Unlocking Chris Cenac Jr. — Kelvin Sampson’s Patient Plan Is Bringing Out the Best In an NBA Talent Right On Schedule

Chase McCarty can see the confusion in the eyes of regular Big 12 big men when Chris Cenac Jr.  hits a three, and then a second one. “It’s huge versatility,” McCarty tells PaperCity. “It brings a lot of floor spacing for us. It allows Kingston (Flemings) to get downhill. It allows EMan (Emanuel Sharp) to get up more good shots.”

Don’t look now — and based on the polls and the national college basketball talking points, it appears many may already not be looking that closely — but Kelvin Sampson’s University of Houston team is 17-1 and Chris Cenac is just getting started in many ways. Cenac, the 6-foot-11 freshman with inside and outside skills, just put up his most complete game of the season in that romp over Arizona State.

Cenac’s line? Eighteen points, eight rebounds, a career-high five assists, a block, three steals and two 3-pointers made. He’s gone 6 for 12 from distance in Houston’s last three games. But it’s how comfortable the 18-year-old looks doing it, how confidently he flies in to turn a missed shot into a rebound slam, that resonates most. Cenac’s ascent has been a steady, sometimes silent rise, one marked by continued improvement and following the careful plan Kelvin Sampson and Kellen Sampson mapped out for him.

In a season of super splashy freshman star turns — with Duke’s Cameron Boozer, BYU’s A.J. Dybantsa, Houston’s own teenage point guard wonder Kingston Flemings, Arkansas guard Daris Acuff, North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson and Arizona’s Koa Peat all grabbing headline moments — Cenac has just kept getting better.

“He’s just got the right attitude about everything,” Kellen Sampson, the assistant coach who works with Cenac and UH’s other power forwards every day, says. “And when somebody does that with his talent, they’re going to get better in a hurry.”

Not rushed. Worked. And now ready.

Cenac’s talent never has been in doubt. He arrived at UH as a consensus Top 6 recruit in the country and the No. 1 rated center in his class. He is going to be a first round NBA Draft pick whenever he comes out of college (still most likely after this season). But in a basketball world of instant gratification, where highlights and big stat lines often become the only recognized currency, developing your game while starting from day one for one of the best teams in America can be overlooked.

“I just think Chris shows up every day,” Kelvin Sampson says.

Ready to work. Cenac is usually one of the first players there before practice and often one of the last to leave the gym after practice. He came to Houston as a big man used to shooting threes, but not close to a consistent 3-point shooter. He is showing signs of starting to become one.

“I try to work to get better every day,” Cenac says.

Cenac and his dad Chris Cenac Sr. wanted him to play the four in college rather than the five because that is where Cenac’s future lies in the more wide-open NBA. The Sampsons made the plan work by getting him to focus on rebounding early (a potentially elite skill for him already) and adding on more and more as the season’s gone on.

The 15 shots Cenac took in UH’s last game is his season high. He is starting to exert himself more while knowing he does not to carry the offensive load with the Cougars’ elite starting backcourt of Flemings and veteran guards Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan, who is 9 for 16 from 3-point range himself in his last two games, with an ESPN College Gameday Saturday at No. 12 Texas Tech looming. Cenac is becoming more sure on his rolls to the rim, more forceful on his finishes.

Sometimes, a little time and staying true to a developmental plan works wonders.

“Things are just starting to slow down for him,” Kellen Sampson tells PaperCity. “Coach has done a good job of keeping things pretty simple. And he’s so coachable about just doing the things he can do and what he’s not ready for. You’re going to be able to do just about anything one day.

“But for right now, let’s just get really good at this and make some simple decisions and make some simple plays.”

“He’s just got the right attitude about everything. And when somebody does that with his talent, they’re going to get better in a hurry.” — UH assistant Kellen Sampson on Chris Cenac Jr.

A Talented Gym Nut Like Quentin Grimes

Ceanc reminds Kellen Sampson of Quentin Grimes, the former Cougar star who’s turned himself into an NBA regular due for a big payday this summer, in some ways. Like Grimes, Cenac is an uber talented player who’s also a gym rat.

“Quentin was the same way,” Kellen Sampson says. “In that he loved basketball so much that he was just never going to fail. Chris is the same way. He loves basketball. He loves to work at it. He’s so desperate to be a good player that he lets you coach him hard.”

Not rushed. Worked. And now ready.

UH coach Kelvin Sampson loves how Chris Ceanc always looks him in the eye, even if the coach is getting on him. How he never shrinks from his demands.

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson on true freshman Chris Cenac Jr: “I love that kid. He never has a bad day. And I have worn him out. He’s never ever not looked me in the eye.. He’s never ever complained..Wherever he’s playing in the NBA down the road, that team is going to be lucky.” pic.twitter.com/2Q7ysgMEGT

— Chris Baldwin (@ChrisYBaldwin) January 14, 2026

Chris Cenac signed with Houston knowing he would be coached hard and would not be guaranteed a ton of shots every game. “You’ve got to be tough,” Cenac tells PaperCity. “If you want to make it in the league, you need to be tough. I knew that. And at Houston, we’re tough.”

Cenac is getting tougher as more and more of his talent shows. A rematch with the Big 12’s best big man — the college dominant JT Toppin — looms in a frigid Lubbock on Saturday evening (5:30 pm, ESPN). Toppin put up 18 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in UH’s 69-65 home win over the Red Raiders earlier this month. But Cenac and UH’s unicorn center JoJo Tugler combined for 22 points and 21 rebounds of their own in that game.

Cenac’s 3-pointers can further shift the math in his team’s favor in a game.

“You had this 3-point shooting with Milos and Kingston’s ability to get to the paint, there’s just space,” Kellen Sampson says. “Chris came here as somebody who can make a three. And he works his butt off every day to become a good 3-point shooter.

“He’s on his journey to being that. And he’s eventually going to be an excellent 3-point shooter.”

Cenac grew up looking to Anthony Davis as the kind of inside-outside versatile big man he wanted to be. This 18-year-old has a ways to go defensively, but he has the wingspan (7-foot-4) and instincts to become a more impactful player on that end and up his 0.5 blocks per game average.

His teammates see the runs in practice where it happens. Now everyone’s seeing more and more in the games. Which further raises the potential ceiling for this already 17-1 group.

“We can be really good man,” Uzan says. “I think we can be just as good or better than last year’s (national championship runner-up) team.”

Chris Cenac got his hair cut short right before the new year. He is geared up for this closing run, maybe his last semester in college.

“Kingston and Chris probably won’t be here long enough,” Kelvin Sampson says when talking about jersey numbers that could — and should be — retired by UH in the future. “But they’ll always be part of this program.”

Sitting next to Sampson, Cenac nods his head at that. He’s not done yet though. In some ways, he’s still just getting started. Right on time.

Not rushed. Worked. And now ready.