2015–16 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

2015–16 Houston Cougars men's basketball
NIT, First Round
ConferenceAmerican Athletic Conference
Record22–10 (12–6 AAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaHofheinz Pavilion
Seasons
2015–16 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Temple 14 – 4   .778 21 – 12   .636
No. 24 SMU* 13 – 5   .722 25 – 5   .833
Houston 12 – 6   .667 22 – 10   .688
Cincinnati 12 – 6   .667 22 – 11   .667
Tulsa 12 – 6   .667 20 – 12   .625
UConn † 11 – 7   .611 25 – 11   .694
Memphis 8 – 10   .444 19 – 15   .559
UCF 6 – 12   .333 12 – 18   .400
East Carolina 4 – 14   .222 12 – 20   .375
South Florida 4 – 14   .222 8 – 25   .242
Tulane 3 – 15   .167 12 – 22   .353
* Ineligible for postseason due to postseason ban
† American Athletic Conference tournament Champions
Rankings from AP poll

The 2015–16 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars were led by second year head coach Kelvin Sampson and were members of the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars played their home games at Hofheinz Pavilion. They finished the season with a record of 22–11, 12–6 in AAC play to finish in a tie for third place in conference. They lost in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament to Tulane. They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost to Georgia Tech in the first round.

Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2014–15 season with a record of 13–19, 4–14 in AAC play to finish in tenth place in conference. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament where they lost to Tulsa.

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Mikhail McLean 1 F 6'6" 210 Senior Nassau, Bahamas Graduated
Cavon Baker 3 G 6'1" 175 Junior Queens, NY Transferred to St. Peter's
J. C. Washington 11 F 6'6" 225 Freshman Houston, TX Transferred to Trinity Valley Community College
Adam Drexler 20 F 6'5" 205 Junior Houston, TX Walk-on; didn't return
Jherrod Stiggers 21 G 6'4" 215 Junior Terrell, TX Play professionally overseas

Incoming Transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Xavier Dupree 1 F 6'9" 210 Junior Houston, TX Junior college transferred from Paris Junior College
Rob Gray 2 G 6'2" 190 Sophomore Forest City, NC Junior college transferred from Howard College
Damyean Dotson 21 G 6'6" Junior Houston, TX Junior college transferred from Houston Community College
Kyle Meyer 33 C 6'10" 222 Junior Alpharetta, GA Junior college transferred from Eastern Florida State College

Class of 2015 signees

College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Chris Harris
C 		Houston, TX Madison High School 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Mar 13, 2015 
Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 80
Galen Robinson
PG 		Houston, TX Westbury Christian School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) N/A Nov 20, 2014 
Star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   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 August 13, 2015.
  • "2015 Houston Basketball Commitment List". Scout.com. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  • "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  • "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 13, 2015.

