Emanuel Sharp Says Jamal Shead Won’t Return to Houston in 2024-25
After Houston guard Jamal Shead suffered a heartbreaking end to his 2024 NCAA Tournament run in the Sweet 16 against Duke, many Cougars fans held out a sliver of hope that Shead would elect to return as a fifth-year senior.
The possibility of Shead returning took a hit on Monday afternoon, with sophomore guard Emanuel Sharp mentioning in Paper City Magazine that Shead will not be back next season.
“That’s our guy,” Sharp said. “It just sucks to not be able to play with him in our last game. To go out like that. It just sucks. We love him. And it just sucks that he’s not going to be back next year.”
Shead quickly staked his claim as one of the nation’s best guards in 2023-24, earning First-Team All-American honors, First-Team All-Big 12 honors, Big 12 Player of the Year honors, and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors in his first season in the league. The Texas native recorded 12.9 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game in his fourth season of college basketball.
While Jamal Shead’s path to return is technically still open if he intends to use his COVID year, Kelvin Sampson will likely need to attack the transfer portal this offseason in hopes of finding a player capable of filling the production gap left by Jamal Shead.
