2014–15 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

2014–15 Houston Cougars men's basketball

Conference	American Athletic Conference
2014–15 record	13–19 (4–14 The American)
Head coach	Kelvin Sampson (1st year)
Assistant coach	Alvin Brooks
Assistant coach	Talvin Hester
Assistant coach	Kellen Sampson
Home arena	Hofheinz Pavilion

2014–15 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
#18 SMU †	15	–	3	.833	27	–	7	.794
Tulsa	14	–	4	.778	23	–	11	.676
Temple	13	–	5	.722	26	–	11	.703
Cincinnati	13	–	5	.722	23	–	11	.676
Connecticut	10	–	8	.556	20	–	15	.571
Memphis	10	–	8	.556	18	–	14	.563
Tulane	6	–	12	.333	15	–	16	.484
East Carolina	6	–	12	.333	14	–	19	.424
UCF	5	–	13	.278	12	–	18	.400
Houston	4	–	14	.222	13	–	19	.406
South Florida	3	–	15	.167	9	–	23	.281

† The American Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 2014–15 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represents the University of Houston during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The season marks the first for the team under head coach Kelvin Sampson^[1] and second as members of the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars’ home arena is the on-campus Hofheinz Pavilion. They finished the season 13–19, 4–14 in conference play to finish in tenth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the The American Tournament where they lost to Tulsa.

Pre-season

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Morris, BrandonBrandon Morris	2	G	72 !6'0"	185	4 ! Senior	Alexandria, Louisiana	Graduated
Simmons, JaaronJaaron Simmons	3	G	73 !6'1"	175	1 ! Freshman	Dayton, Ohio	Requested release to move closer to home; transferred to Ohio^[2]
Jones, JimmyJimmy Jones	12	G	70 !5'10"	160	4 ! Senior	Plano, Texas	Graduated
Womack, TioneTione Womack	14	G	73 !6'1"	170	4 ! Senior	Baltimore, Maryland	Graduated
House, DanuelDanuel House	23	G	79 !6'7"	195	2 ! Sophomore	Sugar Land, Texas	Requested release after resignation of former head coach James Dickey; transferred to Texas A&M^[3]
Paye, LawrenceLawrence Paye	24	G	72 !6'0"	185	4 ! Senior	Houston, Texas	Graduated
Thomas, TaShawnTaShawn Thomas	35	F	80 !6'8"	215	3 ! Junior	Killeen, Texas	Requested release after resignation of former head coach James Dickey; transferred to Oklahoma^[4]
Izundu, ValentineValentine Izundu	45	C	82 !6'10"	215	2 ! Sophomore	Houston, Texas	Requested release after resignation of former head coach James Dickey; transferred to Washington St.^[5]
Richardson, J.J.J.J. Richardson	55	F	80 !6'8"	245	4 ! Senior	Missouri City, Texas	Graduated

Returnees

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Knowles, DanradDanrad Knowles	0	F	82 !6'10"	195	2 ! Sophomore	Nassau, Bahamas	Competed in 31 games as a freshman with 10 starts. Two-time American Rookie of the Week. Third on the team in rebounding. Averaged 7.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game on 47% shooting.
McLean, MikhailMikhail McLean	1	F	80 !6'8"	205	4 ! Senior	Nassau, Bahamas	Competed in 28 games as a junior with 16 starts. Averaged 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game on 49% shooting.
Barnes, LeRonLeRon Barnes	4	G	78 !6'6"	190	3 ! Junior	Stonewall, Louisiana	Competed in 30 games as a sophomore with 15 starts. Averaged 3.2 points and 2.5 rebounds on 39% shooting.
Rose, L.J.L.J. Rose	5	G	76 !6'4"	190	3 ! Junior	Houston, Texas	Competed in 28 games as a sophomore with 25 starts. Led the American Conference in assists at 5.5 per game. Finished 11th in the conference at 77.8% from the free throw line. Scored 8.5 points with 2.5 rebounds per game on 40% shooting.
Drexler, AdamAdam Drexler	20	F	77 !6'5"	205	3 ! Junior	Houston, Texas	Redshirted last season after transferring from Loyola Marymount.
Stiggers, JherrodJherrod Stiggers	21	G	77 !6'5"	210	3 ! Junior	Terrell, Texas	Competed in 33 games as a sophomore with 9 starts. Finished as the third leading scorer with 11.2 points per game. Ranked 3rd in the American Conference with 2.4 three-pointers per game. Also averaged 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game on 39% shooting.

