Kelvin Sampson will add Kingston Flemings to his list of players drafted in the NBA Draft lottery in June.
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Kingston Flemings admitted an obvious truth Sunday during his NBA Draft announcement press conference inside Houston’s Fertitta Center. He then shared why the Houston Cougars program is a rare exception in 2026, a credit to head coach Kelvin Sampson
“He’s [always] going to keep the culture the same and the locker room right,” Flemings said. “Especially in this day and era, with NIL and everything, it’s hard to keep a locker room. Everyone’s making money left and right, it’s all people think about sometimes. But not at Houston.
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“As long as we have these coaches here, it’s never going to be like that.”
Flemings announced his decision to turn pro Sunday after just one season in Houston, a superb, All-American campaign. He came to Houston as a five-star recruit from Brennan High School in San Antonio, committing to Houston over Big 12 rival Texas Tech. Flemings complimented the Cougars’ culture throughout Sunday’s press conference, time and again lauding Sampson for the program he’s built at Houston. Flemings offered one warning to both incoming freshmen and veteran transfers, however.
“It’s not always going to be easy. If you don’t know that by now, you don’t know Houston,” Flemings said. “If you’re going to choose this place, you better love [basketball], and you better be ready to take adversity whenever it happens.”
Flemings’ draft prospects
Flemings will likely be the fifth Houston player drafted in Sampson’s 12 years with the program in June (fellow 2025-26 freshman Chris Cenac Jr. will become the sixth, likely later in the first round). Six Houston players logged NBA minutes this season. Flemings, Sampson says, has a chance to be the best of them all, citing the star’s “high ceiling” as a potential starting point guard. It’s hard to project a given prospect’s professional success. But Sampson has no problem projecting Flemings’ likely draft spot.
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“I don’t think Kingston’s a top-10 pick. I think he’s a top-5 pick,” Sampson said. “Kingston’s stock is going to go up because he’s going to be in front of these people.”
Kelvin Sampson on Kingston Flemings’ NBA Draft outlook:
“I don’t think Kingston’s a top-10 pick. I think he’s a top-5 pick.”
— Michael Shapiro (@mshap2) April 19, 2026
Sampson and Flemings were a perfect match in what was largely an extended honeymoon through Flemings’ standout freshman season. Sampson is an old-school coach with a tough, intense mentality. Play hard, play focused or don’t play at all in Sampson’s program, which reached the Final Four in 2021 and 2025. Flemings didn’t just accept that ethos, per Houston assistant coach Kellen Sampson. He ran to it.
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“Coach [Sampson] was attracted to Kingston for the same reasons Kingston was attracted to coach and the program,” Kellen told Chron. “Kingston runs to a challenge. He runs to a fight. He runs to things that are going to make him the best version of himself. If things are easier, he actually shies away from that.
“He likes to run to things that put a chip on his shoulder. Nobody has a bigger chip on his shoulder than coach Sampson. Nobody does a better job of putting a chip of their shoulders than coach. I think on a deep, deep interpersonal level, this was always a match made in heaven.”
Flemings will likely walk across the stage at Barclays Center in Brooklyn this summer as the latest success story for Sampson’s program, one that was revived more than a decade ago after 30 straight years without an NCAA national championship. Flemings and Cenac will be gone. Ditto for graduating seniors Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan. But Sampson created a modern machine in recent years, one that will continue to withstand key departures. Houston has reloaded in the transfer portal. It has Arafan Diane, the nation’s top center recruit, set to play his freshman year with the Cougars next season.
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It’s unclear whether Sampson will ever cut down the nets as a national champion. But his program is currently defined by more than a championship pursuit. Expect more sustained success from Sampson at Houston, and more NBA talents like Flemings in seasons to come.