Roster

2015–16 Houston Cougars men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
F 0 Danrad Knowles 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Nassau, Bahamas
F 1 Xavier Dupree 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Houston, TX
G 2 Rob Gray 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Forest City, NC
G 3 Ronnie Johnson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Jr Indianapolis, IN
G 4 LeRon Barnes 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Sr Stonewall, LA
G 5 L. J. Rose 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Houston, TX
G 12 Wes VanBeck (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Houston, TX
F 13 Bertrand Nkali 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Jr Bertoua, Cameroon
G 21 Damyean Dotson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Houston, TX
G 23 Eric Weary Jr. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr New Orleans, LA
F 24 Devonta Pollard 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Porterville, MS
G 25 Galen Robinson Jr. 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Houston, TX
C 33 Kyle Meyer 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Atlanta, GA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
11/13/2015*
7:00 pm 		Montana Tech W 96–65 
Hofheinz Pavilion 
Houston, TX
Non-conference regular season
11/18/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Prairie View A&M W 110–59  1–0
 Hofheinz Pavilion (1,223)
Houston, TX
11/21/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Florida A&M W 97–52  2–0
 Hofheinz Pavilion (3,163)
Houston, TX
11/28/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Louisiana–Monroe W 76–64  3–0
 Hofheinz Pavilion (2,332)
Houston, TX
11/30/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Texas–Rio Grande Valley W 78–65  4–0
 Hofheinz Pavilion (1,974)
Houston, TX
12/02/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Murray State W 93–78  5–0
 Hofheinz Pavilion (2,089)
Houston, TX
12/08/2015*
6:00 pm 		at Rhode Island L 57–67  5–1
 Ryan Center (3,633)
Kingston, RI
12/13/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN2 		LSU W 105–98 OT 6–1
 Hofheinz Pavilion (7,918)
Houston, TX
12/16/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		North Carolina Central
Global Basketball Classic 		W 73–65  7–1
 Hofheinz Pavilion (3,342)
Houston, TX
12/19/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Eastern Illinois
Global Basketball Classic 		W 81–65  8–1
 Hofheinz Pavilion (3,428)
Houston, TX
12/21/2015*
7:00 pm 		vs. Grand Canyon
Global Basketball Classic semifinals 		L 69–78  8–2
 Cox Pavilion 
Paradise, NV
12/22/2015*
7:00 pm 		at Wyoming
Global Basketball Classic 3rd place game 		W 94–89 OT 9–2
 Cox Pavilion 
Paradise, NV
12/28/2015*
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		Nicholls State W 76–49  10–2
 Hofheinz Pavilion (3,403)
Houston, TX
AAC regular season
12/30/2015
1:00 pm, ESPNU 		at South Florida W 73–67  11–2
(1–0) 		USF Sun Dome (2,754)
Tampa, FL
01/02/2016
11:00 am, ESPNews 		at Temple W 77–50  12–2
(2–0) 		Liacouras Center (5,374)
Philadelphia, PA
01/05/2016
8:00 pm, ESPNU 		Tulane W 63–45  13–2
(3–0) 		Hofheinz Pavilion (3,235)
Houston, TX
01/13/2016
6:00 pm, ESPNU 		at Cincinnati L 59–70  13–3
(3–1) 		Fifth Third Arena (9,345)
Cincinnati, OH
01/17/2016
1:00 pm, CBSSN 		UConn L 57–69  13–4
(3–2) 		Hofheinz Pavilion (4,672)
Houston, TX
01/19/2016
8:00 pm, ESPNU 		at No. 8 SMU L 73–77  13–5
(3–3) 		Moody Coliseum (7,059)
Dallas, TX
01/23/2016
3:00 pm, CBSSN 		South Florida L 62–71  13–6
(3–4) 		Hofheinz Pavilion (3,724)
Houston, TX
01/27/2016
7:00 pm, ESPNews 		Tulsa W 81–66  14–6
(4–4) 		Hofheinz Pavilion (3,185)
Houston, TX
01/30/2016
11:00 am, ESPNews 		at East Carolina W 97–93 2OT 15–6
(5–4) 		Williams Arena (5,212)
Greenville, NC
02/01/2016
7:00 pm, CBSSN 		No. 12 SMU W 71–68  16–6
(6–4) 		Hofheinz Pavilion (6,195)
Houston, TX
02/07/2016
2:00 pm, ESPNU 		at Tulsa L 63–77  16–7
(6–5) 		Reynolds Center (4,321)
Tulsa, OK
02/10/2016
6:00 pm, ESPNU 		Memphis W 98–90  17–7
(7–5) 		Hofheinz Pavilion (4,060)
Houston, TX
02/13/2016
2:00 pm, ESPNews 		UCF W 82–58  18–7
(8–5) 		Hofheinz Pavilion (4,126)
Houston, TX
02/17/2016
8:30 pm, ESPNews 		at Tulane W 82–69  19–7
(9–5) 		Devlin Fieldhouse (1,593)
New Orleans, LA
02/21/2016
6:00 pm, ESPNews 		Temple L 66–69  19–8
(9–6) 		Hofheinz Pavilion (4,466)
Houston, TX
02/24/2016
6:00 pm, ESPNU 		at UCF W 88–61  20–8
(10–6) 		CFE Arena (4,664)
Orlando, FL
02/28/2016
12:00 pm, CBSSN 		at UConn W 75–68  21–8
(11–6) 		Gampel Pavilion (9,667)
Storrs, CT
03/03/2016
8:00 pm, CBSSN 		Cincinnati W 69–56  22–8
(12–6) 		Hofheinz Pavilion (4,171)
Houston, TX
American Athletic Conference tournament
03/11/2016
6:00 pm, ESPNU 		(2) vs. (10) Tulane
Quarterfinals 		L 69–72  22–9
 Amway Center 
Orlando, FL
NIT
03/16/2016*
7:00 pm, ESPN2 		(5) at (4) Georgia Tech
First round 		L 62–81  22–10
 Hank McCamish Pavilion 
Atlanta, GA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516171819Final
APRVNot released
Coaches'RVRV

References