Inside Jacob McFarland’s Incredible Houston Basketball Comeback — Two Leg Surgeries, More Than 900 Days and a Never-Quit Dad’s Inspiration

Jacob McFarland hears the crowd roar as what he’s been waiting and waiting for, daring to keep dreaming of through every setback, and all the pain, finally happens. “No. 13, Jacob McFarland,” the Fertitta Center public address announcer intones, introducing the talented 6-foot-11 center for the first time. McFarland is finally playing in a real game for the University of Houston, more than 900 days since he first showed up as a wide-eyed freshman for summer conditioning in June of 2023. Two surgeries on the right leg that snapped and shattered in a practice in October 29th, 2024 — one of the most gruesome injuries Kelvin Sampson, UH’s 70-year-old basketball lifer of a coach, has ever seen — and a knee issue that cropped up could not stop McFarland from pushing on.

From getting to this introduction. From stepping onto the court and joining his teammates. At last.

First time, long time.

“It was very emotional,” McFarland tells PaperCity. “I know my mom’s probably crying.”

And screaming with joy. How could you not? You do not have to be a UH basketball fan to appreciate Jacob McFarland’s incredible comeback story. If you like college basketball or sports at all, or even just appreciate perseverance in the face of obstacle after obstacle, this is a tale worth hearing.

“His resilience,” UH assistant coach K.C. Beard tells PaperCity. “Man. He never stopped. He still deals with pain, but it’s gotten a lot better since that second procedure.

“It’s just great to see him out there. After the year he’s had, it just makes your heart happy to see that.”

Jacob McFarland often found himself looking down at the tattoo he has for his dad on his leg during the toughest of days, the days when he thought about maybe quitting. Of giving in to the pain and despair that a seemingly endless rehab can bring. The tattoo begins not far below the knee and starts with “Dear Dad. Thank you for all the sacrifices you’ve made for me.” It ends just above this near 7-footer’s ankle with “My Hero.”

McFarland will never forget how his dad Rick McFarland ruptured his Achilles tendon and just kept limping off to work early every morning, clocking in at the water company and doing a job that kept him on his feet and that ruptured Achilles most of the day.

“That’s the most resilient man I know,” McFarland tells PaperCity. “I know if he can get through it, I know I can get through it.”

McFarland’s comeback moment happens with 4:26 left in No. 7 Houston’s 80-36 demolition of an overmatched Jackson State team. Kelvin Sampson walks down to McFarland on the bench with about eight minutes left and tells him to get ready, following the plan PaperCity first reported. McFarland will get on the exercise bike and stretch out in the tunnel, fighting his nervous energy and trying to prepare.

How do you get ready for a moment you’ve been waiting forever for?

It turns out you lean on your teammates. McFarland will lean against beyond excited freshman guard Isiah Harwell as the roar from the crowd builds. He cannot stop smiling.

First time, long time.

Back in Southern California, where it’s still early in the evening, Rick McFarland is trying to watch his son’s big moment on a screen in his car, his day not over yet. A police officer pulls him over, then lets him go without a ticket when he hears the explanation. Even the Grinch himself would have a hard time not turning nice in the face of hearing the incredible comeback tale of Jacob McFarland.

“He’s like ‘I’m watching my son, I’m watching my son,’ ” McFarland says. “But he wasn’t like on the freeway or nothing. He was on a regular street.”

“His resilience, Man. He never stopped. He still deals with pain, but it’s gotten a lot better since that second procedure. It’s just great to see him out there. After the year he’s had, it just makes your heart happy to see that.” — UH assistant K.C. Beard on Jacob McFarland

The Other Side Of the Night — Kalifa Sakho Gets Hurt

On the night that Jacob McFarland comes back, Houston’s regular backup center Kalifa Sakho goes down, crumpling to the court in agony after Harwell accidentally collides with his left knee, as freak an injury as you’ll see. UH director of men’s basketball sports performance Alan Bishop and associate director of operations Will Finch help hold the 6-foot-11 Sakho up as he limps to the locker room, the tears coming from the pain and what could be lost.

Expecting McFarland to be able to fill in for Sakho is asking way too much four minutes into his long-delayed basketball career.

“It’s not going to be this year,” Kelvin Sampson says of McFarland. “People who know anything about athletic injuries wouldn’t even think that way. But next year. Following year. He’s going to be a really good player for us here.”

Once he’s on the court, McFarland does show a few flashes of what made him a coveted Top 100 recruit, even in this first time. He’s active enough to get two rebounds and a steal. He shows his passing ability when he finds Chase McCarty (seven rebounds) for an open three.

“I was trying to get some passing in,” McFarland says with a smile. “But Chase didn’t want to hit that three I got him.”

Karen Sampson, Kelvin’s wife, remembers McFarland’s unconventional big man passing from the minutes he played on a summer exhibition tour to Australia in 2023 before he redshirted for that season. The redshirt season was supposed to be a one-year building block of a break. Then McFarland broke his leg just days before the start of the next season. Then the pain didn’t go away and he needed another surgery this August.

It’s enough to make a man wonder if he’s ever going to get on the court. McFarland admits he had his days of doubts. But something his mom Ashley kept telling him stuck with him. Helped carry him through.

“I really believed what my mom told me,” McFarland says. “Just keep going.”

Ashley McFarland flew out from California to be there after her son’s first surgery, stayed with him through the rough first few weeks. Kelvin Sampson, Kellen Sampson and K.C. Beard stayed at the hospital, waiting hours for McFarland to get out of surgery, so they would be there when he woke up. Jacob McFarland would just keep going, day after day after day. Even when his leg sometimes screamed for him to stop. Until he finally made this night happen.

First time, long time.

“It meant a lot to me for his mother and father,” Kelvin Sampson says. “And Jacob.”

Sampson is openly wondering, and hoping, that this now redshirt sophomore who’s just getting started could end up having a J’Wan Roberts-like six-year run with this Houston program.

“I really believed what my mom told me. Just keep going.” — UH center Jacob McFarland

On a night when five star freshman guard Isiah Harwell puts up a career-high 20 points, playing like the sixth man Sampson’s been looking for, and the UH bench combines for 40 points with energy man Ramon Walker Jr. sparking the Cougars after an early sub in and Mercy Miller throwing down a dunk, it’s hard not to think of the future. Jacob McFarland knows you can take nothing for granted there. Learned the hard way. And still made it back to this night.

“So fired up,” K.C. Beard, who coaches the centers, tells PaperCity. “He’s one of those guys who plays with great pace and decision making on the offensive end. And he loves to pass. You can tell when he gets it in practice, he forgets about his leg.”

After those long-awaited four minutes, Jacob McFarland is thinking about his lungs.

“I’m gassed man,” he laughs.

First time, long time. And just getting started. He’s only going to keep going now.