How Kingston Flemings went from Houston’s catch to the NBA Draft

During a recruiting visit, coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff sat in the home of Kingston Flemings alongside his high school coach and his father, Dee, who flipped through a notebook of carefully prepared questions, while his mother, Shayla, prepared salmon for the occasion.

“Shayla Flemings, she can do salmon,” Sampson said. “Usually, I try to be polite and never ask for seconds. I said, ‘The hell with that. I want some more.’”

Sampson knows good salmon, having spent two summers in Alaska early in his career. He also knows what makes a great point guard, having developed several NBA-caliber ones over more than 40 years.

When he left that night, he knew he had a catch to reel in. 

Flemings bit at the intensity Sampson brings, a style that reminded him of his previous mentors.

“He’s the perfect coach for me,” he said, sitting beside Sampson as he announced his decision to enter the 2026 NBA Draft.

The San Antonio native was down to Texas Tech and Houston before committing. It was fitting that he left his mark against the Red Raiders, setting Houston’s freshman scoring record with 42 points in a January road loss and hitting a dagger 3-pointer to push Houston ahead by four with under a minute remaining in an earlier home win.

His favorite moment came long before. 

In an exhibition game against Mississippi State, he remembers teammates repeatedly diving for loose balls, a trademark of Houston basketball.

“That just kind of showed who Houston is,” he said.

With Kalifa Sakho, JoJo Tugler, and Isiah Harwell all cleared after offseason medical procedures, the moment carried added meaning as he finally got to share the floor with them.

But it was during their absence from summer workouts that he first caught Sampson’s attention.

“The first day we played four on four, he was the best player on the floor, and that’s not an opinion, that’s a fact,” Sampson said.

Like many newcomers, he became a victim of Sampson’s “No Turnover Thursday” runs, but his consistency stood out.

“He was quite capable of having a quadruple double every night, with one of those doubles being turnovers,” Sampson said. “People remember his passes. I remember him hitting our managers in the head when they were keeping score.”

Still, he was the best player every day of summer practice, as coaches worked to help him share the floor with veteran guard Milos Uzan, who played the same position.

“They both independently made the decision to play together, and they knew there would be sacrifices,” assistant coach Kellen Sampson said.

For Flemings, whose strength is elevating those around him, the challenge became learning that making others better does not always mean putting the ball in their hands.

“Kingston came in here and tried to suppress a little bit,” Sampson recalled. “I remember grabbing him one day and bringing him up to the office and saying, ‘Kingston, you’re the best player on this team. Quit being submissive. Your responsibility is to put us in a position to win, not make sure these other guys are happy.’”

Houston finished 30-7 as it earned its seventh straight trip to the Sweet 16.

When the Cougars lost, Flemings valued the silence and accountability that followed. That silence was never heavier than after Houston’s Sweet 16 loss to Illinois, when he finished with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting. 

“I don’t know why,” he said, with tears welling in his eyes in the locker room. “I don’t know if it’s something I’m doing wrong. It’s the same thing that happened in high school.”

His high school season with Brennan ended in the state semifinals just miles from campus at Texas Southern University, a year prior.

In April, as he announced his decision to enter the draft, he reflected on how it wasn’t that long ago he was a high school senior preparing to begin initiation into the Cougar culture.

He and fellow freshman Bryce Jackson worked out at the Guy V. Lewis Development Center, when being a one-and-done player never crossed his mind.

Flemings admitted that when the season ended, the thought lingered about what another year in Houston could have looked like.

“Man, if we could just have one more year and run it back,” he remembered thinking.

But “opportunities like this do not come every day,” especially for a projected top-10 pick.

Now, as he begins the draft process, Sampson believes his guard’s loyalty and selflessness, coupled with his rebounding and scoring, can elevate any team.

“His stock is going to continue to go up,” he said. “When people get in front of him, they’re going to say, ‘That’s impressive.’ Then they’ll ask, over 82 games, who do you want leading your team? And you want Kingston.”

Sampson realized it early, recalling a 3 a.m. wake-up to make a 7 a.m. high school practice in San Antonio, to watch Flemings’ work.

“It was worth it to have Kingston lead our program this year,” he said. “I have coached a lot of great point guards. I haven’t coached one better than Kingston.”

And now that he’s helped build a prized catch, one that has NBA teams casting their lines, he knows it’s time to release him into a bigger pond.