The University of Houston Cougars are poised for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament and are a strong contender to win the national championship. The Cougars are the No. 1 seed in the March Madness South Region. And despite being an injured team (guard Terrance Arceneaux is out with a torn Achilles’, guard Ramon Walker Jr. is out with a torn meniscus, and forward Joseph Tugler is out with a broken bone in his foot), the Cougars will rely heavily on their unanimous Consensus All-America First Team point guard Jamal Shead. Awarded this Thursday, other players joining Shead on the First-Team roster include Zach Eady from Purdue, Dalton Knecht from Tennessee, RJ Davis from North Carolina, and Tristen Newton from UConn.
Kelvin Sampson, the head coach of the University of Houston men’s basketball team, recently won the 2023-24 Henry Iba Award, which is presented to the National Coach of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association. In an interview with an ABC 13 Eyewitness sports reporter, Sampson expressed his admiration for his lead guard, Shead, calling him “the greatest leader I’ve ever coached.” Shead returned the praise to his head coach, calling him the best in America. “(Coach Sampson) has the utmost belief in you and the most trust in you whenever you earn it, and he never, never wavers with that,” Shead told the Eyewitness News.
The four-year play-making guard gave the University of Houston men’s basketball team All-America honors in consecutive seasons after Marcus Sasser, who now plays the Detroit Pistons. Shead, who stands at 6’1″, averaged 13.1 points, 6.2 assists, 2.3 steals and has a 3.15 assist-turnover ratio. That was good enough to be top-five in the Big 12 Conference and be the only student-athlete to rank among the nation’s Top-20 leaders in all three categories. Shead was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week twice during the regular season and won the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week for Feb. 26 and the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for Jan. 23. In addition to being a First Team All-America, he also finished as the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, making him the first player in conference history to win both awards in the same season. On Thursday morning, the Atlanta Tipoff Club also named Shead one of the Finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award. Under Coach Sampson’s leadership, Shead has made impressive accomplishments. He has recorded 223 steals, which puts him in third place in program history. Shead is also tied for seventh place in school single-season history, with 77 steals to date. During his three seasons at Houston, Shead has won 118 games and lost only 17, making him one of the most successful players in the school’s history. He only needs to secure four more wins in 2023-24 to become the Coogs’ most-winningest player ever.
Shead could start racking up wins on Friday, March 22nd when the Cougars face off against the No. 16-seeded Longwood Lancers from the Big South Conference, giving them a chance to advance in the tournament. Tip-off is at 8:30 PM at FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN. According to ESPN Bet, Houston is a 25.5-point favorite in the game. ESPN Analytics are also favoring the Cougars. According to them, the chances of Houston winning and advancing to the round of 32 are extremely high, currently standing at 98.6%. A loss would result in a major upset in this year’s March Madness tournament.
Located in Farmville, Virginia, between Richmond and Lynchburg, Longwood University finished fifth in their conference but won seven out of nine games, including the Big South championship, to secure an automatic bid in the Big Dance to play Houston in Memphis. Longwood had a better scoring average of 75.6 points per game compared to Houston’s 73. However, Houston’s defense made up for the difference in scoring as their opponents only averaged 57 points per game, whereas Longwood gave up an average of 67.9 points per game to their opponents. The two teams shot nearly identical from the field. Houston shot 43 percent from the field and 34 percent from three, while Longwood shot 45 percent from the field and also 34 percent from the three-point line.
On the offensive side of the ball, the numbers may seem similar, but Shead’s leadership has made the Cougars one of the top defensive teams in the country. Houston’s team ranks first in the nation in points allowed and third in points differential entering this year’s NCAA tournament. Another advantage that the Coogs might have in this game is the location. Before joining the Big 12 in 2023, UH played in the American Conference. During that stint, Houston played numerous games against Memphis. Playing in Memphis might offer some advantages due to familiarity, but it also presents a disadvantage. According to the University of Houston’s athletics department, the Cougars have a 4-15 record in Memphis, including only three victories at the FedEx Forum, where Friday night’s game will be held.
The Cougars is considered the favorite due to their superior defense, experience, and the impressive performance of their All-American guard Shead. Longwood, on the other hand, will be hoping for a bit of luck and perhaps some divine intervention to overcome the odds.
“I think we need to be praying a lot over the next several days,” Aldrich told Channel 11. “So we need to make sure everybody’s right with God first. Honestly, we (just) need to play the way Longwood basketball is played.”
The NCAA Tournament has a history of upsets. On Friday, we’ll see if Longwood can add to that list.
