# 2016–17 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars were led by third-year head coach Kelvin Sampson and were members of the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars played their home games at Hofheinz Pavilion. They finished the season 21–11, 12–6 in AAC play to finish in third place. They lost to UConn in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament as a No. 2 seed and lost in the first round to Akron.

## Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 22–11, 12–6 in AAC play to finish in a tie for third place in conference. They lost in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament to Tulane. They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost to Georgia Tech in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Ronnie Johnson | 3 | G | 6'0" | 180 | RS Junior | Indianapolis, IN | Graduate transferred to Auburn |
| LeRon Barnes | 4 | G | 6'5" | 195 | RS Senior | Stonewall, LA | Graduated |
| L. J. Rose | 5 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Senior | Houston, TX | Graduate transferred to BYU |
| Eric Weary, Jr. | 23 | G | 6'4" | 210 | Senior | New Orleans, LA | Graduated |
| Devonta Pollard | 24 | F | 6'8" | 200 | Senior | Porterville, MS | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Morris Dunnigan | 5 | G | 6'3" | 195 | Junior | Joliet, IL | Junior college transferred from Blinn College |
| Devin Davis | 15 | F | 6'7" | 230 | Junior | Indianapolis, IN | Junior college transferred from Odessa College |
| Valentine Sangoyomi | 20 | C | 6'11" | 250 | Junior | Lagos, Nigeria | Junior college transferred from Northern Oklahoma College |

### Class of 2016 signees

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Armoni Brooks SG | Round Rock, TX | McNeil High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 6, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Houston Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016. "2016 Houston Basketball Commitment List". Scout.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016. ||||||

### Class of 2017 signees

College recruiting information (2017) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Michael Adewunmi SG | Mansfield, TX | Lake Ridge High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Aug 1, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Fabian White Jr. PF | Humble, TX | Atascocita High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 11, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 82 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Houston Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016. "2017 Houston Basketball Commitment List". Scout.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/05/2016* 7:00 pm | | UNC Pembroke | W 94–67 | | Hofheinz Pavilion (2,611) Houston, TX |
| 11/16/2016* 7:00 pm | | Angelo State | W 84–72 | | Hofheinz Pavilion (2,695) Houston, TX |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Morgan State | W 93–52 | 1–0 | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,005) Houston, TX |
| 11/21/2016* 6:30 pm | | vs. George Mason Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals | W 93–56 | 2–0 | Germain Arena (1,000) Estero, FL |
| 11/22/2016* 6:30 pm | | vs. South Dakota Gulf Coast Showcase semifinals | W 85–58 | 3–0 | Germain Arena (1,000) Estero, FL |
| 11/23/2016* 6:30 p.m. | | vs. Vermont Gulf Coast Showcase final | W 72–71 | 4–0 | Germain Arena (1,000) Estero, FL |
| 11/26/2016* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cornell | W 83–53 | 5–0 | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,223) Houston, TX |
| 11/29/2016* 8:00 pm, SECN | | at LSU | L 65–84 | 5–1 | Maravich Center (6,695) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 12/03/2016* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Prairie View A&M | W 105–61 | 6–1 | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,091) Houston, TX |
| 12/06/2016* 6:00 pm, SECN | | at Arkansas | L 72–84 | 6–2 | Bud Walton Arena (13,455) Fayetteville, AR |
| 12/10/2016* 12:30 pm, ESPNU | | Rhode Island | W 82–77 | 7–2 | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,371) Houston, TX |
| 12/17/2016* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Texas–Rio Grande Valley | W 83–58 | 8–2 | Hofheinz Pavilion (2,856) Houston, TX |
| 12/21/2016* 7:00 pm, ASN | | Liberty | W 77–54 | 9–2 | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,540) Houston, TX |
| 12/23/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Harvard | L 56–57 | 9–3 | Hofheinz Pavilion (4,004) Houston, TX |
| AAC regular season ||||||
| 12/28/2016 ESPN2 | | at UConn | W 62–46 | 10–3 (1–0) | XL Center (11,538) Hartford, CT |
| 12/31/2016 11:00 am, ESPNU | | at South Florida | W 70–56 | 11–3 (2–0) | USF Sun Dome (2,353) Tampa, FL |
| 01/04/2017 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | Tulsa | W 64–61 | 12–3 (3–0) | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,415) Houston, TX |
| 01/07/2017 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | No. 22 Cincinnati | L 58–67 | 12–4 (3–1) | Hofheinz Pavilion (4,875) Houston, TX |
| 01/11/2017 5:00 pm, ESPNews | | at East Carolina | W 74–58 | 13–4 (4–1) | Williams Arena (4,197) Greenville, NC |
| 01/14/2017 3:00 pm, CBSSN | | at UCF | L 70–77 | 13–5 (4–2) | CFE Arena (5,489) Orlando, FL |
| 01/19/2017 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | Memphis | L 67–70 $^{OT}$ | 13–6 (4–3) | Hofheinz Pavilion (4,815) Houston, TX |
| 01/21/2017 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | at SMU | L 64–85 | 13–7 (4–4) | Moody Coliseum (7,002) Dallas, TX |
| 01/24/2017 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | Tulane | W 65–51 | 14–7 (5–4) | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,421) Houston, TX |
| 01/28/2017 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Temple | W 79–66 | 15–7 (6–4) | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,627) Houston, TX |
| 02/01/2017 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | UCF | W 82–64 | 16–7 (7–4) | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,681) Houston, TX |
| 02/08/2017 7:00 pm, ESPNews | | at Tulane | W 91–62 | 17–7 (8–4) | Devlin Fieldhouse (1,165) New Orleans, LA |
| 02/11/2017 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Tulsa | W 73–64 | 18–7 (9–4) | Reynolds Center (4,229) Tulsa, OK |
| 02/18/2017 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 19 SMU | L 66–76 | 18–8 (9–5) | Hofheinz Pavilion (8,479) Houston, TX |
| 02/22/2017 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | UConn | W 75–70 | 19–8 (10–5) | Hofheinz Pavilion (4,131) Houston, TX |
| 02/26/2017 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Memphis | W 72–71 | 20–8 (11–5) | FedEx Forum (12,381) Memphis, TN |
| 03/02/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 18 Cincinnati | L 47–65 | 20–9 (11–6) | Fifth Third Arena (13,176) Cincinnati, OH |
| 03/05/2017 3:00 pm, CBSSN | | East Carolina | W 73–51 | 21–9 (12–6) | Hofheinz Pavilion (8,479) Houston, TX |
| AAC tournament ||||||
| 03/10/2017 9:00 pm, ESPNU | (3) | vs. (6) UConn Quarterfinals | L 65–74 | 21–10 | XL Center (7,365) Hartford, CT |
| NIT ||||||
| 03/15/2017* 6:30 pm, ESPNU | (2) | (7) Akron First round – California Bracket | L 75–78 | 21–11 | Health and Physical Education Arena (1,928) Houston, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source