It’s going to be almost impossible to replace all that senior Jamal Shead brought to the University of Houston basketball program between his leadership and clutch shot-making.
But Kelvin Sampson may have come somewhat close after former Oklahoma Sooners point guard Milos Uzan signed with the Cougars program this season. In the 6-foot-4 guard, the Cougars are getting an experienced point guard who played a lot of basketball for OU during his freshman and sophomore seasons before entering the transfer portal this offseason.
Uzan played in 64 games, which included 56 starts, in his first two seasons at Oklahoma. He comes to UH as a junior with two years of eligibility remaining.
“We are excited about Milos’ decision to join our program at the University of Houston,” said Sampson, who recently brought home the Henry Iba National Coach of the Year Award. “We are looking forward to developing Milos into the best player that he can be.”
The signing of Uzan offers a chance to return the Cougars to the top of college basketball next season with a proven point guard to go with four returning starters. The Cougars had a huge hole with Shead’s departure for the NBA Draft, but now have a legit ball handler to go with guards L.J. Cryer and Emanuel Sharp along with forward Ja’Vier Francis and center J’Wan Roberts.
Last season, Uzan was the only Oklahoma player to start all 32 games.
The Las Vegas native averaged 9.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, and a team-high of 4.3 assists per game and 1.2 steals. Uzan also shot 39% from the field, just under 30% from 3-point range and 67% from the free throw line.
In his only game of the season against UH, Uzan tallied six points with three rebounds and four assists and no turnovers in Norman, Okla., on March 2.
As a freshman in 2022-23, Uzan competed in 32 games with 24 starts and was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team after averaging 7.6 points, 3.0 assists and 2.7 rebounds per outing.
That year, he scored a career-best 20 points at #11 Kansas State and came on strong down the stretch, scoring 10+ points in five of the last seven games.
Uzan was a four-star prospect by 247Sports and ESPN out of Desert Pines High School. He was ranked No. 52 on ESPN100 and was listed as the No. 1 prospect in the state. He led the Jaguars to the 2020 state championship game.
