Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson had a message for Cougars fans during Saturday’s football game against Oregon State: Show up and support Willie Fritz’s program now, not after it becomes a College Football Playoff contender.
Sampson was interviewed on the sidelines during the Houston vs. Oregon State game, and the basketball coach said, “We got the right guy [Willie Fritz]. He’s not only a great coach, he’s a great man, great husband, grandfather. But he also has a great staff. Conner Whitman. What he represents… this is the kind of team we have to hear from. It’s important as an athletic department that we start filling this stadium and showing up and supporting these guys. Because as the season goes on, they’re going to get better and better. And we’re in a position now, where if we have a great year we can get to the Playoffs, but we got to support the team right now, not wait until they become a Playoff team.”
There’s certainly potential for Houston to get to that point if they can make a legitimate run through the Big 12 this season. Houston finished T-4 in the Big 12 last season with a 10-3 overall record, including going 6-3 in Big 12 play. As Sampson noted, the Cougars bring back Connor Weigman, along with star wide receiver Amare Thomas, and have brought in some high-end transfer portal players, like running back Makhi Hughes, who comes over after playing at Tulane and Oregon.
Attendance for Houston football has long been a problem, including since they joined the Big 12 Conference. While it’s now known as a basketball school, this program is now more than legit enough to get support from students, alumni and general fans to sell out home games.
So with four Big 12 games on the schedule this fall, vs. UCF, Oklahoma State, Cincinnati and Baylor, Kelvin Sampson wants this UH fan base to show up and show out, just like they do for hoops. Let’s see if the fan base is up to accept the challenge.
