Houston Cougars Receive Huge News From Standout Wide Receiver
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The Houston Cougars ended a much-improved 2025 season that featured pivotal moments like earning bowl eligibility and rankings in the national polls, with another positive, a bowl game victory over the LSU Tigers, which allowed the Coogs to eclipse 10 wins in a season since 2021.
With the last chapter of the 2025 season already written, Willie Fritz and his coaching staff can now move on to building on the roster for the Cougars 2026 squad. Undoubtedly, Fritz's main focus will be placed on the transfer portal, which opens up in just a few days on Jan. 2, while the Coogs will also look to retain some of their top talent.
Fortunately for the Coogs, one of those top players recently announced his official decision for the 2026 season, and it's news that should have the Cougars excited.
Amare Thomas Set to Return in 2026
With that player being junior wide receiver Amare Thomas, who on Monday announced on X his decision to return to the Cougars for his senior year and the 2026 season.
The announcement came with a simple graphic, Thomas accompanied by the Houston skyline, with just one sentence reading: "H-Town, let's run it back!"
🔂🔂🔂 pic.twitter.com/SfVxm5GfD1
— MARE $$ (@MareThomas2) December 29, 2025
Taking a Look at Amare Thomas' Big Year in 2025
Thomas came on strong in his first year with the Coogs as the junior transferred in from the UAB Blazers before the 2025 season, where Thomas spent his first two seasons of college eligibility. In those two seasons in Birmingham, Alabama, Thomas played in 24 games while recording 115 receptions for 1,107 yards and 11 touchdowns.
With plenty of production with the Blazers, it would be a likely expectation that Thomas would join the Cougars' offense and be an immediate impact, and that he was. The wide receiver ended the season as Houston's leading wide receiver with 66 receptions for 972 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Thomas' biggest came on the road against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where the Cougars won in convincing fashion as the wide receiver ended the matchup hauling in seven receptions for 157 yards, averaging over 20 yards per reception.
That game was not the only time Thomas reached over 100 yards receiving in a game, with that mark being obtained two other times. The first came against Oregon State, where he finished with 104 receiving yards on six receptions, and the other against the UCF Knights, where he tallied 103 receiving yards on five receptions.
Not only was Thomas great in yardage, but also in finding the end zone, with the wide receiver having three games with multiple receiving touchdowns. The biggest came against West Virgina where he had three receiving touchdowns and the other two came against Arizona and LSU, where he caught a pair of touchdowns in each game.
