2014–15 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 2014–15 Houston Cougars Houston Cougars logo.svg 150 American Athletic Conference The American 13–19 4–14 Kelvin Sampson 1st Alvin Brooks Talvin Hester Kellen Sampson Hofheinz Pavilion The 2014–15 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It was their first season under head coach Kelvin SampsonCougars hire Kelvin Sampson, ESPN.com, retrieved 29 May 2014 and second as members of the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars’ home arena was the on-campus Hofheinz Pavilion. Their record was 13–19, and 4–14 in conference play to finish in tenth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2015 American Conference tournament, where they lost to Tulsa. Pre-season Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Brandon Morris 1 2 G 72 6'0" 185 4 Senior Alexandria, Louisiana Graduated Jaaron Simmons 3 G 73 6'1" 175 1 Freshman Dayton, Ohio Requested release to move closer to home; transferred to OhioHouston Freshman PG Jaaron Simmons Transfers To Ohio, SB Nation, retrieved 29 May 2014 Jimmy Jones 1 12 G 70 5'10" 160 4 Senior Plano, Texas Graduated Tione Womack 1 14 G 73 6'1" 170 4 Senior Baltimore, Maryland Graduated Danuel 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&MFormer UH guard Danuel House transfers to A&M, Houston Chronicle, retrieved 1 June 2014 Lawrence Paye 1 24 G 72 6'0" 185 4 Senior Houston, Texas Graduated TaShawn Thomas 35 F 80 6'8" 215 3 Junior Killeen, Texas Requested release after resignation of former head coach James Dickey; transferred to OklahomaFormer UH basketball player Thomas heading to Oklahoma, Houston Chronicle, retrieved 29 May 2014 Valentine Izundu 1 45 C 82 6'10" 215 2 Sophomore Houston, Texas Requested release after resignation of former head coach James Dickey; transferred to Washington St.Valentine Izundu granted release from UH basketball team, Houston Chronicle, retrieved 29 May 2014 J.J. Richardson 1 55 F 80 6'8" 245 4 Senior Missouri City, Texas Graduated Returnees Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Danrad Knowles 1 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. Mikhail McLean 1 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. LeRon Barnes 1 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. L.J. Rose 1 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. Adam Drexler 1 20 F 77 6'5" 205 3 Junior Houston, Texas Redshirted last season after transferring from Loyola Marymount. Jherrod Stiggers 1 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 Ronnie Johnson G 70 5'10" 160 2 Sophomore Indianapolis, Indiana Transferred from Purdue; will sit out the 2014–15 seasonPurdue transfer Ronnie Johnson lands at Houston, CBS Sports, retrieved 29 May 2014 Class of 2014 signees no no 2014 Cavon Baker PG Queens, NY Lee College 6 2 185 04/30/2014 NR NR NR Egi Gjikondi PF Boston, MA San Jacinto College 6 8 220 05/14/14 NR NR NR Torian Graham SG Marianna, FL Chipola Junior College 6 4 200 04/20/14 NR NR NR Bertrand Nkali PF Baytown, TX Lee College 6 9 220 05/16/14 NR NR NR Devonta Pollard SF De Kalb, MS East Mississippi CC 6 8 215 05/21/14 NR NR NR J.C. Washington PF Houston, TX Yates HS 6 6 210 11/22/13 3 3 73 Eric Weary SG New Orleans, LA Howard College 6 5 205 04/21/14 NR NR NR 2014 Houston Basketball Commitment List 2014 Houston Basketball Commitment List ESPN houston 215 248 NR NR NR 29 May 2014 yes Injuries In July, both LJ Rose and Mikhail McLean had foot surgery. Each needed three to four months to recover.Surgeries Not Expected to Make McLean, Rose Miss Any Games, Chron.com, retrieved 16 August 2014 Roster 2014 Houston Cougars y Danrad Knowles 0 F 6 10 190 SO y Nassau, Bahamas Mikhail McLean 1 F 6 6 210 SR Nassau, Bahamas Cavon Baker 3 G 6 1 175 JR Queens, NY LeRon Barnes 4 G 6 5 195 JR y Stonewall, LA L. J. Rose 5 G 6 3 200 JR Houston, TX J.C. Washington 11 F 6 6 225 FR Houston, TX Wes VanBeck y 12 G 6 2 180 FR Houston, TX W Bertrand Nkali 13 F 6 8 225 SO y Bertoua, Cameroon Ronnie Johnson y 3 G 6 0 180 SO y Indianapolis, IN Adam Drexler 20 F 6 5 205 JR Houston, TX W Jherrod Stiggers 21 G 6 4 215 JR Terrell, TX Eric Weary Jr. 23 G 6 4 210 JR New Orleans, LA Devonta Pollard y 24 F 6 8 200 JR Porterville, MS Kelvin Sampson (UNC Pembroke) Alvin Brooks (Lamar) Talvin Hester (Texas Wesleyan) Kellen Sampson (Oklahoma) https://uhcougars.