Among the best level guards in males’s faculty basketball is coming again to among the best groups in males’s faculty basketball.
Houston’s Milos Uzan has taken his identify out of the 2025 NBA Draft and can as an alternative swimsuit up for the Cougars once more in 2025-26.
With Emanuel Sharp and Huge 12 Defensive Participant of the Yr Joseph Tugler additionally coming again to high school, Uzan’s return signifies that Kelvin Sampson will likely be returning three starters from a group that got here inside one shot of successful the nationwide championship final season.
It additionally signifies that Houston seems to be the group almost definitely to start the 2025-26 ranked No. 1.
A Second Crew All-Huge 12 choice in 2024-25, Uzan averaged 11.4 factors, 4.3 assists and three.1 rebounds per sport whereas taking pictures 42.8 p.c from three. He emerged as among the best level guards within the nation throughout the second half of the season, averaging higher than 5.0 assists and scoring in double figures in all however two video games from Jan. 22 by means of the top of the Huge 12 event.
Houston had beforehand tapped Creighton switch Pop Isaacs as their level guard for the 2025-26 season. The drama behind Uzan’s keep or go resolution was most likely spoiled a bit when Isaacs introduced on Tuesday morning that he would as an alternative be enjoying subsequent season at Texas A&M.
Earlier this month, Uzan’s father, Mike, stated his son would solely stay within the NBA Draft if he was able to earn assured cash.
“We’re solely leaving for assured cash,” Mike Uzan advised PaperCity. “There’s no want upon a star and hope we get there kind of factor, No. It’s obtained to be assured. It’s a superb state of affairs at Houston. We like Houston. We like Coach (Kelvin) Sampson and the entire household. Los loves Coach Sampson. Treasures him dearly.
“We didn’t even contemplate getting within the portal. That wasn’t even a thought. And I’m positive that there was some huge cash on the market for him. You understand how a lot faculty basketball has modified now. There’s some huge cash on the market for him. However that’s not the case for us.”
Nonetheless, with Uzan broadly projected as an early second spherical choose, his resolution on Tuesday caught various folks without warning.
It’s the second straight spring that Uzan has gone by means of the draft course of earlier than electing to return to varsity. A 12 months in the past, Uzan examined the waters after a considerably disappointing sophomore season at Oklahoma. He finally hit the portal an landed at Houston, the place he improved statistically throughout the board.
Maybe most notably, Uzan went from a 29.6 p.c three-point shooter in 2023-24 to at least one who almost shot 43.0 p.c from past the arc final season. Now he’ll return to high school with the popularity as among the best shooters in faculty basketball.
Now a three-time nationwide runner-up, Houston definitely has a declare to the doubtful title “greatest faculty basketball program to have by no means received all of it.” With Uzan again within the fold, it’s simple to grasp why Cougar followers are dreaming of that title disappearing endlessly in about 10 and-a-half months.
