2018–19 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 11 Houston	16	–	2	.889	33	–	4	.892
No. 22 Cincinnati †	14	–	4	.778	28	–	7	.800
Temple	13	–	5	.722	23	–	10	.697
UCF	13	–	5	.722	24	–	9	.727
Memphis	11	–	7	.611	22	–	14	.611
Wichita State	10	–	8	.556	22	–	15	.595
Tulsa	8	–	10	.444	18	–	14	.563
South Florida	8	–	10	.444	24	–	14	.632
UConn	6	–	12	.333	16	–	17	.485
SMU	6	–	12	.333	15	–	17	.469
East Carolina	3	–	15	.167	10	–	21	.323
Tulane	0	–	18	.000	4	–	27	.129

† 2019 AAC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2018–19 Houston Cougars men's basketball team will represent the University of Houston during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars will be led by fifth-year head coach Kelvin Sampson as members of the American Athletic Conference. They will play their home games at Fertitta Center which will reopen on December 1, 2018 after a $40 million upgrade. All other early season, non-conference games will be played at H&PE Arena while construction on Fertitta Center will be completed.

Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2017–18 season 27–8, 14–4 in AAC play to finish in a tie for second place. As the No. 3 seed in the AAC Tournament, they defeated UCF and Wichita State before losing to Cincinnati in the championship game. The Cougars received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed in the West region. They defeated San Diego State in the First Round before losing to eventual National Runner-up Michigan in the Second Round.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Mike Adewunmi	2	G	6'4"	210	Freshman	Mansfield, TX	Transferred to McLennan CC
Wes VanBeck	12	G	6'3"	195	Senior	Houston, TX	Walk-on; graduated
Nura Zanna	13	F	6'6"	240	RS Senior	Kaduna, Nigeria	Graduated
Devin Davis	15	F	6'6"	225	RS Senior	Indianapolis, IN	Graduated
Gabe Grant	20	F	6'4"	220	Junior	Chicago, IL	Transferred to Buffalo
Valentine Sangoyomi	31	C	6'8"	240	RS Junior	Lagos, Nigeria	Graduate transferred
Rob Gray	32	G	6'1"	185	RS Senior	Forest City, NC	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Landon Goesling	2	G	6'2"	175	Graduate Student	Bakersfield, CA	Transferred from St. Edward's. Will be eligible to play since Goesling graduated from St. Edward's.
Justin Gorham	4	F	6'7"	230	Junior	Baltimore, MD	Transferred from Towson. Under NCAA transfer rules, Gorham will have to sit out the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
DeJon Jarreau	13	F	6'5"	182	RS Sophomore	New Orleans, LA	Junior college transferred from Howard College. Spent freshman season at UMass before transferring to Howard College for his sophomore season where he did not play basketball.
Brison Gresham	55	F/C	6'9"	210	RS Sophomore	New Orleans, LA	Junior college transferred from Howard College. Spent freshman season at UMass before transferring to Howard College for his sophomore season where he did not play basketball.

2018 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Nate Hinton #24 SF	Gastonia, NC	Gaston Day School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	Sep 18, 2017
Nate Hinton #24 SF	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 82
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR
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: "Houston Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2017-09-18. "2018 Houston Basketball Commitment List". Scout.com. Retrieved 2017-09-18. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-09-18. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved 2017-09-18. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2017-09-18.

Roster

2018–19 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
C	1	Chris Harris Jr.	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	RS Jr	San Jacinto JC	Houston, Texas
G	2	Landon Goesling	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	GS	St. Edward's	Bakersfield, California
G	3	Armoni Brooks	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	McNeil High School	Round Rock, Texas
F	4	Justin Gorham	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Towson	Baltimore, Maryland
G	5	Corey Davis Jr.	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	San Jacinto JC	Lafayette, Louisiana
G	11	Nate Hinton	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Gaston Day School	Gastonia, North Carolina
G	13	DeJon Jarreau	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	RS So	UMass	New Orleans, Louisiana
G	15	Neil VanBeck (W)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Westside High School	Houston, Texas
F	23	Cedrick Alley Jr.	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	RS Fr	Klein Forest High School	Houston, Texas
F	24	Breaon Brady	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	Sr	Saddleback JC	Akron, Ohio
G	25	Galen Robinson Jr.	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Westbury Christian School	Houston, Texas
C	30	Caleb Broodo (W)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	RS Fr	Dow High School	Midland, Michigan
F	35	Fabian White Jr.	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	So	Atascocita High School	Atascocita, Texas
F/C	55	Brison Gresham	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	RS So	UMass	New Orleans, Louisiana

Head coach

Kelvin Sampson (UNC Pembroke)

Assistant coach(es)

Alvin Brooks (Lamar)
Kellen Sampson (Oklahoma)
Quannas White (Oklahoma)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 1, 2018* 7:00 pm	Dallas Baptist	W 89–60	–	27 – Davis	10 – Alley/Brooks	10 – Jarreau	H&PE Arena (1,000) Houston, TX
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Alabama A&M Men Against Breast Cancer Cup	W 101–54	1–0	24 – Brooks	7 – Hinton	9 – Robinson Jr.	H&PE Arena (3,725) Houston, TX
Nov 14, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Rice Men Against Breast Cancer Cup	W 79–68	2–0	20 – Brooks	8 – Gresham	6 – Davis, Robinson Jr.	H&PE Arena Houston, TX
Nov 19, 2018* 7:00 pm	Northwestern State Men Against Breast Cancer Cup	W 82-55	3-0	16 – Brooks	8 – 2 Tied	7 – Robinson Jr.	H&PE Arena (3,784) Houston, TX
Nov 24, 2018* TBA	at BYU Men Against Breast Cancer Cup						Marriott Center Provo, UT
Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm	Texas–Rio Grande Valley						H&PE Arena Houston, TX
Dec 1, 2018* 8:00 pm, ESPN2	Oregon						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Dec 4, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Lamar						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Dec 8, 2018* 3:00 pm, FSOK	at Oklahoma State						Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK
Dec 12, 2018* 8:00 pm, ESPN2	LSU						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Dec 16, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPNU	Saint Louis						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Dec 20, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Utah State						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Dec 23, 2018* TBA	Coppin State						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Dec 29, 2018* TBA, ESPN3	NJIT						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
AAC regular season
Jan 2, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Tulsa						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Jan 6, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPNews	Memphis						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Jan 9, 2019 6:30 pm, ESPNews	at Temple						Liacouras Center Philadelphia, PA
Jan 12, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN	Wichita State						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Jan 16, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN3	at SMU						Moody Coliseum Dallas, TX
Jan 19, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPNU	at South Florida						Yuengling Center Tampa, FL
Jan 23, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3	East Carolina						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Jan 27, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPNews	at Tulsa						Reynolds Center Tulsa, OK
Jan 31, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU	Temple						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Feb 7, 2019 6:00 pm, CBSSN	at UCF						CFE Arena Orlando, FL
Feb 10, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN	Cincinnati						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Feb 14, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN2	at Connecticut						XL Center Hartford, CT
Feb 17, 2019 1:00 pm, CBSSN	at Tulane						Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
Feb 23, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN2/ESPNU	South Florida						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Feb 27, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN3	at East Carolina						Williams Arena Greenville, NC
Mar 2, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU	UCF						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Mar 7, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN2/ESPNU	SMU						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
Mar 10, 2019 11:00 am, CBS	at Cincinnati						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
AAC Tournament
March 14–17, 2019	vs.						FedEx Forum Memphis, TN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Ranking movements
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP																				Not released
Coaches

References

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