San Antonio has a special place in Kelvin Sampson's heart, which may add an extra shot of sentimentality to the 2025 Final Four for Sampson and the home state Cougars, who are back in the national semifinals for the first time since 2021.

Some of those Cougars, the ones who graduated or declared for the draft after leading Houston through NCAA tournament play, come back to watch the new group do so. Sampson saw a few in the crowd like Jarace Walker, now with the Indiana Pacers, and Breaon Brady.

With a 69-50 win over Tennessee that perfectly captured everything Sampson's program is about, Houston is on its way back to the Final Four