Houston Is Finally Recruiting Like It Expects to Win the Big 12
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Houston Cougars football needed a recruiting revival badly. The program found that with coach Willie Fritz and his staff. Since the 2023 season, the Cougars have significantly increased their recruiting effort within the state of Texas and it has paid massive dividends so far.
UH is based right in the heart of Houston, a city filled to the brim with incredible high school football talent. There's honestly no reason why Houston can't compete with the best in the Big 12 for recruiting top talent and building special transfer portal and high school classes.
While NIL and the financial budget still remain an issue, Houston has top-of-the-line facilities after opening up the Memorial Hermann Football Operations Center one year ago.
Fritz is known as one of the best coaches in the sport for his ability to orchestrate huge turnarounds, something that he helped do last season as the Cougars won six more games on the way to a 10-3 record, a top 25 ranking, and a Texas Bowl win.
Most of the ingredients are there for Houston to be successful in attracting some of the best talent in the country. It started off quietly and steadily, but now the recruiting effort and prospects joining the program out of high school speak for itself. That's something the top contenders in any conference do, and Houston is showing why it really belongs in that group.
Houston's Recruiting Is Like a Contender
In order to win the conference and be one of the top teams in Texas, Houston must get those four and five-star prospects to commit. That's exactly what has happened in the 2026 recruiting class. The Cougars secured one five-star prospect and three four-star prospects.
It also wasn't just any five-star. It was the No. 1 prospect and quarterback in the country in Keisean Henderson, from just outside the Houston area at the Legacy School. That's the kind of player that can propel Houston to a Big 12 title.
The top recruiting schools in the state of Texas, and Texas A&M, each got one five-star player, and they also got over 10 four-star players. While Houston isn't up to that level, the Cougars still have three four-star players. Houston's recruiting class is still up to par for being the top team in the Big 12.
The Cougars piled up with 14 three-star recruits. That's one more than BYU and the same as Texas Tech. BYU and Utah did not even have a five-star recruit this year. Utah also has just three four-star players as well. It's now clear that Houston belongs at the top of the Big 12 for recruiting.
Today's best reads
- Houston Already Has the Player Who Could Shape Its Future More Than Any New Recruit
- Willie Fritz Is Chasing Something Else That Houston Football Has Rarely Achieved
- Can This Houston Player Keep The Cougars Competitive In The Future?
- Biggest Questions Facing Houston Entering Fall Camp
- Can Houston Become a State Recruiting Power Alongside Texas and Texas A&M?
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/houston as Houston Is Finally Recruiting Like It Expects to Win the Big 12.
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