UH Is Bringing the NCAA Tournament Selection Show Fun To Campus At Kelvin Sampson’s Urging

It turns out that University of Houston’s roaring Senior Night comeback against Baylor will not be the last time that UH fans get to see Emanuel Sharp, Kingston Flemings, Milos Uzan and Co. in Fertitta Center. The school is bringing its Selection Sunday event to campus at coach Kelvin Sampson’s urging.

“Coach is like ‘Let’s try something different,’ ” Houston athletic director Eddie Nuñez tells PaperCity. “We know the importance — and we know coach knows and the basketball staff. They know how important our fan base is and our students. So the more we can give back. If we’re going to build this bigger than what we have here, we need to keep showing them the love. And showing them that you are part of everything we do.”

So after two years of a more private Selection Sunday experiences at UH billionaire believer Tilman Fertitta’s posh Post Oak Hotel, one of which included Jamal Shead gifting Drake with a Houston jersey, the team will hold things at Fertitta Center next Sunday, March 15. This Selection Sunday party will double as an NIL fundraiser for Sampson’s basketball program with a $15 general admission price (kids under 12 get in free).

The event runs from 3 pm to 6:30 pm with the actual NCAA Tournament bracket reveal set to start at 5 pm. That will show where the now 25-5 Cougars are heading in the Big Dance (likely starting  with first and second round games in Oklahoma City) and whether they get placed in the South Regional, which will play its Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games at Toyota Center (it may take the Cougars winning the Big 12 Tournament to secure that favorable position from this selection committee). No matter Kelvin Sampson’s team’s destiny, fans will be able to see the reaction to it live.

With UH’s Spirit of Houston band and cheerleading squads both helping pump up the atmosphere. Don’t be surprised if CBS picks Sampson’s Houston program as one of the teams it will show live either.

“An opportunity to wow our fans,” Nuñez says of the Selection Sunday event. “A bigger arena. Everybody can be part of it in a bigger arena. Just give our fans a chance to be there to celebrate it with us.”

“Coach is like ‘Let’s try something different.’ We know the importance — and we know coach knows and the basketball staff. They know how important our fan base is and our students. So the more we can give back. If we’re going to build this bigger than what we have here, we need to keep showing them the love.” — Houston AD Eddie Nuñez on bringing Selection Sunday to campus

Who would want to say goodbye to Fertitta Center for the season after a season in which Emanuel Sharp cemented his place in UH lore, Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac Jr. gave regular highlight looks at their NBA futures and JoJo Tugler did JoJo things? This Selection Sunday show party isn’t a game. But it’s another chance to celebrate this team and the major possibilities still ahead of it.

Kelvin Sampson turned to the stands and fired up the Fertitta crowd during that 13-0 power flex of a run that squashed Baylor’s upset hopes the other night. But he’s not ready to say goodbye to these crowds either.

“We have some of the greatest, greatest home court advantages,” Sampson says of life in the Big 12. “The reason why our record’s what it is — is No. 1 we’re good. Because if we weren’t the fans wouldn’t come. I saw that in that first couple of years. . . But I didn’t do nearly as good a job getting those fans going as our players did in making shots,”

Creating memorable scenes matters for Sampson’s program as it pushes to remain one of the truly elite national programs in America. A Senior Night where UH football coach Willie Fritz and quarterback Conner Weigman come out together to lead the “Whose House” chant and do their small part to pump up the basketball crowd means something.

“I’m unbelievably fortunate to have two unbelievable coaches in football and basketball,” Nuñez tells PaperCity. “Two coaches  who respect each other, who’ve been around for some time, so they understand the importance of if we can all work together and have great success on both of those, it only lifts everybody else. . .

“But to see people like Conner who want to say thanks to the seniors that means a lot. It shows how special this place is.”

Now the athletic director’s goal is to make this on-campus Selection Sunday feel like a special deal. One that draws even more people in.