Fans cheered the team on as they packed into the bus to leave for San Antonio.
HOUSTON — University of Houston fans lined the walkway outside of the Guy V. Lewis Development Facility on campus Wednesday afternoon to support the Coogs as they hit the road for San Antonio.
The UH men’s basketball team will face off against Duke on Saturday in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome. It will be the Coogs’ seventh Final Four appearance.
During the special sendoff, players and head coach Kelvin Sampson took selfies with fans and signed autographs. Several UH students said they were excited to support the Coogs on Saturday.
“It’s really hard to make it all the way to the Final Four, and we’ve been grateful to show support all the way through,” UH freshman Sean Olivar said. “We’ll also be there this weekend at San Antonio, so we’ll be bringing our posters, having a lot of fun here, so we’re just really excited to be in San Antonio this weekend.”
UH sophomore Darrel Sneed added, “I’m extremely excited. It’s going to be a great game watching Duke v. UH. Although they’re both two great talented teams, I think we’re going to come out on top obviously. And overall, it’s just going to be a great game to watch.”
The basketball team and coaches left campus on a bus with a police escort. Fans stuck around to continue cheering for the Coogs as they departed. That included alum and Coogs superfan Joy West.
“I am a U of H Cougar from birth to death,” West said.
West said watched the Coogs lose the 1983 NCAA championship game in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and she is rooting for her team to go all the way this time around.
“My heart has still got a knife in it where that play happened, and I cried in the parking lot,” West said. “I’ve been waiting to redeem the U of H since then, and we’re here. Let’s go. It’s our time. Co Coogs!”
Lauren Schooler was born and raised in Houston, and she said she said she is thrilled to be part of such an electric season for the Coogs. She added that she is ecstatic that so many fans are energized by the team and their success.
“It’s really awesome that they’ve had such a renaissance the last few years, and hopefully this year, they’ll go all the way,” Schooler said. “They’ve done a lot for the city and for the university to enhance U of H fandom and make people realize that this is more than just football country, that this is basketball country too, and so, I feel like they deserve our support.”
Tipoff for Saturday’s game against Duke is 7:49 p.m. CST. You can watch the game on KHOU 11. KHOU 11’s Jason Bristol, Zach Tawatari and Orko Manna will all be in San Antonio to cover the Final Four and all the fan excitement.