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Chris Cenac Jr., the No. 7 recruit in the 2025 Class, signed with the Houston Cougars, according to On3. The five-star prospect from Link Academy (New Orleans, LA) spoke to his YouTube channel to discuss coach Kelvin Sampson's expectations for him.
In the docuseries' fifth episode uploaded on Sunday, Cenac Jr. talked about how Sampson and associate head coach Quannas White made him feel at home and plans for getting the 18-year-old in the NBA.
"Coach Samson, Coach Quan, they have been recruiting me since I was a sophomore and that meant a lot to me," Cenac said (35:55 - 36:07). "They (Houston) were one of the first schools to offer me and I visited about three or four times, so ever since I visited its been the same every time."
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"It felt like home and they have a good plan for me, they want me to get better, they want to develop me and get me to the league in one year, so that also meant a lot to me," he continued. (36:07 - 36:23)
Chris Cenac Jr. helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup averaging 8.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Last season, he played 27 matches and averaged a double double with 13.9 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 1.7 apg and 1.3 bpg for the Newman Greenies.
He had offers from LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Kentucky and more before he decided to sign with the Cougars.
What does Kelvin Sampson say about Chris Cenac Jr.?
The video also showed Kelvin Sampson talk about the New Orleans, LA native, commending his drive and talent.
"Chris is a coach's dream, he wants to be good, he's got the talent, he's got the drive," Sampson said . Now let's put the time and effort and purposeful work in, let's see how good and let's see how far we can take this. I mean we're all excited our whole staff, my whole staff was sitting here by me so they're just." (14:56 - 15:14)
He also compared Chris Cenac Jr. with players in his program that have gotten into the NBA.
"We've been pretty good here, whether it's with Jarus Walker or Jamal Shed, Quinton Grimes, Marcus Saster, we've had a lot of driven kids that's been drafted into the NBA and I see Chris as one of those guys," the coach added. (15:19 - 15:32).
Chris Cenac Jr. will join Isiah Harwell, Kingston Flemming and Bryce Jackson in Sampson's team next season.
