The Houston Cougars leaned on their culture of resilience and brotherhood with one another all season amidst constant trials. | Anh Le/The Cougar

The 2023-24 Houston Cougars will be remembered as a team defined by resilience.

First it was sophomore forward Terrance Arceneaux, who went down with a season-ending Achilles injury in December. Then it was junior guard Ramon Walker. He went down in February. In early March, freshman forward Joseph Tugler suffered a season-ending foot injury.

Injuries haunted this Houston team, and even though Walker surprisingly returned in time for the NCAA Tournament it continued to feel as though the Cougars simply could not stay healthy. Few knew this better than senior forward J’Wan Roberts, who fought through a knee and hand injury simultaneously through the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments.

The Cougars were tested through and through this season, given no choice but to become one of the country’s toughest teams. That toughness stretched beyond just injuries in the Round of 32 against Texas A&M, where so many Cougars fouled out that senior guard Ryan Elvin had to enter the game in overtime to seal Houston’s ticket to the Sweet Sixteen.

But the Sweet Sixteen had a curveball unlike any other. Just 14 minutes into UH’s matchup with No. 4 Duke, Houston’s All-American senior guard Jamal Shead fell to the ground in pain, holding his ankle.

Shead would not return to the game, but the Cougars did not know that in the moment. UH was leading the Blue Devils when Shead exited to the locker room and his teammates felt confident that, despite losing their floor general, they could keep things going their way.

“We went into halftime down by one,” Cryer said. “We felt like it was only a matter of hitting some shots because we were playing great defense. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that we could win the game.”

It became about belief for Houston, something head coach Kelvin Sampson said came naturally to this group of players.

“That was a really tough locker room at halftime,” Sampson said. “It didn’t take a lot to convince those kids that we could still win. That’s just kind of what we’ve done all year.”

Houston’s many tests this year prepared them for virtually any obstacle, any loss. Those tests also instilled belief in the group, the unquestionable first step in overcoming those obstacles.

But losing Jamal Shead was not just any obstacle. For Houston, it was the nightmare scenario.

“I doubt any team in America has a player, except maybe (Zach) Edey from Purdue, means as much to their team as Jamal means to this team,” Sampson said. “We don’t have another Jamal.”

Senior guard Mylik Wilson did his best to fill in as UH’s point guard in Shead’s absence, but Houston struggled to string together any sort of momentum on the offensive end. Senior guard LJ Cryer picked up the bulk of the scoring load, but the group had lost the man crowned as “the heart of the team” by its head coach.

The Cougars’ belief in themselves, their coach and one another kept them competing until the very last possession. When sophomore guard Emanuel Sharp’s shot fell no good, it was shock, it was heartbreak and it was pain that permeated from the expressions on UH’s faces.

“They fought,” Shead said of his teammates. “That’s a really good team on the other side. We were down three crucial guys, myself included. They fought, bro.”

Sampson categorized the ending as unfair, saying it did not “feel like a fair fight.” In the locker room there was no bitterness between these teammates. There was love, appreciation and disbelief that a squad so bonded to one another had its season end in such a way.

“I think we played good tonight and we had a chance to win at the end,” Wilson said. “We made a few mistakes but I felt good with our overall performance … I feel like if we had Jamal we definitely would have been going to the Final Four.”

The headlines will be about Shead’s injury, and this year’s Houston team will forever be tied to “what-ifs” about what could have been had the All-American never landed awkwardly on his ankle that night in Dallas. As Sampson has said, Shead was the heart of the Houston Cougars.

Beyond the heart though, there are more parts that make someone human. Namely there is the soul, and as the Cougars’ vocal leader was forced to watch from the bench, it was Houston’s soul that rose to the occasion.

“Jamal gets a lot of the credit as he should,” Sampson said on Thursday. “But J’Wan (Roberts) doesn’t get near enough credit. J’Wan is also a leader.”

