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Jeff Borzello
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Jeff Borzello
ESPN Staff Writer
- Basketball recruiting insider.
- Joined ESPN in 2014.
- Graduate of University of Delaware.
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Paul Biancardi
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Paul Biancardi
Basketball Recruiting
- National Recruiting Director for ESPN.com
- 18 years of coaching experience at Division I level
- Former Horizon League coach of the year at Wright State
Top-25 senior Kingston Flemings, the No. 1 player in the state of Texas, announced his commitment to Houston on Thursday.
Flemings, No. 21 in the 2025 ESPN 100, chose the Cougars over Texas Tech.
Flemings’ father, Demetric, said the relationships with Houston coach Kelvin Sampson and his son and top assistant, Kellen, were a key factor.
“Both Kelvin and Kellen Sampson believed in Kingston early on, and the relationship continued to grow and get stronger,” he said. “It was their culture that won us over. Houston has a hardworking culture and a tough culture. The program has a family atmosphere. We attended their practices, and it feeds Kingston’s underdog mentality. He saw who could be returning and coming in, and he believes they could win the Big 12 and possibly a national championship.”
Flemings, a San Antonio native, is a 6-foot-3 point guard and was the second-best available player at his position, behind only Mikel Brown Jr.
He was terrific on the Puma Pro16 circuit last spring and summer, including a 37-point, 14-rebound, 6-assist outing in May against Lincoln Supreme. Flemings also stood out at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in June.
A lead guard and playmaker with excellent physical tools, Flemings has high-end open-court speed and a cleverness to change direction and pace with a strong vertical bounce. He can make passes in transition and is able to run the offense in a half-court setting. He loves to beat his defender and get into the paint, where he can create for a teammate or finish in traffic. Right now, he’s more consistent inside the arc than behind the 3-point line, but he’s highly effective at operating in ball-screen situations.
Flemings is the third member of Houston’s 2025 recruiting class, joining five-star shooting guard Isiah Harwell and four-star shooting guard Bryce Jackson. With two top-25 guards now in the fold, the Cougars have one of the top 10 recruiting classes in the country. Former Oklahoma transfer Milos Uzan should return to Houston next season, but Sampson will have to replace star guard L.J. Cryer and veteran reserve Mylik Wilson in the backcourt.