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

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

during the

2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 8, 2013 and ended with the 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, whose Final Four was played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on April 5,& ...

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

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

. The team, coached by

James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet, novelist, critic, and lecturer. He was appointed the 18th United States Poet Laureate in 1966. His other accolades included the National Book Award for Poetry a ...

in his fourth year, played their home games at Hofheinz Pavilion. 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 Big 12 Conference. Early life Sampson was born in Laurinburg, North Carolina, to parents who were m ...

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 Michael Young may refer to: Academics * Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington (1915–2002), British life peer, sociologist and social activist * Michael Young (educationalist), British educational theorist and sociologist * Michael K. Youn ...

, 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 1981 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 U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while 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 A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

and

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, 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 Danuel Kennedy House Jr. (born June 7, 1993) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played two seasons of college basketball for the Houston Cougar ...

, 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 ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

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 t ...

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 Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, and

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

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

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

to participate in the championship round with the other four hosts on November 25–26 at the

Barclays Center Barclays Center ( ) is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liber ...

.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 also included schools from Oklaho ...

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 List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Houston Cougars men's basketball seasons