Kelvin Sampson Is Blown Away By This Senior Leader

The focus of the Houston Cougars’ front court this season has been on junior forward Joseph Tugler, the reigning Big 12 defensive player of the year, and star freshman stretch big Chris Cenac Jr., a former five-star prospect and expected NBA draft talent. However, Houston’s backup center in his fifth year, Kalifa Sakho, has taken the spotlight as a late addition.

The 6-foot-11, 230-pound big man made the short transfer from Sam Houston State this past offseason and is finally starting to shine in his role with the Cougars.

The Rouen, France native spent his first two seasons at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, before transferring to Utah State as a junior, where he appeared in 33 games. Sakho started all 31 games in Huntsville with SHSU last season and averaged just over seven points, six rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game.

He’s now showing his talents for Houston.

The Cougars’ Big Off the Bench

Houston Cougars center Kalifa Sakho — Jan 3, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Houston Cougars forward Kalifa Sakho (14) shoots against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

When Tugler came out of the Kansas State game after two minutes with two early fouls, Sakho was ready to go off the bench to stabilize the front court. He eventually put up six points, six rebounds, and two blocks in 19 minutes.

“Awesome, wasn’t it? I was really proud of him. He’s had a tough week. His grandfather passed away, so we just sent him back to his apartment one day because he was so emotional, but I was really proud of Kalifa,” coach Kelvin Sampson said.

Junior center Cedric Lath played a role as well against Kansas State, but Sakho is the true big man off the bench for the Cougars now.

“They were impacting winning in different ways, and that’s something that will help both of their confidence going forward,” Sampson said.

Houston’s head coach mentioned how proud he was of Sakho at the start of the postgame press conference after the huge win on the road in Provo over what was No. 16 BYU. Sakho added seven points and four rebounds in 16 minutes that win.

“He’s a tremendous, high-level young man. He speaks five different languages fluently, is an extremely intelligent human being. He’s a high-character kid, as all our kids are,” Sampson said. “I don’t think you could sustain the success we’ve had over the years unless you have high-character kids.”

The Cougars didn’t have him available in June-October and then an additional two weeks later in the season. The difference in Sakho’s sudden impact is that he’s finally healthy. They just didn’t have him before. Sakho was a transfer, and it also takes time to adjust to a new system, especially that of Sampson’s with his high level of physicality and defense.

The conditioning that Houston requires is not something that can be done quickly, but Sakho is built for it; otherwise, the Cougars would’ve never been interested in having him.

“As Kalifa improves, he gives us the ability to not have enough drop-off when Jojo comes off the floor,” Sampson said.

The Naismith Hall of Fame finalist for this season mentioned how crucial it was to have two centers on the team in 2025 with Tugler and Ja’Vier Francis. Both were great and physical defensive players that had great paint presence. Sakho is now starting to take on that role of Francis from last year at a strong level.

“When I get on the court for Jojo, I got to go hard. I got to go all out like him. Jojo does stuff that nobody else in America can do. So every time I get in there, I got to go hard just like him to help my teammates,” Sakho said.

Sakho now averages 13 minutes per game and averages 2.4 points and almost three rebounds while being 83% from the field due to his dunks and opportunities at the rim. His best performance of the season so far has been against UCF with seven points, seven rebounds, and one steal in 22 minutes.