Inside Fabian White’s Record Night — Keenum, Grimes and Hakeem Make UH Fans See Stars, But a Low-Key Ultimate Winner Seizes the Moment

Case Keenum watches from the front row, near center court, right next to University of Houston president Renu Khator. Hakeem Olajuwon sits next to his still relatively newly retired buddy Bill Worrell on the baseline, just two Coogs taking in a game. Quentin Grimes and Armoni Brooks are just a few seats down from The Dream, closer to the University of Houston bench.

All the stars are out — add former NFL running back Antowain Smith (who once scored six touchdowns for UH in a game) and former New York Knick Damyean Dotson to the mix. In many ways, this crowd shows just how strong Kelvin Sampson’s University of Houston basketball program is. These Coogs have serious drawing power. Sampson’s built a program that makes all Cougars — whether they are former basketball or football stars, or an alumni who never touched a ball — feel connected.

This UH basketball team is the most consistent winner in all of Houston sports. By far. Why shouldn’t it be the hottest ticket in town?

But by the end of this night — a 70-52 win over the University of Central Florida — a low-key graduate senior is standing alone. Well, actually posing for a photo with his grandma in the lobby of a now otherwise largely deserted Fertitta Center, soaking in the type of moment that he never would have believed he could achieve when he first arrived on this campus as wide-eyed 17-year-old in 2017.

With this win, Fabian White Jr. has been part of more wins (110) than any player in the impressive history of UH basketball. The winningest player in school history — at a school that counts Hakeem Olajuwon, one of the 10 Greatest NBA Players of All-Time; Clyde Drexler, who just made the NBA 75 team; and Elvin Hayes, who put up 39 points and 15 rebounds against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to win the Game of the Century at the Astrodome, among its basketball greats.

Yeah, that means something.

“I can’t describe it because it’s unbelievable,” Fabian’s mom Aundrea White says in that lobby after giving her son one final hug for the night. “We knew that he would succeed here at U of H. But to the magnitude that he has, it’s like as if we’re in a dream.

“We’re still kind of trying to take it in. We’re very proud of him. Just. . . no words.”

Being There For Fabian

Watching from a front row seat, Sampson era sharpshooter Armoni Brooks almost gets goosebumps of his own as White, his former teammate, cradles the game ball in his arms after the game like a loving mom cradles a baby. And receives a special commemorative basketball to go with it in an on-court postgame ceremony.

“Seeing Fabs get that is great because I know how hard he’s worked since he’s been here on campus,” Brooks tells PaperCity. “Being able to see how far he’s come in his body, in his shot, in everything, I feel excited to see him get that done.”

From a skinny unsure freshman to Mr All-Time Win man. White passes Michael Young, another important piece of those legendary Phi Slama Jama teams, with this 110th win. And he does it in front of that Who’s Who of a Cougars crowd. Still for Fabian White, having Grimes and Brooks there, two former teammates of his, may mean the most.

“It’s always good to have a legend in the building and two of my brothers that I went to battle with all the time in the building too,” White says. “It’s just good to have them at the game really. . . I wanted the 110 wins, it was good. But I’m just glad that they was here supporting us.

“I couldn’t ask for better teammates. Or ex teammates.”

White’s current teammates sometimes call him Legend as a sign of respect. It makes the clear leader of this now 21-4 Houston team a little uncomfortable. To White, legends are guys like Hakeem and Kelvin Sampson, UH’s 66-year-old basketball lifer of a coach who promised White Houston would win — and win big — while he recruited him out of nearby Atascocita High School. Even though Houston hadn’t won big in basketball in decades.

“Coach Sampson always said he was going to change this program around,” White says. “And he’s done that.”

You can see that in the way how even former UH football stars like Case Keenum and Antowain Smith, who really have no direct link to the basketball program, marvel over what Sampson has brought. On this night that means the return to dominant winning after the rare blip of consecutive losses. And all those big names in the stands.

Keenum, Olajuwon and Grimes, the NBA rookie who’s already become one of the Knicks that New York fans love most, all get plenty of love from the crowd. When Keenum and his wife Kimberly, another Cougar, get up to leave with 5:51 remaining — the game’s already essentially decided at this point with Houston up 15 — another mini “Keenum! Keenum!” chant breaks out in one vocal section of the arena.

