Transfers boost Sampson’s Cougars, others into Sweet 16

INDIANAPOLIS » Kelvin Sampson never set out to take a once-proud Houston program back to national prominence by leaning on transfers.

“Sometimes that’s just the way it works out,” Sampson said.

And there’s no reason to change that approach, either. Not after the transfer-led Cougars are back in the Sweet 16 for the second straight NCAA Tournament – making them one of multiple teams still alive in Indianapolis with a boost from players who started their college careers on other campuses.

“That’s just the way it is today,” Sampson said. “Thirty years ago, people that didn’t know what they didn’t know turned their nose up at transfers. They thought something was wrong with them. It shows you how little they knew though.

“Now, if you’re not taking transfers, you’re behind.”

That philosophy has worked for the Cougars (26-3), the No. 2 seed in the NCAA’s Midwest Region, in continuing the program’s best sustained run since the “Phi Slama Jama” days of Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and coach Guy Lewis in the 1980s.

Houston has started four transfers in the past five games: Associated

Press third-team All-American Quentin Grimes (Kansas), No. 3 scorer DeJon Jarreau (Massachusetts), Justin Gorham (Towson) and Reggie Chaney (Arkansas).

They’ve helped Houston rank seventh in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency (119.1 points per 100 possessions), 11th in defensive efficiency (89.9) and second nationally by grabbing nearly 40% of available offensive rebounds.

The other top seeds in each region have transfers playing a key role, too, from top-ranked Gonzaga adding point guard Andrew Nembhard from Florida, to fellow No. 1 seed Baylor adding a third-team AP

All-American in Davion Mitchell (Auburn) and MaCio Teague (UNC Asheville) as double-digit scorers.

“I think it all comes back to one thing, and that is knowing your team and knowing your culture: who’s going to fit in and represent your program the way you want it represented, if you bring in people that add to that,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “No matter which avenue you look to bring in someone, do they meet what you’re really looking for?”

In the case of No. 1 seed Michigan and No. 3 seed Arkansas, they’ve had transfers elevate their games to ensure their teams advance out of tough second-round matchups.

The Wolverines are playing without senior forward Isaiah Livers, who is out indefinitely with a foot injury. They needed and got a big game from Wake Forest transfer Chaundee Brown Jr., against LSU, with the 6-foot-5 senior scoring a season-high 21 points to exceed his output from the previous three games combined.

The Razorbacks, meanwhile, have five transfers among their top nine players – earning the nickname “Transfer U” from Sampson. That group includes Indiana graduate Justin Smith, a 6-7, 230-pound forward who enters the Sweet 16 having gone from reliable contributor to the Razorbacks’ best player of late.