\u201cWhen I had conversations with Brad (Stevens), I was very honest with him,\u201d Sampson said. \u201cHey, Chris is not a finished product. His best basketball is ahead of him. But he was my favorite player to coach on this team, because he came in every day with the right attitude. He never, ever didn\u2019t give great effort. When we got on him or would use motivation to get him going in a certain area, his body language was elite.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust a wonderful young man who comes from a great family, and I think those things are important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cenac, who stands 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-5 wingspan, started all but one of the 37 games he played in his lone college season. A center throughout high school, he played power forward for the Cougars and was the team\u2019s fourth offensive option, trailing teammates Kingston Flemings, Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan in shot attempts and points per game. (Uzan, a 6-foot-3 point guard, also is playing for Boston this summer<\/a> on an Exhibit-10 contract.)<\/p>\n Sampson said he and his staff \u201cknew that Chris was going to be in a transition year for him\u201d as he adjusted to the responsibilities of his new role and his lower profile as an offensive player.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he got here, we had to get him something \u2014 one thing \u2014 that he could hang his hat on, that would get him on the court every day,\u201d Sampson said. \u201cWhat\u2019s the one thing? It can\u2019t be shooting, can\u2019t be playmaking; those aren\u2019t your strengths right now. And to Chris\u2019 credit \u2014 and he deserves all the credit for this \u2014 he became a really, really good rebounder, and that wasn\u2019t necessarily his strength before he got here.\u201d<\/p>\n Cenac averaged 7.9 rebounds per game at Houston, with some of his best performances coming late in the season. He grabbed 13 boards in a February loss to Arizona and 14 in a Big 12 Tournament win over Kansas, then pulled down 30 over three NCAA tournament games. That ability to clean the glass, along with his raw athletic traits and movement ability for his size, headlined his pre-draft scouting reports.<\/p>\n Those write-ups also invariably called him a longer-term project who will need more seasoning before he\u2019s ready to be an impact player in the pros. Sampson agreed with that. He knows the rangy teenager needs to add \u201cgrown-man strength\u201d to his 240-pound frame and work to become a more consistent shooter. Cenac made 33.3% of his 3-pointers last season (2.4 attempts per game), but his former coach sees Al Horford-esque floor-stretching potential in his game.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Chris is going to evolve into a really good shooter,\u201d Sampson said. \u201cHe has the mechanics. He just hasn\u2019t done it long enough. I think about Al Horford. When he was with Atlanta, he didn\u2019t shoot a lot of threes. All of a sudden, he gets to Boston, and you can tell the work that he put in to become an effective 3-point shooter. I think Chris can be like that, too.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Houston](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26019770772336.jpg\")
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampon, right, talks with center Chris Cenac Jr. (5) at the bench during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona State Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Michael Wyke)<\/p>\n