Kelvin Sampson took Houston to the national championship game in the 2025 NCAA tournament before losing to Florida in a heartbreaking manner. Sampson has done such a good job at Houston that they remain one of the favorites to go all the way in 2026.
One of the reasons why Sampson has been able to rebuild the struggling program was him sticking to his principles and his ability to keep his roster happy and competitive.
College Basketball Analyst Reveals Kelvin Sampson’s Trump Cards
Kelvin Sampson managed to retain key pieces from the roster that made it to the championship game and Milos Uzan, who had declared for the NBA Draft, has withdrawn from the draft to also join the Cougars for next season. Uzan earned All-Big 12 honors as well as All-Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Tournament All-Region selections.
Uzan will join Emanuel Sharp, who averaged 12.6 points last season, and Joseph Tugler, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, to give Sampson a formidable core to build around.
Houston had a +32 net rating with Milos Uzan, Emanuel Sharp, and JoJo Tugler on the floor together … in Quad 1 games.
Kelvin Sampson gets all three of them back for 2025-26. Pretty, pretty good. pic.twitter.com/9aL5JMXwLZ
— Isaac Trotter (@Isaac__Trotter) May 27, 2025
Despite Uzan averaging 11.4 points and 4.3 assists last season, College Basketball Analyst, Andy Patton believes Sampson’s squad next season will draw inspiration from elsewhere. Houston brought in the number one recruiting class ahead of Duke and Patton believes the newbies are going to be very important for next season.
“This Houston team in particular heading to next year has the best recruiting class they’ve ever had.” Patton said.
“They have multiple five-star players coming in (Chris) Cenac and (Isiah) Harwell and ( Kingston) Flemings are tremendous, tremendous high school players. So, for Sampson to find a way to be able to recruit high level high school talent at his age when he hasn’t and at a program that hasn’t historically done that, it’s incredibly impressive.”
KEEP READING: What Is ‘Bucky Ball?’ A Deep Dive Into Texas A&M HC Bucky McMillan’s Electric Basketball Gameplan
Houston has secured a No. 1 seed in each of the last three men’s NCAA tournaments but an elusive national championship still remains out of reach for both Sampson and the Cougars. Next year could be Houston’s best shot at the championship yet.
