‘Run It Back’

IN AN AGE WHERE LOYALTY in college basketball is treated like a relic, the University of Houston Men’s Basketball team decided to do something radical following the 2023–2024 season. They came back.

Birdseye view of the NCAA Final Four basketball court and the stands are filled with fans.

It started quietly last March, in the echo of a Sweet 16 loss to Duke. With multiple players recognized as draft prospects, or the promise of an NIL deal or a starting position on another team, the headlines said the Cougars were done. The team said: not yet.

J’Wan Roberts made the first move. “Job’s not finished. Let’s run it back,” he posted on Instagram. Then L.J. Cryer. Then Emanuel Sharp. One by one, the roster stacked back up. Ja’Vier Francis, JoJo Tugler, Ramon Walker Jr., Terrance Arceneaux and Mylik Wilson. Everyone but All-American point guard Jamal Shead.

“Job’s not finished. Let’s run it back.”

— J’Wan Roberts

A “Run It Back” campaign was born — not as a slogan, but as a mission. “If you’ve got a program that’s sustainable over an eight-year period like we’ve been, it starts with the character of your players and the kind of kids you want,” says Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson. Nearly a year later, the Coogs proved they were not only the most loyal team in America but worthy of national title contention.

“I feel like when you come across a bunch of people [who are] genuine and love you for you, I feel like you want to keep those guys close to you as much as you can,” Roberts says. In a sport overtaken by the transfer portal and NIL bidding wars, Sampson built something different. Something lasting. Only three players from his top rotation have transferred out in 11 seasons. The team that beat Tennessee? Four starters returned from last year. The only additions? Milos Uzan, a savvy pickup from Oklahoma.

Houston against Florida in the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball national championship game at the Alamodome.

basketball players playing a game on the court

J'Wan Roberts had the chance to “run it back” with his teammates, and they made UH history along the way.

“I feel like when you come across a bunch of people [who are] genuine and love you for you, I feel like you want to keep those guys close to you as much as you can.”

— J'Wan Roberts

Basketball player L.J. Cryer going for the goal in the NCAA National Championship.

L.J. Cryer was a dominant force on the court.

Milos Uzan celebrates with fans who traveled many miles to support the team.

“We’re kind of a homegrown program. We bring kids in as freshmen. We don’t really live in the portal. This year, we only took one portal kid, and that was Milos [Uzan]. Everybody else returned,” Sampson says. “Year before that we took two ... L.J. [Cryer] and Damian [Dunn]. We’ve always believed in recruiting high school kids and developing them, and that’s how we’ve had a great culture. It’s been a secret sauce of ours.”

After the 2024 season, players had no shortage of options: Chase the money or promises laid before them, or double down and come back.

“I could have been in the G League or doing something else, but it made more sense coming back to college,” Cryer says. “At the end of the day, I’m all about winning. I felt like we had unfinished business, and I felt like with the group we have right now, we could do something special.”

“With the group we have right now, we could do something special.”

— L.J. Cryer

They stayed for love — for the game, for their coaches and program, and for each other. “This team, it’s a brotherhood here. I love lacing up next to E and L every day,” says Uzan, referring to teammates Sharp and Cryer.

“Family, that’s No. 1. I call all these guys my brothers. If I could be here for another three years, I would,” Roberts said after his final game wearing a Houston uniform. “I wouldn’t trade this for anything else in the world.”

For Sampson, this wasn’t just a team; it was one of his all-time favorites.

A group that let him coach them hard, held each other accountable and carried the weight of the season together. They weren’t the most heralded roster he’s ever had, but they might’ve been the most connected.

“I don’t want to coach a team that doesn’t cry,” Sampson said after the loss to Florida. “That means I’m recruiting the wrong dudes.”

They cried together in that locker room — freshmen, seniors, everyone in between — because they gave everything. And because they loved each other enough to hurt like that.