Houston Men’s Basketball poised for major step forward

University of Houston sophomore guard Rob Gray Jr. led the team, and the American Athletic Conference, in scoring this season with 17.4 points per game. University of Houston sophomore guard Rob Gray Jr. led the team, and the American Athletic Conference, in scoring this season with 17.4 points per game. Photo: Tony Gaines Photo: Tony Gaines Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Houston Men’s Basketball poised for major step forward 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

HOUSTON - Sports fans, particularly in an age of burgeoning social media and news immediacy, have a myopic tendency to live in the moment, and the Houston Cougars Men’s Basketball team’s two recent moments, an upset loss against Tulane in the American Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals, followed by a first-round NIT loss to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, were not positive.

After finishing out the 11 final regular season games with a 9-2 record, including quality wins against opponents like Cincinnati, Temple and Southern Methodist University, some pundits gave the Cougars a shot to win the AAC Tournament and eke their way into the NCAA Tournament, where - clearly - anything can happen.

But the Cougars finished 0-2 in single-elimination tournament games, leaving a bad taste in some fans’ mouths.

One thing that is easy to lose amidst the hot-takes and 140-character analyses is perspective. Consider the year before last, head coach Kelvin Sampson’s first year at the helm. Houston went 13-19, achieving only a 4-14 record in conference, after the top-rated players on the team, like TaShawn Thomas and Danuel House, fled to programs like Oklahoma or Texas A&M.

This season, Sampson’s first with his own recruits, including budding up-tempo freshman point guard Galen Robinson, Oregon transfer, junior guard Damyean Dotson, and sophomore scoring guard Rob Gray, Jr., the Cougars posted a 22-10 record, 12-6 in AAC play.

Gray, Jr. became the first Cougar to lead the conference in scoring - with 16.3 points per game in the regular season, edging out SMU’s Nic Moore (16.1) - since Aubrey Coleman led Conference USA, and the nation, in 2009-10. Gray, Jr. will return next season.

Dotson was the only player in the AAC to rank in the top-12 in both scoring and rebounding, making a reputation for himself as one of the most efficient two-way players in the conference. Dotson will return next season, with a key role as a senior.

Robinson, Jr. emerged as the starting point guard midway through the season, and ultimately put up triple-digit assists (110), and teammates and coaches report that he is a film-room devotee, a student of the game, and he will be back next season, to key the Cougars’ fast-paced attack.

Houston possessed the best scoring offense in the AAC this season, racking up 77.4 points per game. The 10-game regular season improvement the Cougars managed between last season and this season ranks 10th nationally, a testament to the kind of difference Sampson is capable of making, as he slowly but surely brings in his guys and puts them in positions to succeed.

Sampson suggested that Houston might have been a victim of its own late-season success, heading into the AAC Tournament, suggesting that it can be hard to overcome being hailed as great.

Houston Football head coach Tom Herman is combating the same problem in the offseason, forbidding players to wear Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl gear or in any way continue to revel or relive the major New Year’s Six Bowl victory over Florida State.

The hope and the expectation is that the two late-season failures will leave this team hungry. With no concrete laurels on which to rest, there is no reason this team should not be anxious to get back on the court and erase the memory of two consecutive one-and-done losses in postseason play.

The Cougars also signed an intriguing addition to the roster, 6’11” 250-lb Valentine Sangoyami out of Northern Oklahoma College, a much-needed infusion of size and strength in the post. McNeil High School scoring guard Armoni Brooks, ranked as the No. 11 player in the state of Texas by Rivals, signed with Houston for next season, proving that Cougars can draw top-rated talent from the state, which is imperative.

All indications are that Sampson is preparing to schedule a much tougher preseason for Houston, with the realistic, practical goal being to make the NCAA Tournament this time next year. That is a lofty goal for a program that has had virtually no meaningful, large-scale success since the Phi Slama Jama era, but with Sampson at the helm, and his chosen players beginning to fill the roster, there is reason to think the Cougars will be legitimate players in the postseason next year.