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Johnson, RonnieRonnie Johnson		G	70 !5'10"	160	2 ! Sophomore	Indianapolis, Indiana	Transferred from Purdue; will sit out the 2014–15 season^[6]

Class of 2014 signees

Name	Home town	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Cavon Baker PG	Queens, NY	Lee College	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Apr 30, 2014
Cavon Baker PG	Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Egi Gjikondi PF	Boston, MA	San Jacinto College	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	May 14, 2014
Egi Gjikondi PF	Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Torian Graham SG	Marianna, FL	Chipola Junior College	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Apr 20, 2014
Torian Graham SG	Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Bertrand Nkali PF	Baytown, TX	Lee College	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	May 16, 2014
Bertrand Nkali PF	Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Devonta Pollard SF	De Kalb, MS	East Mississippi CC	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	May 21, 2014
Devonta Pollard SF	Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
J.C. Washington PF	Houston, TX	Yates HS	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Nov 22, 2013
J.C. Washington PF	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 73
Eric Weary SG	New Orleans, LA	Howard College	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Apr 21, 2014
Eric Weary SG	Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
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 29 May 2014. "2014 Houston Basketball Commitment List". Scout.com. Retrieved 29 May 2014. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 29 May 2014. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved 29 May 2014. "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 29 May 2014.

Injuries

In July, both LJ Rose and Mikhail McLean had foot surgery. Each is expected to need three or four months to recover. ^[7]

Schedule and results

On May 28, the American Athletic Conference announced the format and opponents for the 2014–15 conference schedule. Due to an odd number of conference members and maintaining an 18-game schedule, each team will play 8 opponents twice (home and away) and the remaining 2 opponents once (1 home, 1 away). UConn (home) and Temple (away) are the two teams the Cougars play just once this season.^[8] On July 18, the team announced that it will participate in the championship pairings of the 2014 Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic, alongside Boise State, Texas Tech, and Loyola–Chicago, to be held at the Orleans Arena. Two on-campus games will precede the Las Vegas-hosted games,^[9]one of which will be South Carolina State.^[10] In August, ESPN reported that Houston would visit Harvard on November 25.^[11] The remainder of the Cougars' schedule was announced by the American Athletic Conference on August 28.^[12]

