Houston coach Kelvin Sampson calls Kingston Flemings a top-5 pick

Houston freshman Kingston Flemings announced Sunday during a press conference that he is declaring for the 2026 NBA draft after one season with the Cougars.

Flemings was a consensus second-team All-American, averaging 16.1 points, 5.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals while shooting 38.7% from 3-point range in 37 games. He was the first freshman in program history to earn an All-America selection.

The 6-foot-4 guard led the team in scoring average, field goals (222), 3-point percentage, assists (192), steals (56) and 20-point games (12). He set the Cougars' freshman scoring record after recording 42 points and six assists on Jan. 24 in a loss to Texas Tech.

"After the season, I was so down after that Illinois game, I feel like we could have played so much better, but I was just thinking that we're a young team, if we could just have one more year playing, but the opportunity doesn't come all of the time," Flemings said. "Knock on wood, barring I came back and had an injury or something like that. Me and my family talked about it, and everything like that, but I was thinking about it for sure, coming back and playing with my guys."

Flemings is currently projected to be a lottery pick and a potential top-five selection on June 23 because of his scoring, playmaking and maturity as a lead guard. He also committed just 1.8 turnovers per game, ranking fifth in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.9).

The 19-year-old drew high praise from Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson throughout the season for his work ethic and demeanor on and off the court. He believes Flemings will have the chance to improve his draft stock even further in interviews and workouts.

Flemings is a part of a highly touted draft class, along with Darius Acuff Jr., Cameron Boozer, Mikel Brown Jr., AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Caleb Wilson. Sampson is sure that Flemings will be a high pick next to those players.