Houston Cougars On SI

Four Houston Cougars Received All-Big 12 Honors

The Cougars had some of the best players in the Big 12 regular season once again.
Maanav Gupta|
Mar 7, 2026; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp (21) and Houston Cougars guard Kingston Flemings (4) react after a play during the second half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images
Mar 7, 2026; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp (21) and Houston Cougars guard Kingston Flemings (4) react after a play during the second half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

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Houston Cougars

Houston Cougars basketball has completely taken over the Big 12 since joining the conference back in the 2023-24 season. Houston won back-to-back regular season titles in its first two seasons and became the first program to do so in a major conference in over 100 years. 

The Cougars have quickly become a Big 12 powerhouse, and besides having Naismith Hall of Fame nominee in head coach Kelvin Sampson leading the way, Houston has had its fair share of standout student athletes. Jamal Shead started that tradition by winning Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2023-24. 

After No. 5 Houston ended the regular season 26-5 and 14-4 in the Big 12 for second in the conference standings, a few Cougars were bound to get some All-Big 12 honors. This season, there were four. This marked the eighth consecutive season in which at least two Cougars were named to their All-Conference Teams.

Cougars in the Best of the Big 12

Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp
Mar 7, 2026; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp (21) shoots a free throw during the second half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings and senior guard Emanuel Sharp were named to the All-Big 12 first team. Flemings was just one of three players to have been an unanimous selection. The other two were AJ Dybantsa of BYU and JT Toppin of Texas Tech. 

Flemings was also an unanimous selection to the Big 12 All-Freshman team. The projected No. 5 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft became the first Cougar freshman to be named to an All-Conference First Team since guard Rob Williams in the 1979-1980 All-Southwest Conference team. 

He is the leading scorer for the Cougars with 16.5 points, 5.4 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 48% from the field and 38% from three. Flemings has led the Cougars in scoring in 18 games this season and has 12 games of at least 20+ points. That includes a career high 42 points at Texas Tech that set a school freshman record. Flemings is also the all-time freshman scoring leader in Houston history. 

Sharp is just one of three players to be on both the All Big 12 first team and All-Defensive team, joining Jaden Bradley and Motiejus Krivas of Arizona. This was Sharp’s third straight season with All-Big 12 honors.  He is now the all-time leading 3-point shooter in Houston history and broke Marcus Sasser’s record with his barrage of eight 3-pointers against Utah. 

Sharp was also named one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award, given to the best shooting guard in the country. He is just the third Cougar to be named a finalist for this award, joining Sasser who won it in 2023 and Quentin Grimes who was a finalist in 2021. Brayden Burries (Arizona), Isaiah Evans (Duke), Keaton Wagler (Illinois), and Solo Ball (UConn) joined Sharp as Jerry West Award finalists.

He is second on the team with 15.8 PPG. Sharp leads the Cougars and ranks among the Big 12 Conference Top-10 leaders in 3-point field goals per game (2.7) and 3-point field goal percentage (.376) and leads the league with an 88.1 free throw percentage.

Senior point guard Milos Uzan and junior forward Joseph Tugler both were named Honorable Mentions. Tugler also joined Sharp on the All Big 12 Defensive Team. This was Tugler’s second straight season with All-Big 12 honors after making the Third Team and All-Defensive team last year. 

Tugler is the first Cougar to be named to multiple conference All-Defensive Teams in program history. He leads Houston with 1.5 blocks per game and is second with just over five rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. Last season, Tugler was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and received the Lefty Driesell Award, presented to the nation’s top defensive player. He also was a finalist for the Naismith Award National Defensive Player of the Year.

This was Uzan’s second straight season with All-Big 12 honors after making the Second Team last season. Uzan ranks among the Big 12 leaders with 4.1 assists per game and a 3.18 assist-turnover ratio this season. The Las Vegas native has recorded 20 games with one or fewer turnovers.

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Maanav Gupta
MAANAV GUPTA

Maanav Gupta is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He graduated from the University of Houston in the summer of 2025 with his bachelor’s in journalism and a minor in Spanish. Gupta spent three years at the student newspaper, The Daily Cougar, and also covered the 2025 Final Four and National Championship as Houston beat writer for College Basketball Review. He also has his own YouTube channel, Maanav’s Sports Talk, where he has interviewed professional athletes and broadcasters like Jim Nantz, Jose Altuve, J.J. Watt, Rich Eisen, and Alperen Sengun. Gupta was also a contributor to the Houston athletic program as a student. You can find Gupta on X, Instagram and TikTok @MGSportsTalk.

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