Sampson’s words on the eve of Friday’s game come across prophetic in retrospect. When Cryer’s shooting alone was not enough to keep Houston in the game, Roberts took to working the paint with aggression and physicality. A 51% free throw shooter on the year, Roberts was never the one the Cougars would ideally want at the line, but the forward earned the “soul” moniker and proved why Sampson views him in such high regard.

“He stepped up to the plate,” Shead said. “He did what he was supposed to do, and he almost brought it home for us. It sucks. That guy works. He fought through injuries all year. We were so close.”

For Roberts, emotions ran high in the locker room. The forward sat hunched at his locker, jersey over his head, overcome with emotion and consoled by his teammates for several minutes before speaking to the media.

“We started this back in June,” Roberts said. “I love every single one of them. They’re like brothers to me. We never go a day without talking to each other.”

Other Cougars had similar words.

“This group of dudes that I’ve been with for a while like J’Wan and Jamal,” Elvin said. “They helped me grow as a person. They were with me through my toughest times … they’ve showed so much love to me, and are people I can call my brothers forever.”

Houston is an experienced team. It is unlikely many of its core pieces will be back in the fall even with extra years of eligibility. These Cougars will go in many separate directions, but it is the brotherhood built between the players that pulled Houston just moments away from the Elite Eight against all odds, fighting until the bitter, bitter end.

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“Heart, soul and brotherhood: Cougars process tourney exit” was originally posted on The Cougar

The Houston Cougars advanced to the NCAA tournament Round of 32 with a dominant win over the Longwood Lancers on Friday night. | Anh Le/The Cougar

In a first weekend full of madness and surprises across the NCAA men’s tournament, the Houston Cougars defended their No. 1 seed status in commanding fashion against the Longwood Lancers to advance ahead to the Round of 32.

UH dominated the scoresheet early. The Cougars scored the game’s first ten points largely on the back of senior guard LJ Cryer, who drained two three-pointers on the way to Houston setting the tone of the game.

Shooting struggles from the Cougars early gave the Lancers the chance to keep the game from getting away from them.

After missing nine games due to injury, junior guard Ramon Walker Jr returned to the court for Houston in the first half after an initial expectation of being out for the remainder of the season.

As the first period rounded the halfway mark Houston finally found its rhythm offensively, turning up the heat largely on the back of efficient stretches from Cryer and senior guard Damian Dunn.

The Cougars rounded out the half on a smothering 16-3 run, leaving Longwood in the dust and entering the break with a 43-16 lead.

Houston’s halftime lead came out to be the second-largest halftime lead of the tournament up until that point, second only to UConn’s 52-19 halftime lead over Stetson earlier in the day.

Cryer was UH’s offensive leader in the first half, tallying 13 points on an efficient 50% clip from the field. Senior guard Jamal Shead dished out five assists in the half.

The Cougar’s didn’t let off the gas in the second half as sophomore guard Emanuel Sharp drained a three-pointer just moments into the period to make the UH lead expand to 30 points.

Longwood continued to struggle finding open space to shoot, tallying a measly 27% field goal clip with 13 minutes left to play.

Houston’s lead would grow as large as 41 points down the final stretch of the matchup. With the win inevitable, head coach Kelvin Sampson opted to limit senior forward J’Wan Roberts, who has lingering injuries in his knee and hand, to under 20 minutes.

As several Cougars starters were rested for much of the second half, it was Sharp and Dunn who packed on points for Houston in the period, scoring 13 and 11 point respectively.

At the final buzzer Houston had convincingly advanced to the Round of 32 with an 86-46 victory in the books.

Dunn tallied 17 points total across both periods, good for one of his best performances as a Houston Cougar. His point total tied with Cryer for a team-high on the night, while Shead put together a signature well-rounded performance of 11 points and nine assists.

The Houston defense, among the best in the country all year, put together another smothering performance with 12 steals and five blocks on the evening.

