Houston guard L.J. Cryer (4) shoots for three over Duke guard Tyrese Proctor (5) during the first half of the Final Four, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
Houston basketball advanced to their seventh Final Four and third National Championship appearance in program history this weekend.
The games were hosted at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas and senior sports assistant Ashton Grissom and junior sports writer Morgan Harper got the full Final Four experience.
Houston’s Final Four practice
Morgan: After a three-hour drive from Houston, we arrived at the Alamodome in downtown San Antonio on Friday to watch Houston basketball’s open practice from 1:00 to 1:50.
We made it to the stadium early to catch the end of Auburn’s practice. Houston’s practice started on time, and seeing other Houston fans show up to support the team was amazing.
The Cougars looked great in warmups, attacking drills like they were ready to win it all. As practice came to a close and the team left the court, we stuck around to watch our opponent, freshman forward Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils.
As expected, Duke practiced hard, and their freshmen were impressive in warmups. We left about halfway through their practice to eat lunch and prepare for more Final Four events planned in the evening.
Doechii and Pitbull concert at March Madness Music Festival
Morgan: After lunch, our next stop was at the March Madness Music Festival, where Doechii and Pitbull were scheduled to perform at 7:00 p.m. and 8:45 p.m., respectively. Traffic delayed our arrival, but luckily, a rainstorm pushed the concert back to 7:40 p.m., so we made it into the festival just in time for the whole show.
Doechii’s performance was amazing, and as a recent Grammy winner, we never expected a chance to see her in concert for free! Thousands of eager fans surrounded us in the crowd, and we all danced to her music as the sun set behind the stage.
In between shows, we rode a Ferris wheel and the view of the city from the top was beautiful. The ride ended right as Pitbull emerged on stage, so we joined others rushing to get the best spot on the green. His concert was fun because he sang all his most popular songs.
We even met Auburn’s senior forward Johni Broome’s brother, during his show! The festival wrapped up around 11 p.m., a perfect end to our first day in San Antonio.
Team pep rallies at the Riverwalk
Ashton: The next morning, we arrived at the Riverwalk at 11 a.m. to watch Houston’s River Rally before the Final Four games. Each school filled two boats with band members and cheerleaders to blast school songs and hype up the crowd as they floated down the Riverwalk.
Auburn began the River Rally, followed by Duke, Florida and Houston. The band’s loud music and Shasta’s enthusiasm created an electric environment that riled up fans along the Riverwalk. Houston’s band and cheerleaders did a great job representing Houston and creating excitement before our toughest matchup all season against Duke.
Final Four games
Ashton: We arrived at the stadium at 2:30 p.m. to get our wristband for the student section and a ticket to watch Auburn play Florida. We watched the first game almost until halftime, and then it was time for us to line up outside the stadium for entrance into the student section.
We waited in line with hundreds of other Houston students for over two hours, and it was chaos trying to file down the stairs to the floor level of the stadium. We were finally allowed into the student section 30 minutes before game time, and everyone was relieved that the waiting was over.
Because Pizza Hut funded the student tickets, they had pizza waiting for us when we got down on the floor, which was appreciated because we hadn’t eaten since lunch.
We managed to sit by the aisle where the players entered the court, so we got to high-five them and cheer them on as they ran out. As soon as we settled into our second-row seats with pizza, tip-off happened and the game began.
Duke looked great at the start of the game, and we were all nervous in the student section, but we still cheered on our team. Cameras scanned the student section during media timeouts, and we were on national TV at one point!
As the game approached three minutes remaining, the momentum shifted in our favor. Houston did the unthinkable and came back from a 14-point deficit in the second-half to upset Duke and advance to the National Championship game.
When Duke’s junior guard Tyrese Proctor missed a jumper from near half court, the student section and the stadium went wild, with everyone celebrating. It was honestly the coolest game I have ever attended, and I will relive that moment for years to come.
National Championship against Florida
Morgan: After an exhilarating Final Four matchup, we spent Sunday catching up on rest and homework. On championship day, we arrived at the Alamodome five hours early for a chance at front-row seats.
Although the doors did not open until 5:30 p.m., several Gators fans had been there since 5:30 a.m., and there was already a line of students anxious to get inside the stadium when we arrived at 12:30 p.m. After hours of waiting in the sun, the event staff opened the gates, and all of the students stormed through the entrance to claim spots in the student section.
The championship game started at 7:50 p.m., and the energy in the stadium was electric. Half of the stadium was red from Houston fans showing up to support the team.
During the beginning of the game, Houston fans were feeling good as we led throughout the first half and were up by as much as 12 points in the second half. Florida stormed back and pulled within three points, quickly forcing a UH timeout. Our offense struggled with several missed shots, but our defense kept us in the game.
We continued to lead until around one minute left in the game when Florida took the lead. In our last three possessions, we failed to get a shot up, and our inability to execute a final play led to a 65-63 loss to Florida.
The loss was heartbreaking because the team led the entire game, but we lost control at the last second. Seeing our boys crying while Florida celebrated was so upsetting because we felt like we had earned the win. The drive home was mostly silent, with us just thinking about how close we were to experiencing our first title in program history.
Season recap and next year preview
Ashton: Even though losing the championship game stings and will hurt for a while, I couldn’t be more proud of this team and how they overcame all of the doubters.
I will never forget how great of a run we made in this tournament, especially beating great programs such as Gonzaga, Purdue, Tennessee, and one of the best teams in history, the Duke Blue Devils. Nobody believed in us to make it this far, and we were one shot away from winning the championship.
I’d say that defines a great season, and it goes to show that coach Kelvin Sampson has the right formula. With new recruits coming in next season, we will rebuild our team to be stronger.
Many fans thought that when we lost to Duke in the Sweet 16 last season, we lost our shot at a title but look at us now, one play away from a national title. With the chance of several veteran guys returning and one of the country’s best high school recruiting classes, there is no doubt in my mind that we will make another deep run next year.
We had so much fun supporting our team and had the best time in San Antonio, and we have memories that will last a lifetime. Thank you, Houston basketball, for an amazing season and a weekend we will never forget!
