate, Cryer splashed 112 long balls last year, the most in the conference and ninth-most of any Division I player. He was great as the Cougars made their stretch run, too. Beginning with a season-high 26 points on six triples against Texas, Cryer averaged 16.7 points on 41.5% shooting from distance over Houston’s final 13 games. A pure shooter, Cryer doesn’t get all the way to the rim very often, but he makes up for that with an improving ability to take a dribble or two in from the wing and convert floaters. When all else fails, Cryer is also a reliable shot maker from the less-analytically-optimal spots on the floor: he’s a 43.4% career mid-range shooter, per Bart Torvik. As he’s done what he can to grow his drive game, Cryer has also worked to become a more effective distributor and decision-maker. He posted a clean 70:35 assist to turnover ratio last year, and without Shead, Cryer can enhance his value to the Cougars – and potential as an NBA prospect – by taking further steps as a playmaker.
During his own redshirt year, Emanuel Sharp recovered from a serious injury suffered towards the end of his prep career. As a freshman, he became Houston’s 6th man. Last year, Sharp turned in a breakout sophomore season, and now he’s being numbered among the better guards in the mighty Big 12. A slick shooter with the size, strength, and explosiveness to score from all three levels, Sharp showed last winter that he is going to be the type of two-way star that Sampson treasures. Though he didn’t always make his shots at the same tidy clip as Cryer, Sharp racked up 82 triples of his own, good for fifth in the Big 12. He’s also considerably more adept at getting to the free throw line than his older teammates.
For a Houston side which did not get to the free throw line that often and has lost Shead, Sharp’s penchant for earning free points is a huge asset, and he makes them, too (85.8% career). He will need to convert at a greater rate when he’s not interfered with, though, as Sharp made just 37.3% of his field goals overall last year. At a sturdily-built and quick 6’3″, Sharp brings considerably more size than Cryer and can handle some tougher defensive matchups. He proved last season to be a budding playmaker on that end, and Sharp’s 55 steals ranked eighth in the Big 12. For Sampson in particular there’s a lot to like about Sharp’s game, and his future is looking brighter all the time.
Houston has had some of the best guard play in the country over the past few years, and this spring, Sampson added Milos Uzan to complement Sharp and Cryer. Looking at his size, pedigree, and skillset, Uzan seems like a seamless fit as Houston’s third guard. A consensus Top 100 prospect a couple of years ago and the son of a prominent prep coach, Uzan plays the game with poise, great anticipation, and something like a languid grace. He worked his way into a starting role early as a freshman at Oklahoma, and though he didn’t shoot it as well as a sophomore, Uzan ran offense smoothly for the Sooners last year.
Looking at his size, pedigree, and skillset, Uzan seems like a seamless fit as Houston’s third guard.
He finished sixth in the Big 12 by averaging 4.4 helpers per contest, and Uzan posted a strong 141:65 assist to turnover ratio. He’s not a high-volume shooter or scorer, but that’s never been Uzan’s primary focus. If he can return to something like the 40.8% he shot from distance as a rookie it will be a big help to his new teammates, as Uzan knows how to zip precision passes past a spread-out defense. His rangy athleticism really shows up defensively, and Uzan’s quick hands and quick reactions are the type of thing Sampson prizes. He can swat a shot out on the perimeter, and Uzan’s length should help when trying to keep the smaller Cryer out of disadvantageous spots. There’s no way to replace a guy like Shead, but with a strong cast around him, Uzan should be able to comfortably play his game and run a steady point.
Now that he’s back to his bouncy best following Achilles surgery, Arceneaux should be able to pick up where he left off in working towards a big slice of the action. A Top 50 prospect out of nearby Beaumont, TX, two years ago, Arceneaux has highlight-reel athleticism and a willingness to do his work with gusto in and around the lane. A terrific rebounder given his lanky build, Arceneaux skies for boards that other guys his size can’t get, and his activity level crashing in from the wing helps the Cougars’ bigs to be even more effective. His jumper is coming along, and Arceneaux worked diligently on his handle this summer as well in anticipation of becoming a more well-rounded offensive option. Defensively, he can be a problem. Arceneaux can guard up and down the opposing lineup and bother people with his reach and stay in front of them with his terrific lateral quickness, and he has the look of a potentially fearsome perimeter shot blocker.
In the post, Roberts will be joined by a couple of rising bigs who bring similar skills and cause similar headaches for anyone who wants a clean look at the basket inside. In his first season as a starter, Ja’Vier Francis did a fair job of playing a Roberts-like game. What’s great for the Cougars is that Francis is also a unique player whose tremendous rim protection and post defense make everyone around him better. With his tremendous strength and vertical athleticism in tight spaces, Francis plays far larger than his pro-style 6’8″, 235-pound frame would suggest. He departed the AAC ranked first all-time in block percentage there, and Francis immediately led the Big 12 in blocks and block percentage last winter. He absorbs contact while still getting up in a functional way like few players in the nation, and Francis always gives as good as he gets when the play gets physical.