Houston now looks ahead to a daunting rematch in the Round of 32 against the Texas A&M Aggies on Sunday. The Cougars last played the Aggies earlier this season in Toyota Center in a thriller that saw junior Aggies guard Wade Taylor IV drop 34 points on Houston and nearly orchestrate a stunning comeback victory for Texas A&M.

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“Cougars open NCAA tourney with dominant win over Longwood” was originally posted on The Cougar

The Cougars begin their 2024 NCAA tournament run as a 1-seed, slated to take on the Longwood Lancers on Friday evening. | Anh Le/The Cougar

For the second consecutive season, the Houston Cougars enter the NCAA Tournament as one of four top seeds. The Cougars will tip off their 2024 March Madness run with a Round of 64 dance against the 16-seeded Longwood Lancers on Friday.

Houston was universally expected to make the tournament in what was destined to be the program’s sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. UH was also widely touted as a near-lock for a top seed, a prediction that also proved true as Houston joined UConn, North Carolina and Purdue at the top of one of the four tournament regions. In the end, Houston was the No. 2 overall seed among the four, sitting only below UConn.

Many expected Iowa State, who bested Houston comfortably for the Big 12 Championship on Saturday, to leap into one of the top seed positions but the Cyclones settled for a 2-seed place in the East bracket.

UH’s Round of 64 opponent enters as Big South Conference champions.

“Longwood is a champion, that’s what I know about them,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said on Sunday afternoon. “They just won a championship.”

Houston and Longwood face off in Memphis, Tennessee on Friday evening. If the Cougars win, an intriguing matchup awaits with the winner between 8-seeded Nebraska and 9-seeded Texas A&M.

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“Cougars earn top seed in NCAA tourney” was originally posted on The Cougar

Senior guard Jamal Shead and head coach Kelvin Sampson headlined a long list of Houston Cougars awarded with All-Big 12 distinctions today. | Anh Le/The Cougar

Houston Cougars senior guard Jamal Shead and head coach Kelvin Sampson dominated the 2023-24 edition of the All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Awards, which were released today.

Shead was recognized as the best player in the conference this season, winning the Big 12 Player of the Year Award. The star guard was also named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, making history as the first player to ever win both awards in the same season.

Houston’s floor general also picked up a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 First Team alongside Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey, Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr., and Texas’ Dylan Disu. Shead’s name also graced the All-Big 12 Defensive First Team.

Shead has averaged 13.2 points, 6.2 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 0.5 blocks per game for the Cougars this season. In conference play Shead has bumped up his scoring average to 15.7 points per game.

In his tenth season with the Cougars, head coach Kelvin Sampson won the distinction of Big 12 Coach of the Year. It is Sampson’s first time winning the award though the coach won the American Athletic Conference rendition of the award on four occasions, including the last two seasons.

Other awardees from the No. 1-ranked Cougars include senior guard LJ Cryer,  senior forward J’Wan Roberts and freshman forward Joseph Tugler  while junior forward Ja’Vier Francis and sophomore guard Emanuel Sharp were named All-Big 12 Team Honorable Mentions.

The Cougars concluded their 2023-24 regular season on Saturday night with a dominant senior night victory over No. 14 Kansas that sealed the team as the lone holders of the Big 12 Conference regular season title, poised to enter the conference tournament as the country’s top-ranked team. Houston will begin its tourney run on Thursday afternoon in Kansas City, Missouri.

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“Jamal Shead and Kelvin Sampson headline All-Big 12 Awards” was originally posted on The Cougar

Houston’s 2023-24 season came to a close in the Cougars’ Big 12 Tournament First Round loss to Texas Tech on Thursday night. | Oscar Herrera/The Cougar

The Houston women’s basketball team faced an early end to its Big 12 tournament run and 2023-24 season following a 74-60 loss to Texas Tech on Thursday.

Neither team found rhythm in the first period, with Houston shooting just 27% from the field and the Red Raiders an only marginally better 29% in the quarter en route to an 11-11 stalemate entering the period break.

Texas Tech was the team to build the first formidable lead of the Big 12 Tournament First Round matchup, coming out of the gate in the second period with an 8-0 run to lead 19-11.

