HOUSTON — Fans of the University of Houston’s Men’s Basketball Team are finalizing their plans to watch the Cougars take on the Villanova Wildcats during the next round of the NCAA tournament.
Tip-off is 5:09 p.m. Saturday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
UH is expecting a big show of support in San Antonio and at the university’s watch party in downtown Houston along Avenida Houston.
Support for the Cougars is high this season but that hasn’t always been the case.
In fact, in 2016, head coach Kelvin Sampson was two years into coaching and had to walk around the campus in Houston’s Third Ward with a bullhorn and the UH Cougar Band to encourage students to come to the games.
He personally invites students to the 2016 season home opener.
“You’re coming, right,” asked Sampson in a video shared by UH with KHOU 11.
In 2016 not all fans saw Sampson’s bigger picture.
A sales pitch shared with students inside the university’s student union was needed six years ago.
"Hey listen, our first home basketball game tomorrow night at 7 o’clock,” said Sampson before students clapped and cheered.
Just two years after those fist bumps and the bullhorn, UH would enter the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
In 2019, the UH Men’s Basketball team punched a ticket to the Sweet Sixteen.
In 2021, the Cougars danced their way into the Final Four.
In 2022, they’re still in it to win it.
“They be hustling, hustling, hustling,” said UH student Eric Moore. “That’s all I can say I give them a five-star rating on their hustling.”
UH senior Tony Trabulsi said, “They’re going all the way to the final. And they’re going to win the final.”
The Coogs have to first win on Saturday in order to advance.
“If they win tomorrow, I’m just canceling all plans and we’re going to New Orleans,” said UH senior Brody Tarpey.
The Houston Cougars remind us that some of the best things in life come with time.
Six years ago, Sampson began laying the groundwork. His team began putting in the hours.
“Kelvin Sampson is probably one of the best coaches in the country,” said Tarpey. “What he’s done with the team has been fantastic.”
When UH advanced to the Sweet Sixteen on Sunday, Sampson’s shirt came off as he partied with his team in the locker room. It’s a victory dance on repeat as Kelvin Sampson was named the American Athletic Conference’s ‘Coach of the Year’ earlier this month for the third time.
“We need to get our fans out to support our guys,” said Sampson during a press conference in San Antonio. “We’ve had to do the marketing."
“I want our kids to feel special. But if that’s going to happen, we’re going to have to do it,” he said of his grassroots marketing campaign. “I want our fans to come out and support these young men. They work hard.”
Sampson and the UH Cougars Men’s Basketball Team have invested years of hard work that Houston can’t help but recognize and be proud of.
Come Saturday, at 5:09 p.m, Coog fan Devon Jordan plans to find a TV and stay in and watch the Coogs win.