But the best scene of the night is a more private, quiet one. It’s White in the empty lobby, getting pulled into a photo by his beaming grandmother Arzetta. Grandma gets all the extra photos she wants.

“He’s done good,” White’s grandfather Wilbert tells PaperCity. “We thank the Lord, we thank the coaching, the teammates. He picked the perfect place for him to go. University of Houston. We love it here. It’s just like a family.”

Almost fittingly, the entire family seems to contribute to record win No. 110. Taze Moore fills up the boxscore with 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists without committing a single turnover in 32 efficient minutes. Big man Josh Carlton faces a UCF zone designed to limit his touches — and still gets eight points, 10 rebounds and three impactful blocks. Young point guard Jamal Shead flirts with another double-double (12 points, eight assists).  Kyler Edwards just keeps fighting and hustling, playing through everything, finishing with a game-high plus 20 rating despite missing 13 of the 15 shots he takes.

With his jumper AWOL, Edwards somehow still puts up 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Perseverance counts in Kelvin Sampson’s program too. Just ask true freshman guard Ramon Walker Jr. The UH coaches didn’t expect to play Walker much, if at all, this season. But the injuries to Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark thrust him into the guard rotation, right into an important role.

And there Walker is, hitting the two biggest shots of the night — back-to-back triples in the 11-0 Houston run that turns a one-point lead into a 12-point cushion, turning back UCF’s last real second half challenge. Walker comes into the game shooting 18 percent from 3-point range on the season. But he never hesitates on either of those jumpers.

“He’s really put a lot of time in,” Sampson says of Walker. “A lot of work. He’s been in the gym every morning. Every afternoon. Before practice. After practice. We just keep telling him it’s a process. You don’t go from having surgery on your hand, where you don’t touch a ball for five weeks. Don’t touch a ball.

” . . . This should be a development year for Ramon. And it should be. He didn’t sign up to play minutes on a Top 20, Top 25 team.”

Fabian White Jr., Record Man

Fabian White didn’t sign with Houston expecting to become the winningest player in program history either. He needed to get through a weird COVID-halted season and come back from an ACL injury much earlier than anyone expected to do it. He had to build his body so he could play inside and turn himself into a real 3-point threat in his last season through endless work to do it.

But he did it.

“Everyone respects Fabian,” Quentin Grimes tells PaperCity.

You have to respect this much work. You have to respect this much heart.

White doesn’t want this to be about him. He wants this season to be about another Final Four run, as unlikely as that may sound with Marcus Sasser, one of the best guards in the country, watching from the bench in a walking boot. But White is determined to make his teammates believe.

Which is why he sounds almost as relieved as proud to have the record win in the books.

“It just feels good to finally get it done so now we can breathe and play normally,” White says.

The best scene of the night is a more private, quiet one. It’s White in the empty lobby, getting pulled into a photo by his beaming grandmother Arzetta. Grandma gets all the extra photos she wants.

White’s UH teammates wanted this win for him so badly. It seems like all the stars in the arena get a kick out of seeing him get it too. This is life as a University of Houston basketball player now. Big games, big wins and big-time crowds.

It’s cool to go to a University of Houston basketball game these days. Which is another victory in a way.

“I don’t ever forget where I came from,” Kelvin Sampson says. “Some people do. That’s why they get disrespectful. But we were 13 and 19 here (in Sampson’s first season in Houston). Nobody ever talks about those kids. But those kids had a big, big part of how we built this program. But each year we got better and better. And better.

“I looked at Damyean Dotson (in the crowd). I remember the process of recruiting Damyean. And I enjoy seeing ’em. It makes me feel good to see those guys come back. Armoni. Armoni was in the film room the other day watching film with us as a team. Quentin. Quentin might have a big game with the Knicks, but if we have a big game he’s usually the first one to text me.”

Sampson knows he’ll talking about Fabian White like this someday soon. After earning the wins record, White stays after with his family, making sure they get their own souvenirs from the moment. He certainty hasn’t forgotten where he’s come from.

Having the stars in the building is nice. Making sure the people who care about you most are in on the moment means more.