Date Time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Exhibition
Nov 8* 12:00 pm	North Alabama	W 108–83	–	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
Regular Season
Nov 14* 7:00 pm	at Murray State	W 77–74	1–0	CFSB Center (5,056) Murray, KY
Nov 22* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Morgan State	W 72–57	2–0	Hofheinz Pavilion (3,058) Houston, TX
Nov 25* 6:00 pm	at Harvard	L 63–84	2–1	Lavietes Pavilion (1,423) Cambridge, MA
Dec 4* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Texas–Pan American	W 72–58	3–1	Hofheinz Pavilion (1,858) Houston, TX
Dec 6* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Abilene Christian	W 71–59	4–1	Hofheinz Pavilion (2,007) Houston, TX
Dec 16* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Houston Baptist	W 83–76	5–1	Hofheinz Pavilion (2,016) Houston, TX
Dec 17* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Arkansas–Pine Bluff Las Vegas Classic regional round	L 56–61	5–2	Hofheinz Pavilion (2,082) Houston, TX
Dec 20* 1:00 pm, ESPN3	South Carolina State Las Vegas Classic regional round	L 63–71	5–3	Hofheinz Pavilion (1,996) Houston, TX
Dec 22* 9:30pm	vs. Boise State Las Vegas Classic semifinals	L 73–75 ^OT	5–4	Orleans Arena (N/A) Paradise, NV
Dec 23* 8:00 pm, FS1	vs. Texas Tech Las Vegas Classic 3rd place game	W 82–69	6–4	Orleans Arena (N/A) Paradise, NV
Dec 28* 4:00 pm, ESPN3	Mississippi Valley State	W 80–53	7–4	Hofheinz Pavilion (2,147) Houston, TX
Dec 31 1:00 pm, ESPNU	at Memphis	L 54–73	7–5 (0–1)	FedEx Forum (13,415) Memphis, TN
Jan 4 1:00 pm, ESPNews	at Tulsa	L 54–72	7–6 (0–2)	Reynolds Center (4,171) Tulsa, OK
Jan 6 6:00 pm, ESPNews	UCF	L 78–79 ^OT	7–7 (0–3)	Hofheinz Pavilion (2,003) Houston, TX
Jan 11 3:00 pm, CBSSN	Memphis	L 44–62	7–8 (0–4)	Hofheinz Pavilion (2,697) Houston, TX
Jan 14 6:00 pm, ESPNU	at East Carolina	L 61–66	7–9 (0–5)	Minges Coliseum (4,368) Greenville, NC
Jan 17 11:00 am, ESPNews	Tulane	L 65–68	7–10 (0–6)	Hofheinz Pavilion (2,547) Houston, TX
Jan 21 6:00 pm, ESPNews	at Cincinnati	L 54–67	7–11 (0–7)	Fifth Third Arena (9,815) Cincinnati, OH
Jan 24 5:00 pm, CBSSN	at SMU	L 59–80	7–12 (0–8)	Moody Coliseum (7,094) Dallas, TX
Jan 28* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Rice	W 59–48	8–12	Hofheinz Pavilion (3,465) Houston, TX
Feb 1 2:00 pm, CBSSN	Connecticut	W 60–58	9–12 (1–8)	Hofheinz Pavilion (3,498) Houston, TX
Feb 5 6:00 pm, ESPNews	Tulsa	L 57–44	9–13 (1–9)	Hofheinz Pavilion (2,847) Houston, TX
Feb 12 8:00 pm, ESPNU	#25 SMU	L 69–75	9–14 (1–10)	Hofheinz Pavilion (3,315) Houston, TX
Feb 15 1:00 pm, ESPN3	at UCF	L 54–56	9–15 (1–11)	CFE Arena (4,269) Orlando, FL
Feb 17 6:00 pm, ESPNews	at South Florida	L 67–69	9–16 (1–12)	USF Sun Dome (3,128) Tampa, FL
Feb 21 8:30 pm, ESPNU	Cincinnati	L 53–63	9–17 (1–13)	Hofheinz Pavilion (3,562) Houston, TX
Feb 26 6:00 pm, CBSSN	at Temple	L 54–66	9–18 (1–14)	Liacouras Center (7,023) Philadelphia, PA
Mar 1 2:00 pm, ESPN3	South Florida	W 72–55	10–18 (2–14)	Hofheinz Pavilion (2,816) Houston, TX
Mar 4 7:00 pm, ESPNews	at Tulane	W 68-63 ^OT	11–18 (3–14)	Devlin Fieldhouse (2,041) New Orleans, LA
Mar 8 1:00 pm, ESPNews	East Carolina	W 72-54	12–18 (4–14)	Hofheinz Pavilion (2,879) Houston, TX
American Athletic Conference Tournament
Mar 12 5:00 PM, ESPNews	vs. Tulane First Round	W 66–60	13–18	XL Center Hartford, CT
Mar 13 7:00 PM, ESPNU	vs. Tulsa Quarterfinal	L 51–59	13–19	XL Center Hartford, CT
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

↑ Cougars hire Kelvin Sampson, ESPN.com, retrieved 29 May 2014
↑ Houston Freshman PG Jaaron Simmons Transfers To Ohio, SB Nation, retrieved 29 May 2014
↑ Former UH guard Danuel House transfers to A&M, Houston Chronicle, retrieved 1 June 2014
↑ Former UH basketball player Thomas heading to Oklahoma, Houston Chronicle, retrieved 29 May 2014
↑ Valentine Izundu granted release from UH basketball team, Houston Chronicle, retrieved 29 May 2014
↑ Purdue transfer Ronnie Johnson lands at Houston, CBS Sports, retrieved 29 May 2014
↑ Surgeries Not Expected to Make McLean, Rose Miss Any Games, Chron.com, retrieved 16 August 2014
↑ 2014-15 Men's Basketball Schedule Format Announced, TheAmerican.org, retrieved 29 May 2014
↑ Men's Basketball to Compete at Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic, UHCougars.com, retrieved 23 June 2014
↑ SC STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL RELEASES 2014-15 SCHEDULE, retrieved 16 August 2014
↑ Harvard Hoops Schedule in Focus, retrieved 16 August 2014
↑ American Athletic Conference Announces 2014-15 Men's Basketball Schedule, TheAmerican.org, retrieved 30 August 2014

External links

Official website

Houston Cougars men's basketball

Venues	Sam Houston Coliseum (select games; 1937–19??) Jeppesen Gymnasium (1946–1966) Delmar Fieldhouse (1966–1969) Hofheinz Pavilion (1969–present)

Rivalries	Rice

Culture & lore	History Shasta Phi Slama Jama Game of the Century "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston

People	Head coaches Retired numbers

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 1999–00 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

NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

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