On the other end, his 83 offensive rebounds were the eighth-most in the conference despite his average of 20.7 minutes per contest, and between them, Francis and Roberts provide back-breaking reload opportunities which often become soul-crushing three-point hits. By understanding what he does best, Francis sticks close to the goal, and last winter 50 of the 93 baskets he made were dunks. Given that he would have easily led the conference in field goal percentage with just a few more attempts to qualify, why would Francis do anything else? He and Roberts are as intimidating a duo as any frontline pair around, and Houston fans are excited to see how Francis has grown his game this summer.
| Five Stats Which Tell The Tale (with national ranks) |
| 37.9% – Opponent FG Percentage (1st) |
| 43.9% – Team FG Percentage (229th) |
| 57.6 – Opponent Points Per Game (1st) |
| 8.9 – Turnovers Per Game (4th) |
| 9.8 – Steals Per Game (9th) |
Though his rookie campaign was cut short by injury, Tugler also introduced himself to the Big 12 in abrasive, emphatic fashion. A local kid from Cypress Falls High School just outside of Houston, Tugler immediately became beloved among the Cougar faithful for his rowdy work near the basket, thunderous dunks, and lots more blocked shots. He averaged just 16 minutes per game as a rookie, but Tugler ranked 11th in the league in blocks per game. Given his advanced defensive instincts and powerful frame at such a young age, Tugler may end up being the most fearsome fella of Houston’s three ‘monster’ post defenders. He anticipates well and understands positioning, but Tugler’s aggressiveness occasionally led to him picking up fouls at an alarming rate. Another area Sampson will need both Tugler and Francis to improve is at the charity stripe. They combined to make just 50.5% of their foul shots a year ago, and occasionally put the Cougars into tighter spots than necessary.
Mylik Wilson and Ramon Walker are a couple more tough, experienced dudes who know what Sampson demands and know how to win, and they add reliable depth to the Houston backcourt. Though he’s not quite the equal of his former teammate as a shooter, Wilson played nearly as big a role as Damian Dunn, the Cougars’ 6th man a year ago. In keeping with Houston tradition, Wilson is a sensational rebounder. Though he stands 6’3″ and weighs just 175 pounds, Wilson led all Houston players with a 15.0% rebounding rate last year. Some guys are just on another level of toughness, and Wilson is that type of player. He gets to the cup consistently and effectively, and though he doesn’t need to have the ball in his hands, Wilson still gets to the line at a greater rate than most of his teammates. He’s another quality defender and the same way Wilson uses his verticality on the glass, he can influence shots and passes he’s got no right getting his hands on and never lets the opposition get comfortable. Though he’s done some of the same good things as Wilson, Walker has had to do so while dodging a series of injuries. He’s a physically strong guard who can cover a variety of opponents and does yet more great work on the boards.
When other guys got hurt last winter, Cedric Lath was pushed into the lineup. He was and is still raw overall but with a wide, extremely strong frame, Lath will help out more and more inside going forward. He’ll need to show more development this year, but Lath is another imposing specimen for Sampson to throw at opponents. Jacob McFarland is the tallest player on the roster, but more of a forward than a bruiser in the lane. After a redshirt year to pack on some muscle, McFarland is hoping to show off his 4-star talent. He moves with great fluidity around the halfcourt or when getting up for a lob, and McFarland can really cover ground from end to end. Additionally, McFarland is a very effective rim protector, but he suffered a broken leg late in October and his availability for the new season is now up in the air. It’s possible that KJ Jefferson is even more dangerous at swatting shots than McFarland. Sampson calls McFarland’s co-redshirt “the best shot blocking guard I have ever seen,” and the Coogs’ Coach can’t wait to deploy Jefferson on defense. Jefferson’s year off added even more muscle to his frame, and the young shooter has a bit of Sharp in his game.
| Five Out-of-Confrence Games to Keep an Eye on |
| N Alabama – November 26 |
| N Auburn – November 9 |
| N Rutgers – November 30 |
| N Notre Dame – November 27 |
| vs Butler – December 7 |
This year’s top true freshman is Mercy Miller. A scoring guard who just loves to put the ball through the net from anywhere on the floor, Miller rose quickly up the national rankings as a high school senior and was rated a Top 50 recruit by some services. Long, rangy, and very quick, Miller’s scoring instincts have always been there. His greater consistency in choosing good shots and hitting from the outside lately is highly exciting to a Cougars team which needs to score efficiently. If Miller can keep it up, he’ll quickly start getting valuable minutes off the bench. It’s possible that Chase McCarty, the team’s second incoming prospect, will take a redshirt of his own with so many guys ahead of him. He’s physically ready to play now, though. McCarty is physically strong with quick feet, and his overall scoring touch is coming into focus. With a bit of polish, McCarty will be the Cougars’ latest undersized powerhouse at forward.
Last season, Houston featured one of the best and most complete team defenses that’s been seen in college basketball over the past decade. They were elite guarding on the outside, almost impossible to get looks against inside, and the Coogs’ pressure was unrelenting the full length of the court. Without Shead to lead the way, you might expect a drop-off. If there is one, it will be almost imperceptible. While the bigs are lauded for their efforts – and rightly so – Cryer and Sharp also ranked among the nation’s top 17 high-usage players in overall defensive rating, per Synergy Sports. The Cougars are as deep, experienced, and flat-out tough an outfit as you will find anywhere in the country. The memory of how last year ended is burned in their minds, and this winter Houston will again have the look of a national title contender.
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