Sampson convinces a group of students to cancel plans and come to the team’s home opener in 2016. | Reagan Earnst/The Cougar
In 2016, coach Kelvin Sampson walked around campus, megaphone in hand, pleading for students to fill empty seats at the basketball games. Today, those same seats are sold out weeks in advance.
“I’d go disrupt the student center, just begging people to come to the game,” Sampson said.
The early days in the American Athletic Conference
Sampson was hired as the head basketball coach of the University of Houston on April 2, 2014. “I’ve been lucky most of my career,” Sampson said. “Sometimes when opportunity meets luck, you can create some good things.”
In his first season, the Cougars finished with just a 13-19 record and managed only four conference wins. UH finished second-to-last in the conference, only ahead of South Florida.
The outcomes were drastically different in his following two seasons, with a 22-10 record in 2015 and 21-11 in 2016. These were the last double-digit loss seasons of his career.
From the 2017-18 season until Houston’s last year in the American Athletic Conference, Houston was always at or near the top of the conference and gained national recognition. In that span, the Cougars won four regular-season AAC championships along with two AAC Tournament championships. Houston also ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time since 1983 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament every season, including a trip to the Final Four in 2021.
To achieve such a remarkable stretch of consistent success and completely turn around a program that had been at the bottom of the standings, it took more than luck. Sampson’s complete remodel of the program’s identity and dedication to success is what led Houston basketball to where it is today.
“Houston needed me for sure, but I needed Houston too,” Samspon said. “I wanted something I could build from scratch.”
Big 12 breakthrough
It’s completely different from the early days in the AAC to now, where the Cougars’ basketball team consistently plays in sold-out arenas and is among the top-ranked basketball teams. The team has won back-to-back Big 12 regular-season titles, becoming the first newcomer to accomplish this feat since Idaho in 1921-23.
In Houston’s first two seasons in the Big 12, the Cougars have combined for an overall record of 67-10, going 26-4 in conference play. “I don’t know if I am surprised. I think I am more shocked. I thought it would take time to adjust to the caliber of the Big 12,” ESPN analyst Jay Williams said. “I think I’m more shocked that it translated so quickly to dominance. This is dominance.”
Houston’s successful basketball seasons have put the school on the map, not only improving the school’s sports programs but also the entire University.
“Joining the Big 12 conference marks a significant milestone for the University of Houston,” UH President Renu Khator said. “It will propel us to even greater heights in the classrooms and on the playing field.”
Academic recognition and student-athlete excellence
While the University of Houston officials cannot directly correlate an increase in applications to the success the basketball team has had over the years, they do understand that the attention the team receives can affect the numbers.
“It creates interest in the University”, UH executive director of admissions Mardell Maxwell said. “When our teams are having success, it elevates the brand in a way we can’t do in admissions.”
Since the move to the Big 12, Houston has been recently named a “best value college” by the Princeton Review. Houston also boasts one of the top nursing and entrepreneurship programs in the country, and their athletes achieved a record-setting GPA of a combined 3.24 in the fall of 2024 and are consistently pushed to succeed in the classroom.
“I am extremely proud of the dedication our student‑athletes have shown, balancing the demands of the classroom and on the field,” Assistant Athletics Director for Academic Services Tatjana Banjeglav said. “Their academic success is a testament to their hard work, discipline, and commitment to excellence both as students and athletes.”
Cultural shift and national spotlight
The exposure in the Big 12 is entirely different than the AAC: more nationally televised games, reignited rivalries with programs like Baylor, TCU and Kansas and a deeper sense of pride resonating throughout campus, sparked by the leaders of UH.
“It’s been a cultural transformation, and what’s going on in athletics can be seen in so many parts of the University,” Khator said. “It’s about the culture of being hungry, wanting excellence, whether it’s on the court, in the classroom, or in a research lab.”
Financial growth and facility expansion
Financially, the conference jump has been game-changing. Revenue shares have soared from around $7 million in the American Athletic Conference to over $40 million in the Big 12.
This economic boost has been matched by the results of the Houston Rise fundraising campaign, led by Khator and former athletics director Chris Pezman, which raised over $50 million to enhance the university’s athletic infrastructure.
Major renovation projects are underway at UH, including the recent completion of the $130 million Memorial Hermann Football Operations Center, upgrades to TDECU Stadium, soon to be rebranded as Space City Financial Stadium and continued enhancements to the Fertitta Center.
Football momentum and leadership impact
Football, under second-year head coach Willie Fritz, is following suit. Fritz has placed a spotlight on facilities during recruiting visits. “New recruits see it every single day, and it’s going to be one of the top facilities in the nation when it’s all completed,” Fritz said.
The Cougars have already improved in the Big 12 Conference since Fritz joined the staff in the 2024 season, and he has achieved a trio of upset wins over Utah, TCU and Kansas State.
Houston gained national attention in the offseason by signing Conner Weigman, who was a top transfer quarterback in the portal. The Cougars also acquired standout running back Dean Conner from their rival, the Rice Owls.
The Cougars stayed aggressive in this year’s portal cycle by landing 30 transfers, completely reloading for the upcoming season.
Fritz and staff are also hard at work on the 2026 high school recruiting class, where the Cougars rank in the top 40 and fifth in the Big 12.
The class is highlighted by quarterback Keisean Henderson, who is the No. 2 overall recruit in the country, and the highest ever recruit in Houston football history since Ed Oliver, a top defensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills.
“We are going to recruit the heck out of the state of Texas,” Fritz said. “The best football in the country is played in this state.”
Fritz is sticking to that same game plan, as 13 out of 16 overall recruits in the 2026 class are from Texas and the other three are from Louisiana.
“We’ve done a super job with our high school class last year and we are going to do a great job with the upcoming 2026 class,” Fritz said.
Continuing the culture
New athletic director Eddie Nuñez is also turning heads with his fan-first approach. He’s continuing what Sampson started by rallying students and fans to pack the stands and elevate the in-game experience.
“Make it a problem for me at the Fertitta Center,” Nuñez said. “If you don’t have a ticket, show up anyway and they’ll find a way to get you in.”
Fan growth and ticketing success
In Houston’s final year in the AAC in the 2022-2023 season, Houston men’s basketball home attendance averaged 7,450 fans per game and totaled 134,093 on the season. After two seasons in the Big 12, there was a significant increase in support. In the 2024-2025 season, the total average attendance in all games was 8,355 fans per game compared to the 8,054 average in the final year of the AAC.
Houston football also saw the nation’s second-largest attendance increase, plus 10,626, and the most significant increase by percentage, 45.3%, directly due to joining the Big 12 Conference and playing more notable non-conference games.
“The vision is to make UH athletics one of the best in the country, and it’s going to take everyone’s support. This is going to be a shared vision, a shared success story,” Nuñez said.
Full-circle transformation
Once, a coach roamed campus with a megaphone, begging students to attend home games. Now, the University of Houston has completed a full-circle transformation, one that began with dedication and hard work and has now flourished into a sports program that competes in one of the best conferences while securing its place as a top-tier athletic and academic institution.
“I think there is a parallel between life and the game of bridge,” Khator said. “What it taught me was not to complain about the hand that I have been dealt with, whether it’s in life or the game. Just play your game.”