The Cougars followed with a run of their own, scoring seven unanswered to pull within one point before Texas Tech seized control once again. The pace of the matchup evened out in the final minutes of the half and UH assured the game was relatively close entering halftime.

With a 30-24 lead entering the third Texas Tech pressed on the gas, pushing its lead to double-digits within the early minutes of the quarter while Houston struggled to keep up.

The Red Raiders only got stronger in what became a lopsided and deciding period of competition, at one point leading by a game-high 20 point margin before senior guard Laila Blair and junior forward Maliyah Johnson brought it down to 14 at the third period whistle.

Blair and Johnson’s contributions carried over into fourth period momentum. UH worked on breaking down the double-digit Texas Tech lead, propelled by six points from senior forward Peyton McFarland and a pair of three-pointers from her fellow teammates. As McFarland’s third layup of the period fell, Houston trailed by just six points.

Similarly to the previous quarter though, the Red Raiders found their shot at the right time as UH went cold at the wrong time. Blair would be the lone scorer for Houston in what became the final six minutes of UH’s season whereas Texas Tech put its stamp on the tournament matchup by once again moving ahead by double-digits before the final buzzer.

Handed a 74-60 loss, the Cougars’ season comes to an early close. In its inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference UH went 14-16, finishing 5-13 in the conference.

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“UH women’s basketball exits Big 12 tourney with Texas Tech loss” was originally posted on The Cougar

The Cougars finished in second place in their first appearance at the Big 12 Conference Championships, only behind Texas and narrowly beating out TCU. | Dan Friend/Big 12 Conference

The Houston swimming and diving team earned a second place finish over five days at the Big 12 Conference Championships last week.

UH’s first top three finish of the championships came on day two when a team composed of fifth year Chase Farris, freshman Michelle McLeod and senior Hedda Grelz earned third in the team diving contest.

In the second day’s B-Finals, freshman Nora Hetyei finished in first place in the 200-yard medley.

In third place entering the third day of competitions, Houston turned up the heat. Notably, sophomore Noor El Gendy put together a sixth place finish in the 100-yard butterfly.

With a collection of other top ten finishes across day three, Houston entered the fourth day comfortably in second place.

Day four saw McLeod grab her second top three finish of the contest and first individual top three finish with her third place platform diving performance.

Houston continued to compile top ten finishes on day five, with notable showings on the final day coming from sophomore Virag Peter, junior Henrietta Fangli and fifth year Chase Farris in their respective contests.

Having been in the top three for the bulk of the five-day event, Houston finished its first-ever appearance at the Big 12 Championships as runners-up to a comfortably victorious Texas group.

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“UH swim & dive earns second place at Big 12 Championships” was originally posted on The Cougar

The Houston Cougars have risen to the No. 1 spot in AP’s Division 1 men’s basketball rankings in the publication’s Week 16 poll | Anh Le/The Cougar

The Houston Cougars have risen to the No. 1 spot in AP’s Division 1 men’s basketball rankings in the publication’s Week 16 poll. They received 53 of 62 first-place votes.

UH was widely expected to occupy the spot after statement wins last week against then-No. 6 Iowa State and then-No. 11 Baylor. Connecticut, the No. 1-ranked program in the country for the previous six weeks, lost to then-No. 15 Creighton by nearly 20 points early last week to further set up Houston’s ascent.

While the top spot is new to this year’s Houston squad, the Cougars grew familiar with the title of the best team in the country last season. The 2022-23 Houston Cougars occupied the No. 1 rank for seven of the AP poll’s 18 weeks, with its November 28, 2022 appearance in the spot marking a first for UH in nearly 40 years.

Houston will aim to defend its ranking over the next two weeks as the squad plays its final four regular season games before traveling to Kansas City, Missouri to compete for the Big 12 Conference throne.

