There is a certain kind of ballplayer who gets remembered for what he added to a box score, and a rarer kind who gets remembered for what he took away from someone else's. Triston Hawthorne, a forward built more like a fence post than a basketball star, belongs to the second tribe, and on Thursday he is expected to tell Kelvin Sampson he would like to join his roster and keep on doing it. Word out of Ellisville, Mississippi — a town small enough that most everyone in it likely knows exactly whose backyard hoop Hawthorne first learned to swat shots off of — is that the kid has narrowed his…
Who's Could be the Next for the Coogs? Ask Ellisville, Mississippi.
In the art of subtraction, Kelvin Sampson may be about to add his best student yet — a shot-blocking forward expected to make it official Thursday.

Exclusive · Premium Members
Read the rest.
This article is for Coogs 365 members. Become a member to unlock this piece and every exclusive from the desk.
Become a MemberAlready a member? Sign in
Filed Under
Conversation
Reader Replies.
1 reply
Sign in to join the conversation.
Sign in →william broughton
Oct 2, 2026
Excellent article
Be civil · Keep it on-topic · Community guidelines
Closer to the program
Become a Coogs 365 member.
$9.99/month — exclusive reporting, the full archive, and an ad-lite reading surface across every sport.
Subscribe NowKeep reading
More from this beat
mens basketball
Houston faces the defending champs, and the banner is the only thing that hasn’t changed in Ann Arbor
The Cougars close their exhibition slate in Grand Rapids against a Michigan team with a title, a new coach and almost no returning production

mens basketball
Kelvin Sampson built Houston on toughness. At Big 12 Media Days, he explained where it comes from.
At Monster Energy Big 12 Media Days, Houston’s coach laid out a program built on kids who stay, parents who pick coaches, and a 10 a.m. meeting that ends in one word, three times.
Exclusivemens basketball
