2024–25 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

2024–25 Houston Cougars men's basketball
2024–25 Houston Cougars men's basketball
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	0–0 (0–0 Big 12)
Head coach	Kelvin Sampson (11th season);
Assistant coaches	K.C. Beard; Kellen Sampson; Quannas White;
Home arena	Fertitta Center
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 Big 12 men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Arizona	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Arizona State	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Baylor	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
BYU	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Cincinnati	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Colorado	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Houston	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Iowa State	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Kansas	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Kansas State	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Oklahoma State	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
TCU	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Texas Tech	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
UCF	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Utah	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
West Virginia	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–

† 2025 Big 12 tournament winner As of July 1, 2024 Rankings from AP poll

The 2024–25 Houston Cougars men's basketball team will represent the University of Houston in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars will be led by eleventh-year head coach Kelvin Sampson. The team will play their home games at the Fertitta Center as second-year members of the Big 12 Conference.

Previous season[edit]

The Cougars finished the 2023–24 season 28–3, 15–3 in Big 12 play to win the regular season championship in their first year in the conference. They defeated TCU and Texas Tech to advance to the Big 12 tournament championship game where they lost to Iowa State.^[1] They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the #1 seed in the South Regional. They defeated Longwood in the First Round and Texas A&M in overtime in the Second Round to advance to their fifth consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance. There they were defeated by Duke after losing their starting point guard, Jamal Shead, to an ankle sprain during the game.^[2]

Offseason[edit]

Departing players[edit]

Houston Departing Players
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Jamal Shead	1	G	6'1"	200	Senior	Manor, TX	Graduated/declared for the 2024 NBA draft; selected 45th overall by the Sacramento Kings
Damian Dunn	11	G	6'5"	205	Senior	Kinston, NC	Graduated; transferred to Pittsburgh
Ryan Elvin	20	G	6'1"	170	Senior	Round Rock, TX	Walk-on; graduated

Incoming transfers[edit]

Houston Incoming Transfers
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Milos Uzan	7	G	6'4"	193	Junior	Las Vegas, NV	Oklahoma

2024 recruiting class[edit]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Mercy Miller CG	Sherman Oaks, CA	Notre Dame High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Aug 30, 2021
Mercy Miller CG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 85
Chase McCarty SF	Huntsville, AL	IMG Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Oct 13, 2023
Chase McCarty SF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 82
Overall recruiting rankings: 247Sports: 45
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 16, 2024.

Roster[edit]

2024–25 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Kordelius Jefferson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Fr	Martin HS	Arlington, TX
C	2	Cedric Lath	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	265 lb (120 kg)	RS So	Balboa School	Abidjan, Ivory Coast
G	3	Ramon Walker Jr.	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Shadow Creek HS	Pearland, TX
G	4	LJ Cryer	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	GS	Baylor	Katy, TX
F	5	Ja'Vier Francis	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Sr	Montverde Academy	New Orleans, LA
G	7	Milos Uzan	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Oklahoma	Las Vegas, NV
G	8	Mylik Wilson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	GS	Texas Tech	Rayville, LA
F	11	Joseph Tugler	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	So	Cypress Falls HS	Houston, TX
C	12	Jacob McFarland	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Fr	Rancho Verde HS	Moreno Valley, CA
F	13	J'Wan Roberts	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	GS	Shoemaker HS	Saint Thomas, USVI
G	21	Emanuel Sharp	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	RS Jr	Bishop McLaughlin CHS	Tampa, FL
G	23	Terrance Arceneaux	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Beaumont United HS	Beaumont, TX
F	24	Chase McCarty	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	IMG Academy	Huntsville, AL
G	25	Mercy Miller	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Notre Dame HS	Sherman Oaks, CA

Head coach

Kelvin Sampson (UNC Pembroke)

Assistant coach(es)

K.C. Beard (Boise State)
Kellen Sampson (Oklahoma)
Quannas White (Oklahoma)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results[edit]

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 22, 2024* TBD, TBD	Hofstra	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
November 26, 2024* TBD, TBD	vs. Alabama Players Era Festival	MGM Grand Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV
December 7, 2024* TBD, TBD	Butler Big East–Big 12 Battle	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
December 18, 2024* TBD, TBD	Toledo	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Big 12 regular season
TBD TBD	Baylor	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
TBD TBD	BYU	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
TBD TBD	Cincinnati	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
TBD TBD	Iowa State	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
TBD TBD	Kansas	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
TBD TBD	Oklahoma State	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
TBD TBD	TCU	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
TBD TBD	Texas Tech	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
TBD TBD	Utah	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
TBD TBD	West Virginia	Fertitta Center Houston, TX
TBD TBA	at Arizona	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
TBD TBA	at Arizona State	Desert Financial Arena Tempe, AZ
TBD TBA	at Baylor	Foster Pavilion Waco, TX
TBD TBA	at Colorado	CU Events Center Boulder, CO
TBD TBA	at Kansas	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
TBD TBA	at Kansas State	Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS
TBD TBA	at Oklahoma State	Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK
TBD TBA	at Texas Tech	United Supermarkets Arena Lubbock, TX
TBD TBA	at UCF	Addition Financial Arena Orlando, FL
TBD TBA	at West Virginia	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV
Big 12 tournament
March , 2025 TBA, TBA	vs. TBA	T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[3]

Rankings[edit]

Ranking movements
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP
Coaches

References[edit]

^ "#1/1 Men's Hoops Falls to #7/8 Iowa State in Big 12 Title Game". uhcougars.com. March 16, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
^ "#2/2 (1) Men's Hoops Falls to Duke in Sweet 16". uhcougars.com. March 29, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
^ "2024–25 Men's Basketball Schedule". uhcougars.com. Retrieved June 16, 2024.

[1] "#1/1 Men's Hoops Falls to #7/8 Iowa State in Big 12 Title Game". uhcougars.com. March 16, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2024.

[2] "#2/2 (1) Men's Hoops Falls to Duke in Sweet 16". uhcougars.com. March 29, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2024.

[3] "2024–25 Men's Basketball Schedule". uhcougars.com. Retrieved June 16, 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Houston Cougars men's basketball
Venues	Sam Houston Coliseum (select games; 1937–19??) Jeppesen Gymnasium (1946–1966) Delmar Fieldhouse (1966–1969) Fertitta Center (1969–present) Health and Physical Education Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Rice SMU
Culture & lore	Shasta Phi Slama Jama Game of the Century "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics