Fran Fraschilla Expects Kelvin Sampson To Have Another Top 10 Team at Houston, Sees Chendall Weaver and Ikenna Alozie Making Major Impacts

To Fran Fraschilla, it is a relatively obvious truth. Kelvin Sampson will find turn his latest collection of talent into a Top 10 team. Like he always does at the University of Houston.

“I’m not sure who’s starting,” Fraschilla tells PaperCity. “But I know that there’s enough talent here for them to be in the mix nationally as a Top 10 program.”

Not everyone is as bullish on this post Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac Jr. five star freshmen UH season as Fraschilla. College basketball’s 365-day-a-year-man Jon Rothstein does not have Kelvin Sampson’s team in his preseason Top 10. CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish does not rank the Cougars in his Top 10 either. Even though Houston added the No. 1 rated freshman center in America in Arafan Diane and  four star guard Ikenna Alozie, there is a sense from some that UH’s talent will not be as top-line elite this upcoming season.

Fraschilla, the voice of Big 12 basketball on ESPN, thinks that view misses the bigger picture. Specifically how many talented hard-nosed players that Sampson and his staff brought in that perfectly fit the way this Hall of Fame level coach likes to play best. UH’s high-level transfers — particularly new starting point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. of LSU, rebounding savant Delrecco Gillespie of Kent State, natural scorer Corey Hadnot II of Purdue Fort Wayne, high flyer Braden East of Lamar and the most recent addition Chendall Weaver, a defensive disrupter from the University of Texas who’s eligibility hangs in the balance of all the college sports courtroom drama — should all play immediately. But Fraschilla is not worried about any dramatic transformation.

“What this reminds me of is there was a stretch five or six years ago where as the Cougars were hitting stride nationally, they’d lose four starters one year, four or five more the next year, and everybody didn’t expect Houston to bounce back the following year,” Fraschilla says. “And as we’ve all learned, it really doesn’t matter who’s coming and going.

“Kelvin’s going to put a team on the floor that’s highly competitive. There’s obviously less continuity than they’ve had in recent years with guys like (the returning JoJo) Tugler and (Jamal) Shead and (J’Wan) Roberts and (Emanuel) Sharp and (LJ) Cryer. But it’s not much different than it was four, five, six years ago when you lose a Galen Robinson, you’ve got a DeJon Jarreau. You lose Jarreau, you’ve got Shead.

“All of a sudden now, there’s a little bit of uncertainty from the outside looking in.”

Fraschilla is not buying any of that UH doubt. This coach turned longtime commentator is all in on the Chendall Weaver addition.

“Chendall Weaver is going to fit into the Houston system like a glove,” Fraschilla says. “He’s perfect. I’ve always been impressed with him. . . From UTA to Texas and now to Houston, it’s just a great situation for him. He’s cut from the same cloth as anybody who’s had success under Kelvin Sampson at Houston.

“Tough kid. He’s a humble kid. He plays hard. He puts the team first. He’s a great defender, he’s a great athlete. He checks all the boxes for a Kelvin Sampson team.”

“I’m not sure who’s starting. But I know that there’s enough talent here for them to be in the mix nationally as a Top 10 program.” — Fran Fraschilla on Kelvin Sampson’s revamped University of Houston team

Which makes Weaver’s push to get his own five in five (which is the new NCAA rule and presumed norm) even more important to this particular Houston team. Though Fraschilla thinks true freshman guard Ikenna Alozie and his potential first-year impact is being a little overlooked as well.

“I love Alozie,” Fraschilla tells PaperCity. “I’ve seen him a lot. Got to know him in some all-star camps.”

Fran Fraschiila, a Brooklyn Texan

Fraschilla knows basketball and this Houston program arguably better than any other national voice. While Fraschilla hails from Brooklyn, most memorably coached at St. John’s and still carries himself like someone with the city in his soul, he married a Dallas girl and has long been based in North Texas, which gives him easy access to a half dozen Big 12 programs, including Houston.

Fraschilla’s seen Kelvin Sampson’s yearly national championship push up close, frequently dropping in to attend UH practices. He knows the obstacles that already seem to loom large this upcoming season. “You’ve got a Florida team that returns like three guys who probably should be in the NBA already,” Fraschilla laughs. “But for NIL, they’re back. I think Arkansas and Kentucky look to be really good.

“As the summer is unfolding in the Big 12 with some of these transfers, right off the bat I’m looking at Arizona, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech as teams that are going to be right back where they’ve been. And yet what I think is going to make the league even stronger is how sneaky good Oklahoma State, TCU, West Virginia and Cincinnati are going to be.

“I think all those teams are going to have chance to be NCAA teams by the time we get to the Big 12 season. Top to bottom, I think the league will be deeper than last year.”

Fran Fraschilla will be in the heart of the action like usual. He is set to be the featured speaker for the inaugural H-Town Hoops Tipoff, an event that will bring all the college coaches in the Houston area (including Sampson), and the best high school boys and girls players, together for a Houston first hoops season kickoff extravaganza next month.

The Houston Hoops Tipoff will be October 28 at noon at the Bayou City Event Center. For more information and tickets, go here.