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/2014-15 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 played 8 opponents twice (home and away) and two opponents once (1 home, 1 away). UConn (home) and Temple (away) were the two teams the Cougars played just once this season.2014-15 Men's Basketball Schedule Format Announced, TheAmerican.org, retrieved 29 May 2014 On July 18, the team announced participation in the championship pairings of the 2014 Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic, alongside Boise State, Texas Tech, and Loyola–Chicago at the Orleans Arena. Two on-campus games preceded the Las Vegas-hosted games,Men's Basketball to Compete at Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic, UHCougars.com, retrieved 23 June 2014 with one at South Carolina State.SC State Men's Basketball Releases 2014-15 Schedule, retrieved 16 August 2014 In August, ESPN reported that Houston's visit to Harvard for a game on November 25.Harvard Hoops Schedule in Focus, retrieved 16 August 2014 The remainder of the Cougars' schedule was announced by the American Athletic Conference on August 28.American Athletic Conference Announces 2014-15 Men's Basketball Schedule, TheAmerican.org, retrieved 30 August 2014 yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#CC0000; color:white;"| Exhibition Nov 8 12:00 pm yes North Alabama Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX 108–83   – |- !colspan=12 style="background:#CC0000; color:white;"| Regular season Nov 14 7:00 pm yes yes Murray State CFSB Center Murray, KY 77–74 5,056 1–0 Nov 22 7:00 pm yes Morgan State Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPN3 72–57 3,058 2–0 Nov 25 6:00 pm yes yes Harvard Lavietes Pavilion Cambridge, MA 63–84 1,423 2–1 Dec 4 7:00 pm yes Texas–Pan American Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPN3 72–58 1,858 3–1 Dec 6 7:00 pm yes Abilene Christian Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPN3 71–59 2,007 4–1 Dec 16 7:00 pm yes Houston Baptist Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPN3 83–76 2,016 5–1 Dec 17 7:00 pm yes Arkansas–Pine Bluff Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX Las Vegas Classic regional round ESPN3 56–61 2,082 5–2 Dec 20 1:00 pm yes South Carolina State Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX Las Vegas Classic regional round ESPN3 63–71 1,996 5–3 Dec 22 9:30pm yes yes Boise State Orleans Arena Paradise, NV Las Vegas Classic semifinals 73–75 OT N/A 5–4 Dec 23 8:00 pm yes yes Texas Tech Orleans Arena Paradise, NV Las Vegas Classic 3rd place game FS1 82–69 N/A 6–4 Dec 28 4:00 pm yes Mississippi Valley State Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPN3 80–53 2,147 7–4 Dec 31 1:00 pm yes Memphis FedEx Forum Memphis, TN ESPNU 54–73 13,415 7–5 (0–1) Jan 4 1:00 pm yes Tulsa Reynolds Center Tulsa, OK ESPNews 54–72 4,171 7–6 (0–2) Jan 6 6:00 pm UCF Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPNews 78–79 OT 2,003 7–7 (0–3) Jan 11 3:00 pm Memphis Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX CBSSN 44–62 2,697 7–8 (0–4) Jan 14 6:00 pm yes East Carolina Minges Coliseum Greenville, NC ESPNU 61–66 4,368 7–9 (0–5) Jan 17 11:00 am Tulane Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPNews 65–68 2,547 7–10 (0–6) Jan 21 6:00 pm yes Cincinnati Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH ESPNews 54–67 9,815 7–11 (0–7) Jan 24 5:00 pm yes SMU Moody Coliseum Dallas, TX CBSSN 59–80 7,094 7–12 (0–8) Jan 28 7:00 pm yes Rice Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPN3 59–48 3,465 8–12 Feb 1 2:00 pm UConn Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX CBSSN 60–58 3,498 9–12 (1–8) Feb 5 6:00 pm Tulsa Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX 2,847 ESPNews 44–57 9–13 (1–9) Feb 12 8:00 pm SMU 25 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX 3,315 ESPNU 69–75 9–14 (1–10) Feb 15 1:00 pm yes UCF CFE Arena Orlando, FL 4,269 ESPN3 54–56 9–15 (1–11) Feb 17 6:00 pm yes South Florida USF Sun Dome Tampa, FL ESPNews 67–69 3,128 9–16 (1–12) Feb 21 8:30 pm Cincinnati Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPNU 53–63 3,562 9–17 (1–13) Feb 26 6:00 pm yes Temple Liacouras Center Philadelphia, PA CBSSN 54–66 7,023 9–18 (1–14) Mar 1 2:00 pm South Florida Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPN3 72–55 2,816 10–18 (2–14) Mar 4 7:00 pm yes Tulane Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA ESPNews 68–63 OT 2,041 11–18 (3–14) Mar 8 1:00 pm East Carolina Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX ESPNews 72–54 2,879 12–18 (4–14) |- !colspan=12 style="background:#CC0000; color:white;"| American Athletic Conference Tournament Mar 12 5:00 pm yes Tulane XL Center Hartford, CT First Round   ESPNews 66–60 13–18 Mar 13 7:00 pm yes Tulsa XL Center Hartford, CT Quarterfinal   ESPNU 51–59 13–19 AP Poll Central Time References Houston Category:Houston Cougars men's basketball seasons Houston Houston