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“Cougars top AP rankings for first time this season” was originally posted on The Cougar

No. 2 Houston kept No. 6 Iowa State at an arms length from the opening tip on the back of outstanding performances from senior guard Jamal Shead and sophomore guard Emanuel Sharp. | Anh Le/The Cougar

With an assist from a raucous Fertitta Center crowd, the No. 2 Houston Cougars outmuscled No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night, getting revenge on the Cyclones for handing the high-flying team one of its just three losses on the season last month.

The game was highly-anticipated, pitting the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Big 12 against one another with the top of the conference on the line.

The Cougars got out to the early lead by scoring the game’s first five points.

As Houston expanded its lead to 9-2 Iowa State looked rattled by the UH defense and volume in the arena. The Cyclones began their night shooting just 1 for 7 from the field before knocking down a layup under the basket to improve their numbers.

Sophomore guard Emanuel Sharp was the driving force behind most of UH’s early scoring. After drawing a foul behind the arc, Sharp hit two of his three free throws to put Houston up by double digits, having scored nine of UH’s first 15 points.

While Sharp’s scoring pulled the Cougars ahead on the offensive end, UH’s defensive success continued well into the half. With the score at 17-6, Iowa State had gone 0 for 6 from behind the arc, shooting an only marginally better 3 for 15 from the field overall.

With under ten minutes left in the first period, the Cyclones found some offensive juice, finally founding a shot behind the arc and drawing a foul for their first free throw of the night.

The Cyclones kept fighting into the final minutes, clawing their way back to an arm’s length at 28-23 at the halftime buzzer.

Both squads struggled from the field, with the Cyclones shooting 33 percent and Houston hitting just 30 percent of its field goals in the half. Where shooting did not separate the teams, it was the free throw differential that kept Houston in front. The Cougars shot 10 for 15 on field goals in the half while Iowa State shot just three, making all of them.

Just as things went after the opening tip, an early stalemate gave way to a huge momentum swing toward UH. After a miraculous deep three-pointer from the Cyclones, senior guard Jamal Shead lobbed a pass up to junior forward Ja’Vier Francis who threw down a spectacular dunk to move the Cougars ahead by eight points.

Shortly thereafter, a three from the corner from Sharp pushed Houston ahead by double-digits once again.

Iowa State began to find its shot, capitalizing on a pair of missed opportunities from Houston with two fastbreak three-pointers, making the score 46-41.

With under ten minutes left to play the free throw advantage flipped sharply in favor of the Cyclones, helping Iowa State pull to within four points of the Cougars.

Neither team could pull away. The Cyclones fought to break UH’s lead but could not. At the same time, UH struggled to open its advantage much further as the game got increasingly physical with each passing minute.

Three minutes were left on the clock and Houston was ahead by eight when the dagger arrived, a corner three-pointer from senior guard Mylik Wilson to make the lead 66-55.

The final minutes ticked down with Houston fending off any Iowa State comeback hopes. The final scoreline read 73-65.

Houston was propelled by the scoring performances of Jamal Shead and Emanuel Sharp, who scored 26 and 20 points respectively. Both guards showed up on the defense end as well as Sharp forced four steals and Shead forced three.

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“No. 2 Cougars take down No. 6 Iowa State to go atop Big 12” was originally posted on The Cougar

Gerald Sastra/The Cougar

The UH men’s golf team competed across the Houston Classic and Bentwater Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday to continue its spring season.

Junior Jacob Borow posted Houston’s best result across the pair of competitions, tying for eighth at the Houston Classic following Tuesday’s Final Round.

Redshirt sophomores Hudson Weibel and Bryant Hiseky II recorded UH’s two other top 20 finishes at the Houston Classic.

The Cougars were led by freshmen Grant Doggett and Chi Chun Chen at the Bentwater Intercollegiate. The pair placed tied for 17th and 20th place, respectively.

Houston continues its season at the Border Olympics Feb. 19 and 20 in Laredo, Texas.

