With a brand-new, high-dollar arena, back-to-back strong years and a big-money contract extension, it’s clear Kelvin Sampson is on his way to building something of an AAC behemoth at Houston.
He just landed a former five-star recruit to help him do it.
Quentin Grimes, who left Kansas after an underwhelming freshman campaign, has committed to Sampson and the Cougars, Grimes announced Thursday.
“For the city,” he tweeted with an illustration of himself in a Houston uniform.
#ForTheCity 🤘🏽 pic.twitter.com/9RP3MeiMQf
— Quentin Grimes (@qdotgrimes) June 27, 2019
Grimes is from Woodlands, Texas, which sits just 30 miles north of Houston.
The 6-foot-5 guard was one of the highest-rated prospects in the 2018 class and a one-done-done candidate, but announced his decision to return to school albeit not with the Jayhawks the night of the NBA Draft early entry deadline. He averaged 8.4 points and 2 rebounds per game.
Grimes never seemed to find his groove alongside fellow five-star freshman Devon Dotson in the Jayhawk backcourt, and a transfer looked like a likelier and likelier possibility as the season went on and Grimes’ draft status sunk further. Still, his freshman season was far from a debacle - just short of expectations for a Kansas team with huge expectations that weren’t even really tempered despite injuries and departures. That put even a bigger burden on its freshmen, which couldn’t deliver at a high enough level to extend Kansas’ Big 12 title streak to 15 as Texas Tech and Kansas State shared conference championship honors.
A change of scenery and a year away from the spotlight with the NCAA-mandated redshirt transfer season could be of significant use for Grimes, who has heaps of talent and now probably a chip on his shoulder.