The 2013–14 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...

during the

2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November with the 2K Sports Classic and ended with the Final Four in Arlington, Texas April 5–7. It was tipped off by the 2013 Champions Classic on November 12, 2013. Season hea ...

. The season marked the first for the Cougars as members of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

. The team, coached by

James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet and novelist. He was appointed the eighteenth United States Poet Laureate in 1966. He also received the Order of the South award. Dickey is best known for his n ...

in his fourth year, played their home games at

Hofheinz Pavilion The Fertitta Center, formerly known as Hofheinz Pavilion, is a 7,100-seat multi-purpose arena on the University of Houston campus in Houston. Located at 3875 Holman Street, it is home to the Houston Cougars men's and women's basketball teams and ...

. They finished the season 17–16, 8–10 in conference play to finish in sixth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the American Conference tournament where they lost to Louisville. After the season, Dickey stepped down for personal reasons. He was 64–62 in four seasons, and was replaced by

Kelvin Sampson Kelvin Dale Sampson (born October 5, 1955) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the University of Houston of the American Athletic Conference. Early life Sampson was born in the Lumbee Native American community of ...

Pre-season

The Cougars' off-season had been defined primarily by the number of departures from the program. On May 14, the school announced that it had granted permission to sophomore point guard J. J. Thompson to transfer to another school. No reason was given.J.J. Thompson leaving UH basketball program
''Houston Chronicle'', retrieved 2 June 2013 Ten days later, the school announced that four-star 2012 class recruit Valentine Izundu was also granted release from the program. Like Thompson, no reason why given for Izundu's departure, but it was noted that he had seen very limited playing time in his previous season as a freshman.Lamar Consolidated center to transfer from UH
''Houston Chronicle'', retrieved 2 June 2013. However, one month after announcing his leave, Izundu decided to return. In his statement, he apologized to Coach Dickey and teammates and mentioned that he made a mistake in leaving the team.Izundu decides to return to UH
''Houston Chronicle'', retrieved 25 August 2013. On June 1, the program announced that Michael Young, former Cougar player and

Phi Slama Jama Phi Slama Jama was a name given to the men's college basketball teams of the Houston Cougars from 1982 to 1984. Coined by former ''Houston Post'' sportswriter Thomas Bonk, the nickname was quickly adopted by the players and even appeared on team w ...

member during the 1980–84 seasons, would not be retained as Director of Basketball Operations. Young was offered a reassignment in the program, but refused it and decided to leave the school. As a result, his son Joe Young, the Cougars' leading scorer during the 2012–13 season also decided to leave the programHouston leading scorer Joseph Young, and father Michael, leaving the program
NBC Sports, retrieved 2 June 2013 and transfer to

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

.Oregon lands guard Joseph Young
ESPN.com, retrieved 25 August 2013 Despite the departures, the Cougars were still able to build by signing Ohio Player of the Year and three-star recruit Jaaron Simmons. The point guard out of Archbishop Alter High School signed a national letter of intent on April 18, choosing the Cougars over Butler and

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

, among others.Ohio Player of the Year Jaaron Simmons Becomes First Men's Hoops Signee
, UHCougars.com, retrieved 2 June 2013. Simmons mentioned that the opportunity to play with standout players Danuel House, Joe Young, and TaShawn Thomas helped in his decision to sign with Houston.Simmons’ goal to ‘Keep Dayton on the rise’
''Dayton Daily News'', retrieved 2 June 2013. In June, former Baylor guard L. J. Rose announced his transfer to Houston to be closer to his mother who had been diagnosed with lupus. Rose was ranked 63rd in the ESPN100 Class of 2012 and 9th at guard. The Cougars applied for a waiver to the NCAA to allow Rose to play for the team immediately, and the waiver was granted on August 20.Houston's L.J. Rose granted waiver
ESPN.com, retrieved 25 August 2013. The third offseason addition to the Cougars was 6'9"

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

ian-born post player Ahmed Hamdy, who had international experience at the

2010 FIBA Under-17 World Championship The 2010 FIBA Under-17 World Championship (German: FIBA U17-Weltmeisterschaft 2010) was the inaugural edition of the FIBA Under-17 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by the U17 national te ...

with the Egyptian national team.Ahmed Hamdy Joins Men's Basketball
, UHCougars.com, retrieved 25 August 2013

Departures

Incoming transfers

Class of 2013 signees

Roster

Schedule and results

On May 21, the Cougars participation as one of the four hosts in the 2013 Legends Classic alongside

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, Stanford, and

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

was announced. Houston hosted a pair of regional round games between November 17–21, and then traveled to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to participate in the championship round with the other four hosts on November 25–26 at the Barclays Center.Pittsburgh to play in Legends Classic
ESPN.com, retrieved 2 June 2013 The Cougars' 2013-14 schedule was announced on August 21, featuring 17 home games. The schedule's highlights included round-robin play against the other nine American Athletic Conference members, the four previously-announced Legends Classic games, a road game against former

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

rival Texas A&M, and a neutral site matchup against crosstown rival Rice at the Toyota Center. All of Houston's 18 conference games and the two final games of the Legends Classic tournament were televised on the ESPN family of networks or CBS Sports Network.Men's Basketball Announces 2013-14 Schedule
, UHCougars.com, retrieved 25 August 2013 , - ! colspan="12" style="background:#c00; color:white;", Exhibition , - ! colspan="12" style="background:#c00; color:white;", Non-conference regular season , - ! colspan="12" style="background:#c00; color:white;", American Athletic Conference regular season , - ! colspan="12" style="background:#c00; color:white;", American Athletic Conference tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2013-14 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Houston Cougars men's basketball seasons