UH star athlete looks back on journey from being red-shirted to breaking records and making history

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It's hard not to talk about J'Wan Roberts when it comes to Houston Cougars men's basketball. The 6' 8" graduate forward will, without a doubt, go down as one of the all-time Cougar greats.

With more than 130 wins under his belt, he's now the winningest player ever to wear a University of Houston basketball uniform.

"I never thought I would be in that conversation. I didn't see it in my freshman year. I didn't know I was going to play six years," Roberts said.

For Roberts, the path to success has been anything but easy. Back in 2019, with hopes of getting some play time, he was red-shirted.

"I had a lot of family and friends who were like 'J'Wan is going to play first year,' so when I didn't play my first year, they all wanted to know why," Roberts said. "And at the time, they wanted to know the reason, and at the time, I didn't know the reason why."

"It was kind of frustrating because, you know, in some practices, I wouldn't even practice. You know, I'd just be standing on the side. The other guys would be running," Roberts said.

But just like with his game on the court, Roberts didn't let the adversity get in his way

"I didn't get any off days my freshman year. Every day I was going. Every day, even on road trips. You know, I would play one-on-one before the guys could warm up," Roberts said. "Then, I'd go through the warms up with them."

As time went on, he embraced his role and learned from his coaches and teammates, many of whom were even part of the Final Four run in 2021.

But it was two words that Roberts said stuck with him.

"Stay ready. Do all the work that you need to do to put yourself in a situation when it's your time. Just be patient," Roberts said.

That hard work has certainly paid off. Roberts is on track to become the fourth Cougar basketball player to score a thousand points and rebounds, joining all-time greats Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Greg Anderson.

Six years later, the freshman who once wanted more play time has played in more games than any Cougar in school history.

"I kind of understand why coach Sampson did from my freshman year to why he red-shirted me, why he put me through all these battles and all these hard practices, all this different stuff that I probably didn't think I could get through," Roberts said.

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