Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac’s Houston Proud NBA Draft Nights — Tears Of Investment, Early Vows and Very Different Hawks and Celtics Truths

As University of Houston assistant coach Kellen Sampson walked out of the Barclays Center and into the bustling Brooklyn streets, talking to a reporter on his cellphone, he knew Houston wasn’t done yet. Neither was he, with a flight to Las Vegas looming in the morning. “Nine am flight cross country,” Sampson says. “And we’ve got to get two more.”

That’d be two more NBA Draft picks to go with Kingston Flemings, who went to the Atlanta Hawks with the eighth overall pick as expected, and Chris Cenac Jr., grabbed by the Boston Celtics with the 27th selection of the first round in a sure steal, on a monumental University of Houston draft night. Both Flemings and Cenac did the UH program proud in this draft broadcast simultaneously on both ABC and ESPN.

Flemings is already charming the Atlanta media, talking about how he wanted to go to a winner like the Hawks (Quin Snyder’s team is the only NBA squad that won more than one game against the champion Knicks these past playoffs) and it is easy to see how the quickest guard in college basketball will lift the ATL. Chris Cenac is already vowing to use falling to No. 27 as motivation. Cenac noticeably teared up when the Celtics selected him and ended his wait (some of it highlighted on the ESPN broadcast).

To Kellen Sampson if you have not seen Chris Cenac’s want-to by now, his need-to, you simply haven’t been paying attention.

“I think that was such a loud reality throughout his process — just how much he loves basketball,” Sampson tells PaperCity. “. . . I certainly had a chance (to see that) over the last 12 months, having him in our building and having him in my position group. This is his life.

“He doesn’t have a Plan B. For him to get to this moment, you don’t do this with only half an investment. You only get here with the full investment. And that’s what he was able to do.”

Anyone still wondering what Chris Cenac is all about only needed to watch how excited the 6-foot-11 stretch four was in the moment his Houston teammate Kingston Flemings got selected at No. 8 by the Hawks. As Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson wrapped Flemings up in a long hug, Cenac clapped with a huge smile on his face, waiting for the next hug.

Cenac is someone who cares immensely and the bond between these two UH freshmen selected on opposite sides of this first round is real. And built to last long into their NBA careers.

Houston lead assistant Kellen Sampson to @PaperCityMag on Chris Cenac Jr. and his emotional NBA Draft night, ending up a Boston Celtic: “It’s a great fit. I don’t think he fell to anybody. People went to get him. I know the Celtics were unbelievably thrilled that they were able… https://t.co/2RgEiSioaM

— Chris Baldwin (@ChrisYBaldwin) June 24, 2026

The Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac Fits

Expect Kingston Flemings to be even more of a blur in the more wide open NBA game. Especially playing for Snyder with Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jonathan Kuminga already running the floor on the regular. Flemings taking advantage of the extra floor spacing in the NBA should be more terrorizing to teams than even a Memphis hotel room.

“I mean, I play really well in transition,” Flemings says in a Zoom call with reporters the Atlanta Hawks set up. “That’s the best way I play. And I mean, y’all are a fast-playing team already. . . You know, playing next to Nickeil , playing next to CJ (McCollum), Dyson Daniels, I’m gonna be able to really, play up and down the court.

“And I can play off-ball, too. . . You know, I learned it at Houston. And I think I can really integrate into this team and be a good player.”

Kellen Sampson knows that Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac will make any team better — right away next season, but even more in the future seasons to come. As Kellen and his dad Kelvin Sampson walked out of the NBA Draft, he found himself returning to the emotions of the moment. Of the entire journey really.

Kellen Sampson’s been watching Flemings play basketball since he was 15 years old, back when nobody imagined the skinny guard as a one-and-done NBA player, a Top 8 pick. He’s spent hundreds of hours working with Cenac before and after almost every UH practice all last season

Flemings and Cenac both might be one-and-done college players. But they’re not done with Houston.

“Just the emotion that both those guys shared when they heard their names,” Sampson tells PaperCity. “You don’t get to this night without going all in. They both went all in on their dream so those tears were tears of investment, tears of accomplishment, tears of validation.

“I know that feeling of accomplishment will be short lived with both of them. And they’ll get right back to work tomorrow and go make good on those two franchises for believing in them.”

Both Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac Jr. take plenty with them to their new NBA franchises. Flemings wore a burgundy suit with pictures of all the teams he played on growing up in San Antonio, plus his favorite quote — which not coincidently happens to be a Kelvin Sampson favorite — “Comparison is the thief of joy” — stitched inside. Cenac takes a new Celtics hat and something of a new chip to the winningest NBA franchise of all time.

Kingston Flemings shows off burgundy suit he’s wearing on NBA Draft night that includes pictures on inside of the jacket of all the teams he played on over the years. Also has his favorite quote “Comparison is the thief of joy” stitched in. Comes from Maestro Philippe in H-Town. pic.twitter.com/fqKUFYFYFj

— Chris Baldwin (@ChrisYBaldwin) June 23, 2026

Now it’s time to see where UH guards Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan will go in the second round of this NBA Draft on Wednesday night.

Two draft picks in, two more dreams to secure. Some tears are earned.