The Legend Of Old Man J’Wan Roberts — Teammates Tease Him About Being Part Of Phi Slama Jama, Showing No. 4 Houston’s Forever Together Bonds

Some good natured teasing is part of the University of Houston basketball program’s love language. If someone’s not creatively getting on you, you’re not really part of their group. Well by this measure, no one is as loved as graduate senior J’Wan Roberts, who will start his sixth season with the Cougars when college basketball tips off across the country Monday night.

It feels like Roberts has been around forever — and his teammates never let him forget it.

“Call him Oldie, Senior Citizen,” guard Emanuel Sharp quickly volunteers. “All that.”

“He played with Hakeem,” shooting guard LJ Cryer adds. “Hakeem Olajuwon, Drexler.

“Yeah, J’Wan was a part of Phi Slama Jama,” Sharp continues, the grin spreading across his face.

“J’Wan started Phi Slama Jama,” Cryer corrects.

“I’m going to remember all that now,” Roberts shoots back, shaking his head at his teammates. “I got y’all now.”

To be a Forever Team you need. a forever bond. As UH prepares to start Coach Kelvin Sampson’s 11th season in Houston against Jackson State in a 7 pm Monday night tip at Fertitta Center, this group with four returning starters (and five returning reserves who played important minutes at one point or another last season), certainly has that. This is a group that is driven to become Sampson’s first national championship team.

Roberts, a 23-year-old who’d be considered young in almost any other situation, is very aware this is his last chance to be part of UH’s all-time Forever Title Team. So is LJ Cryer, the transfer from Baylor who goes into his second season as a Cougar more comfortable than ever, feeling like this where he always belonged.

“I feel like there’s a lot of stuff left in the tank that I can reach potential wise,” Roberts tells PaperCity. “My goal this year is try and be the best rebounder in the nation. And (Sampson) knows that I can do that.”

The biggest thing that could stop Roberts from leading the country in rebounding may be how many other potentially great rebounders he’s playing with. JoJo Tugler is capable of gobbling up rebounds at the rate that Pac-Man eats pellets when he’s in the game for the Coogs. Regular starting center Ja’Vier Francis has another level he can reach in rebounding too.

J’Wan Roberts Pushes For More

Still, don’t count out Old Man Roberts. Especially with Old Man River in his ear. Kelvin Sampson just keeps coming, like a relentless body of water, telling Roberts he can do more. That he should demand more of himself.

“Sometimes when I have I’d probably say like five, six rebounds in a game, he kind of thinks I’m underachieving,” Roberts says of Sampson. “I know I can do way more. My goal this year is try to be consistent on the rebounding glass. Try to average at least 10 rebounds.”

J’Wan Roberts has always been a guy who never gives up. He’ll never forget the time Kelvin Sampson forgot he was still running at a practice during his redshirt freshman season. Back a million years ago if you listen to Sharp and Cryer.

“Coach always emphasizes about turning the ball over,” Roberts says. “He don’t like turnovers. I was at practice and I got double teamed — and I turned the ball over. And Coach got mad at me and made me run laps around the court. And he kind of forgot about me. And I was running the whole entire practice.

“Until Coach (Kellen) had to tell him, ‘Coach, Coach, J’Wan is still running.’ He was like, ‘Come here J’Wan.’ And I was able to practice again.”

Roberts laughs. Now. He never stopped running back then though. Even when Kelvin Sampson forgot about him, he just kept running. Lap after lap after lap. No. 13 doesn’t quit.

Kelvin Sampson remembers the J’Wan Roberts who arrived at Houston as a 6-foot-6, 194 pound center. “I don’t even know who was recruiting him,” Sampson says. “. . . But I know we liked him. You can be sure not many schools were recruiting him. But we recruit a lot of small centers.

“But he was just one of us. He was a Cougar. . . I could tell he was going to be a good fit. And now he’s 6-7 and a half and he weighs 237. And he’s one of the best players in the Big 12. He’s humble. He has no ego. He doesn’t even know he’s a good player. He doesn’t know he’s as good a player as he is. He knows that he’s good. But he doesn’t know how good he is.”

Roberts grew up in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. His mother sent him to live with her sister in Killeen, Texas when he was in the eighth grade, thinking it would give him a chance to maybe land a basketball scholarship and change his life. It turns out J’Wan Roberts would change a number of lives for the better along the way too, being always quick with a smile or a helping hand.

Now Roberts is feeling healthy again after needing to get his knee drained every week down the stretch last season to keep playing through the pain. It’s another year with Coach Samps. Only it’s not. It’s J’Wan Roberts’ last season at UH. The final run.

Roberts tells PaperCity that he still texts Sampson every month or two to thank him for “the opportunity,” for giving him the chance to play for him. “I give a lot of credit to me aunt too for taking care of me while I was in Killeen,” Roberts says. “Just them having my back and being there for me.”

There is a reason former All-American UH point guard turned Toronto Raptors rotation regular Jamal Shead wore a “Too Small” (to guard him) J’Wan Roberts T-shirt the other day walking into an NBA arena. Once you’ve been around J’Wan Roberts, his heart sticks with you.

“I feel like there’s a lot of stuff left in the tank that I can reach potential wise. My goal this year is try and be the best rebounder in the nation. And (Sampson) knows that I can do that.” — J’Wan Roberts

J’Wan Roberts has certainly built those forever bonds. You can hear it in the chorus around him. Oldie. Senior Citizen. Hakeem’s old sidekick. He’s heard it all — and vowed his own funny get backs revenge. From forever bonded to Forever Team? Time will tell. One thing’s certain, this final run is going to be unforgettable.

“It’s been a blessing,” Roberts says. “I wouldn’t trade it for any other college in the world. . . I’m going to ride it out.”

No outlet covers UH basketball throughout the entire calendar year with more consistency and focus than PaperCity Houston. For more of Chris Baldwin’s extensive, detailed and unique insider coverage of UH sports — stories you cannot read anywhere else — bookmark this page. Follow Baldwin on the platform formerly known as Twitter here.