The 2020–21 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

during the

2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 25, 2020 and concluded on March 14, 2021. The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 18 and concluded on April 5. Season ...

. The Cougars were led by seventh-year head coach

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 ...

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) ...

. It was the third season that the team played its home games at the

Fertitta Center 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 won their first ever AAC tournament to clinch an auto-bid to the NCAA tournament, where they were selected as a #2 seed in the Midwest Region. The team advanced to the Final Four for the first time since

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. They eventually lost to Baylor in the Final Four who went on to become the national champions that season.

Previous season

Houston finished the 2019–20 regular season 23–8, 13–5 in AAC play, finishing tied for first place and winning a share of the regular season title. They entered as the No. 2 seed in the AAC tournament, which was ultimately cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Offseason

Departures

Incoming Transfers

2020 recruiting class

Houston also added preferred walk-on Ryan Elvin, a 6'0" point guard from Cedar Ridge High School in

Round Rock, Texas Round Rock is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Williamson County (with a small part in Travis County), which is a part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 as of the 2020 census. The city straddles the Bal ...

2021 Recruiting class

Preseason

AAC preseason media poll

On October 28, The American released the preseason Poll and other preseason awards

Preseason Awards

* AAC Preseason Player of the Year - Caleb Mills * All-AAC First Team - Caleb Mills

Roster

*May 27, 2020 – Fabian White Jr. suffered a torn ACL, leading him to sit out before returning for the February 18th game. *January 5, 2021 – Caleb Mills entered the transfer portal. Mills would eventually transfer to

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

Schedule and results

COVID-19 impact

Due to the ongoing

, the Cougars' schedule is subject to change, including the cancellation or postponement of individual games, the cancellation of the entire season, or games played either with minimal fans or without fans in attendance and just essential personnel. *The Cougars began a home-and-home series with LSU and Alabama beginning in the 2020–2021. Both were eventually postponed due to the pandemic. *Houston added a game vs. Our Lady of the Lake on February 6. *The game @

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

originally scheduled for February 21 was moved to Houston. *Houston added a game vs.

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

on February 25. *The game @

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

originally scheduled for March 7 was moved to Houston, after COVID-related issues with Memphis forced the first scheduled matchup between the teams scheduled for February 14 to be postponed.

Schedule

, - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, AAC Tournament , - , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament , -

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll

Awards and honors

All-American

*Quentin Grimes – AP (3rd), USBWA (3rd), NABC (3rd), ''SN'' (3rd)

American Athletic Conference honors

All-AAC Awards

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

: Quentin Grimes *Defensive Player of the Year: DeJon Jarreau *Most Improved Player: Justin Gorham

All-AAC First Team

*Quentin Grimes

All-AAC Second Team

*DeJon Jarreau *Justin Gorham *Marcus Sasser Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 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 in ...

Houston Cougars men's basketball seasons

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons