Best UH Sport to Watch Basketball
By Armando Yanez | Photos courtesy of The Cougar
men’s basketball TwatchheteamHouston was voted best sport to for Coogs Choose 2021.
The program just came off a 2021 NCAA Tournament Final Four appearance for the first time since the Phi Slama Jama teams that made it that far from 198284. Back when Kelvin Sampson took over as Houston’s head coach in 2014, such a deep run would’ve been a dream to think about with extremely low chances of happening. Since then, the men’s basketball team has gained massive attention from students and fans after developing and growing as a program while attracting and recruiting players such as Damyean Dotson, Armoni Brooks, Nate Hinton, Fabian White Jr., and Quentin Grimes. Over the last seven seasons, the popularity of the men’s basketball team among students has skyrocketed compared to
when Sampson first came to the program. “First of all it’s an honor,” Sampson said. “The most important entity for our program are the fans and the students. That’s why when I first got here, we used to go around recruiting students, and now that shows how far we’ve come from begging them to come to games to becoming the most popular sport.” Atascosita native and graduate student forward Fabian White jr., who arrived to the program in 2017, has been with the program the longest of any player on the roster and has seen the growth it has undergone first-hand. “You wouldn’t see a UH basketball T-shirt on anybody,” White Jr. said. “You wouldn’t see anybody at the games back when I first got here. Now all I see around UH and pretty much around Houston is UH basketball gear or they got the Jordan brand on. That’s all on coach Sampson
Student life
for coming here and turning this program around.”
Now heading into his final season of eligibility, White Jr. will be a crucial part of a team that has become a campus favorite and was voted the best to watch on campus. “That means we’ve come a long way,” White Jr. said. “When I got recruited we had empty seats at games and you could sit courtside if you wanted to. That just shows you how much the culture of our basketball team has affected this university, and we love the energy that the fans bring to this gym. We wouldn’t be where we are today without them.” Junior guard Marcus Sasser, who arrived to the program in 2019, played a key part in last year’s run to the Final Four. Sasser, as well as the whole team, contribute a lot of the team’s energy and motivation to the fans who come and support them on game days. “It means a lot to us,” Sasser said. “We really like the fans and love when they come to the games and support us. It gives us a little boost, and it’s really hard for us to be beat here [Fertitta Center], and I think they are a big part of that.” Sampson, who will try to lead this team to a national championship this season, appreciated the team’s recognition as the best sport to watch. “It’s awesome; good to hear, and I want to keep it that way.”
COOGLIFE // November 2021
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