Houston basketball was very aggressive with the loss of nine players from last year’s team by landing Dedan Thomas Jr., Delrecco Gillespie, Corey Hadnot and Braden East in the transfer portal . The Cougars also have a very talented incoming 2026 high school class who include Arafan Diane, Tyus Thomas, Ikenna Alozie and Djafar Silimana. With all the variety of talent coming into the program, Houston’s head coach Kelvin Sampson gave a very encouraging update for Cougar basketball fans. Kelvin Sampson Speaks On Incoming Players Houston coach Kelvin Sampson and his son, assistant Kellen Sampson, watch during a practice for the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Sampson began speaking about his two talented freshman bigs in Diane and Silimana, who both are the future of this program.…