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“UH men’s golf continues season at pair of Houston-area contests” was originally posted on The Cougar

Star UH basketball guard Laila Blair participated in a live set at the Coog Radio Pop-Up in November as part of a weekly radio show she co-hosts called “Coogs @ Nite.” | Leydi Gonzalez/Coog Radio

It is tough to imagine UH women’s hoops without thinking of Laila Blair. The senior guard has been the team’s leading scorer since her freshman season. She became a team captain as a sophomore. She was the first player in program history to make the American All-Conference first team. In many ways, Blair’s name has become synonymous with the Houston women’s basketball program over the last four years.

Yet Blair wants the world to know there is more to Laila than the buckets she gets on the court.

When she finds the time, such as during the winter break, Blair takes the chance to do some reading. It is a hobby she says she did not pick up until college, having only been consistent with reading the Bible growing up. While the Bible remains her all-time favorite book, road trips and airport visits for away games during the season have given her the chance to become a more consistent reader.

“I just finished this book called Moving in the Apostolic,” Blair said. “It’s a Biblical book, it talks about advancing the Kingdom of God and allowing heaven to touch Earth.”

If books are a more recent interest of Blair’s, movies are a story of lifetime enjoyment.

“I’ve always been a big movie fanatic,” Blair said. “My favorite movie genre is horror.”

An avid horror movie fan, Blair is a longtime fan of the works of Stephen King. In particular, she says “The Stand” is her favorite Stephen King adaptation, though insists the 1994 version is much better than the 2020 remake.

Blair’s love for movies would not translate into personal creativity until high school. In her sophomore year, Blair discovered a love for graphic design after taking a digital art course that introduced her to photography and the ins and outs of Adobe Photoshop. As she got later in her high school career and grew into one of the top 30 point guards in her class, she became immersed in filmmaking by editing her own highlight tapes.

“In my senior year and going into college… I started making highlight videos of me playing,” Blair said. “I really found a lot of joy in just making edits… then it turned into ‘I want to shoot a movie.’”

Once she committed to the University of Houston for basketball, Blair decided to major in media production to pursue her filmmaking dreams. Some of her films have been casual, such as gameday vlogs on her YouTube channel. Other more elaborate works include her current project, a short film telling the life story of Richard, the beloved cashier at the Student Center South market.

“It was just a thought at first… Richard is an extraordinary dude so it’s easy to tell his story,” Blair said. “It was fun and it inspired me to do more. This is just the beginning of what I’ll do in the film world.”

Blair’s documentary on Richard, to be called “Richard’s Best” when it is eventually released, is just one piece of the UH star’s journey as an ambitious creative-minded person.

In the fall, she joined Coog Radio as one of the co-hosts of a weekly radio show called “Coogs @ Nite.” The show is lifestyle-focused, and Blair says what started as simply a desire to get more involved on campus became a release from the basketball grind.

“To meet those girls that are part of Coogs @ Nite, to spend time with them and laugh with them and talk with them,” Blair said. “It was an outlet to take myself outside of just talking about basketball, which I love… but you do need other outlets.”

The radio show also gave Blair the opportunity to meet new people and make positive connections with others, something she values highly. Her filmmaking dreams make this clear – while her favorite films to watch may be “The Stand” or “It”, Blair’s own work instead tells the stories of people who have left positive impressions on her life such as Richard.

Above all, Blair dreams of one day making a film telling the life story of her late grandmother.

“My grandmother is a big reason why I’m so passionate about my faith,” Blair said. “I just want to honor her life. She was one of those people behind the scenes…she didn’t have a lot of money, wasn’t into materialistic things. Everything about her was just about being a light.”

While she concedes there was a time when she felt basketball defined her as a person, Blair shows pride in the game now being just one piece of a larger story.

“That is really my ‘why’ more than anything,” Blair said. “I want people to see me as a light for Christ first and a God-fearing woman.”

“If that is shown through basketball, or through film or through art, whatever I do… I just want to use my platform to be a light.”

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“In her senior year, Laila Blair finds escape through art” was originally posted on The Cougar