Trio of Houston Cougars Named to On3's Top 100 Players in College Basketball
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The Houston Cougars' chase for their first national championship restarts in just a few weeks, as the Cougars return to the court on Oct. 26 for an exhibition matchup against the Mississippi State Bulldogs and play their first official game of the 2025-26 season on Nov. 3 against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.
Head coach Kelvin Sampson and the Coogs should once again be the team to be and the undoubted favorites in the Big 12, and totally be towards the top of the conversations surrounding perennial national championship contenders.
The Cougars' championship expectations come as no surprise, as Houston has been at the table for many seasons and was just a few points shy of winning it all last year. Sampson has managed to retain key contributors and bring in talented freshmen, shaping up a talented roster that has not gone unnoticed, as On3's James Fletcher III listed his Top 100 players in college basketball, with a trio of Coogs making the list.
Which Coogs Made On3's Top 100 List?
Joseph Tugler
The Cougars' highest-ranked player of the three ranked by On3 is junior forward Joseph Tugler, sitting just outside the Top 20 at No. 23. The third-year forward was a cornerstone to Houston's 204-25 season and journey through the NCAA Tournament as he averaged 5.5 points per game to go along with averaging 5.9 rebounds, nearly two blocks and a steal a game.
Tugler's breakout sophomore season brought the forward a laundry list of awards, earning the Lefty Driesell Award, given to the top defensive player in the country, Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year, All-Big 12 Conference Third Team selection and a Big 12 Conference All-Defensive Team selection.
While Tugler has missed out on most of the Cougars' offseason workouts as he recovered from foot surgery back in June, the forward received a positive update back in September that the Cougars' defensive anchor was fully cleared for basketball activities.
Milos Uzan
Not too far behind Tugler is the second Houston player on the list in senior guard Milos Uzan, who was ranked at No. 26. The guard was a spark plug for the Cougars offensively as Uzan was Houston's third leading scorer, averaging 11.4 points per game, along with 3.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
Uzan's return to the Cougars was a question mark, as the guard had declared for the 2025 NBA Draft in April, just a week after Houston's defeat in the national title game. However, just a month later, Uzan withdrew his name from the NBA Draft and announced his return to the Cougars for the 2025-26 season and his final year of college basketball.
After earning an All-Big 12 Conference Second Team selection, Uzan will be looked upon to once again be one of the Cougars' leading scorers as Houston looks to make another run for a national championship.
Chris Cenac Jr.
One of the newest members of the Cougars, five-star freshman center Chris Cenac Jr., found himself ranked in the upper half of the Top 100 list while not having logged a single minute of college basketball, as the true freshman was ranked at No. 40.
Cenac was an elite prospect coming out of high school, with the highly sought-after recruit ranked as the No. 6 player in the country per 247Sports Composite Rankings and the No. 1 player at his position and in the state of Missouri. If the freshman can crack into the Cougars' rotation, Cenac could play a big part in another postseason run for Houston.
