The 2021–22 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars were led by eighth-year head coach Kelvin Sampson. The team played their home games at the Fertitta Center as members of the American Athletic Conference.
Houston finished its 2021–22 regular season with an overall record of 26–5. They were regular-season champions of the American Conference with a record of 15–3 in conference play. They entered the conference tournament as the #1 seed and proceeded to win the tournament, defeating Memphis 71–53 in the final. The Cougars entered the NCAA tournament as the #5 seed in the South Regional. Houston went 3–1 in the tournament, reaching the Elite Eight before falling 50–44 to Villanova in the regional final.
Houston finished the season with a record of 32–6 and a ranking of #7 in the final Coaches Poll.
Previous season Houston finished the 2020–21 regular season 21–3, 14–3 in AAC play, finishing in second place for the regular season. They entered as the No. 2 seed in the AAC tournament, which the Cougars would go on to win for the first time to clinch an auto-bid to the NCAA tournament. They were selected as a #2 seed in the Midwest Region. The team advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1984, where they lost to eventual national champions Baylor.
Offseason
Departing players Houston departing players 2 G 6'3" 180 Arden, NC Transferred to Florida State (mid-season) 3 G 6'5" 185 New Orleans, LA Graduated; declared for the 2021 NBA draft 4 F 6'7" 225 Baltimore, MD Graduated; declared for the 2021 NBA draft 5 G 6'2" 190 Bothell, WA Transferred to Seattle 24 G 6'5" 205 The Woodlands, TX Declared for the 2021 NBA draft; selected 25th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers 55 F/C 6'8" 230 New Orleans, LA Graduate transferred to Texas Southern
Incoming transfers Houston incoming transfers Tazé Moore 4 G 195 Southaven, MS CSU Bakersfield 1 October 1, 2021 Kyler Edwards 11 G 205 Arlington, TX Texas Tech 2 October 1, 2021 Josh Carlton 25 F/C 245 Winterville, NC UConn 1 October 1, 2021
2021 recruiting class
2022 recruiting class
Preseason
AAC preseason media poll
On October 13, The American released the preseason poll and other preseason awards.
Coaches Poll 1 Houston 98 (8) 2 Memphis 92 (3) 3 SMU 77 4 Wichita State 76 5 UCF 66 6 Cincinnati 52 7 Tulsa 43 8 Temple 37 T-9 South Florida 25 T-9 Tulane 25 11 East Carolina 14
Preseason awards All-AAC First Team – Marcus Sasser
Roster
December 22, 2021 – Tramon Mark had shoulder surgery, leading him to miss the rest of the season. December 24, 2021 – Marcus Sasser announced he would miss the rest of the season due to a foot injury.
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=12 style=| AAC regular season
!colspan=12 style=| AAC tournament
!colspan=12 style=| NCAA tournament
Source
Rankings
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.^Coaches did not release a week 1 poll.
Awards and honors
American Athletic Conference honors
All-AAC Awards Coach of the Year: Kelvin Sampson
All-AAC First Team Josh Carlton Fabian White Jr.
All-AAC Second Team Kyler Edwards
All-AAC Third Team Jamal Shead
Source
References