The Houston Cougars are returning this season after a Sweet Sixteen run in last season’s NCAA Tournament, and are looking to replace a lot of their scoring with a mix of returners and newcomers. The Cougars are in year five under head coach Kelvin Sampson and the last two seasons they have made the NCAA Tournament. While the Cougars have lost their top four scorers from last season, Coach Sampson should have his team ready to go to take on an improved American Athletic Conference.
Last season the Houston Cougars were just a few points away from an Elite Eight birth and finished the season 33-4 overall. Houston was able to take the conference title, finishing 16-2 in the conference. This season, the Memphis Tigers are the favorite to take the conference title, but it is far from a one-team race. The Cougars will have an opportunity to repeat as champions and head to another NCAA Tournament.
Moving forward with our college hoops preview, let’s breakdown the Houston Cougars and what their season will look like in 2019-2020.
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Key Returners
- Dejon Jarreau
- Nate Hinton
- Fabian White
- Kelvin Sampson
The Cougars lost quite a bit, but they return quality players that should be improved and will be able to move into leadership roles as well as improved on the court. For Houston, the most important asset they return is head coach Kelvin Sampson. After last season, Sampson was named in many coaching searches at big schools such as UCLA but turned them all down to come back and coach Houston for six-years, $18 million. Next to Coach Sampson has to be Dejon Jarreau. Jarreau, who put up 8.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists last season, should be one of the team’s leaders and best players on the court.
The return of Nate Hinton and Fabian White Jr. will give Houston some experienced leadership as well as two players that averaged more than six points and four rebounds a game last season in less than 20 minutes a game. Houston will have to have a multitude of players step-up and take on improved roles. Hinton will be a leader in the back-court while White Jr. will an anchor down low for the Cougars who will need leadership on and off the court, with only one senior on the roster.
Key Losses
- Corey Davis Jr.
- Armoni Brooks
- Galen Robinson Jr.
Houston lost their top four scorers from last season in Corey Davis Jr., Armoni Brooks, and Galen Robinson Jr. Davis Jr. left the Houston program and is playing in the Turkish Basketball Super League currently. Last season he averaged 17 points 3.3 rebounds and 2.8assists per game. He was a threat from deep, shooting 37.5% from three. Brooks led the team in rebounding and averaged 13.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and shot 39% from three. Houston not only lost their leading scorer and their leading rebounder but their leading assist man too.
Galen Robinson Jr. averaged 4.9 assists to go along with 8.0 points per game last season. He was a floor general at many times last season for the Cougars, and it will be hard to replace the playmaking ability that almost five assists per game gives a team. Altogether Houston has lost 38.4 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 8.9 assists per game from just those three players. That’s tough to swallow, and while Houston probably won’t be as good as they were last season, they should still be able to put together a team.
Key Newcomers
- Quentin Grimes
The Houston 2019 class was not filled with a bunch of five-stars or even four-star talent. The three incoming freshmen, J’Wan Roberts, Caleb Mills, and Marcus Sasser are all rated as three-star prospects by 247Sports. However, Houston landed a transfer from former top-10 recruit and former Kansas Jayhawk, Quentin Grimes. Grimes will not be eligible this season, but for Houston, this is a huge get. To have a player like Grimes to go against every day in practice and have as a recruiting tool for the 2020 class is huge! This isn’t to say that the incoming freshmen are not important for the team, but Grimes is a stud and a program changing player, even if he is only on the practice team this season.
Projected Starting Five
- Nate Hinton
- Dejon Jarreau
- Cedrick Alley Jr.
- Brison Gresham
- Fabian White Jr.
Houston Cougars Season Outlook
The American Athletic Conference is going to be tougher than years past. With the Memphis Tigers, led by 2019’s top-overall recruit James Wiseman, the whole conference is looking to step up their game if they are going to have a hope at fending off the young Tigers. Houston will have their hands full dealing with Memphis, and teams like Cincinnati always seem to do the most when others least expect it. Kelvin Sampson will have to do a great job coaching his team this season.
They are going to be led by Dejon Jarreau and will need at least two players to make the move up a notch in order to help Jarreau this season. Nate Hinton and Fabian White Jr. are my picks to take the next step and become big-time players for the Cougars this season. If they want to be the team they believe they can be and make another tournament appearance, they will have to have improvements from a handful of players.
If Houston finishes in the top-3 in their conference I think they are looking at an NCAA Tournament bid. They would preferably want to be top-2 in order to hear their name called on Selection Sunday. Houston has the opportunity to shock a lot of people this season.
Record Prediction 27-7 (14-4)
Last season was one of the best seasons the Cougars have had in a long time. Keeping Kelvin Sampson for the next six years was huge. Houston is sitting at a point where if they don’t make the NCAA Tournament this season it will be a letdown. The good news is, with Quentin Grimes on the roster, but not eligible to play until next season, they will at least have something to look forward to should this season turn south.
With games at Oregon and at South Carolina as well as Oklahoma State coming into town this season, I think the schedule is just where Houston wants it. However, I think they have some growing pains after losing so much production from last season and they will probably drop a few games they should have won out of the conference. In conference play, they play Witchita State, Cincinnati, and Memphis twice this season, they will need to win four of those six games to finish the season where they would like to. As far as the state of Houston basketball goes, I think Cougar fans are excited to be excited about basketball again. Kelvin Sampson is putting together a good product and has the program set up for the future.
