Chris Cenac Jr.: Houston's Underground King | Prospect Spotlight

Chris Cenac Jr. has quietly found success for Houston while Kingston Flemings has garnered Top 5 consideration. Where does Cenac Jr. fit in the 2026 NBA Draft Class? Stephen Gillaspie dives in!

Who’s the Man?

The Houston Cougars have played incredibly well this season, and have done so against some of the best teams in college basketball. The way that head coach Kelvin Sampson has been able to get the Cougars to be so competitive has been—in large part—due to the contributions of Freshmen prospects. Kingston Flemings has received the lion’s share of praise, garnering a lot of recognition for his ability to captain a team with cultural leaders like JoJo Tugler, Milos Uzan, and Emanuel Sharp. Flemings’ combination of on-ball defense, passing feel, and shooting touch has done wonders for his NBA projection.

But, he hasn’t been the only impact freshman on this Houston squad…

Chris Cenac Jr. came into this season regarded as an RSCI Top 10 prospect. A five-star recruit, Cenac has been ranked either as the #1 center in his class or a Top 3 power forward within his class. While playing for Link Academy, Chris was a McDonald’s All-American; he has been a key member of the USA Basketball Program and has won multiple MVPs through various tournaments. Of course, Cenac had no shortage of schools lobbying for his services, with universities like Alabama, UConn, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Michigan State, Louisville, Baylor, etc. all making runs at him.

Cenac’s decision to play for Coach Sampson was an “oil-and-water” concept on paper. He shot 36% from deep as a stretch-big and only ranked in the 35th percentile in at-rim frequency. Even beyond the outside shot, he also ranked in the 92nd percentile in shots taken in the mid-range. Looking at the history of Houston big men, there aren’t many who play in the front court who take jumpers.

J’Wan Roberts took 23 jumpers (per Synergy) over the course of four seasons. Joseph “JoJo” Tugler has taken 16 over three seasons. Jarace Walker—a freshman from the 2022-2023 season—is a bit of an outlier for the Houston Cougars and their preference for frontcourt players, as he took jumpers 44.7% of the time. Chris Cenac took jumpers on 36.0% of his possessions in high school. That number is at 52.6% of his possessions as of now while at Houston.

Again, not the sort of system that Houston typically favors—nor is Houston the sort of system many expected Chris to commit to. Chris profiled as more of a “finesse” big man, while Coach Sampson favors the more smashmouth style of frontcourt players—dogs, if you will.

So, then why would he opt to play for Houston? Here is an excerpt from what Chris Cenac told ESPN in November of 2024.

“I built a great relationship with Coach Sampson, Coach White and the rest of the staff. They have a plan to develop me, and I trust them. I know Coach Sampson is going to coach me hard. I want that and I need that. I am a coachable player. People see Coach Sampson only on the court—he has a good sense of humor, and he is a really funny guy.”

That is the sort of self-awareness that Chris had—not entering this season as a freshman, but as someone who was still competing in high school. The understanding of his strengths, but also his areas of concern, signals an intelligent and self-aware prospect.

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Swangin’ and Bangin’ or Chopped and Screwed?

The big thing that we’re going to be focused in this piece is going to be centered around the “big man things”—with a little bit of a focus on what else he can offer an NBA team. Let’s lock into these aspects.

Crashing the Glass

Cenac Jr. is listed at 6’11” and 240 pounds. We’ll see how those measurements shake out in the wash, but part of the concerning areas with Chris have come with his frame and ability to handle physicality. While rebounding isn’t the sexiest skill set for a highlight reel, it is one of the most translatable skills—and an imperative one for a player like Cenac.

Nasty Putbacks

The first clip we will look at here is going to start with a Kingston Flemings (#4 in white) drive on the right wing. Kingston does an awesome job slipping past defenders and working his way to the paint. His quick attack forces the defense to collapse onto him, but Flemings goes up with an inside hand finish. This attempt misses high off the glass.

If you saw it at the bottom of the screen, you may have noticed Chris Cenac Jr. (#5 in white) lurking on the weakside shallow corner. Chris does a fantastic job of working his way into position to capitalize on a putback jam. He demonstrates awesome anticipation and ball-tracking ability here.

Cenac’s Offensive Rebound Percentage is at 9.8. This places Cenac tied for 101st among all college basketball players with a Minutes Percentage of at least 60. If you narrow that group down to just freshmen, Cenac is tied for 13th with David Mirkovic. It’s also worth noting that Chris is in the 89th percentile in scoring on putbacks.

Ending Possessions

There is a bit of a mix of defensive effort in concert with a defensive rebound in this clip, but this highlights just how hard Chris Cenac competes on the boards.

Chris Cenac starts off on Joshua Jefferson (#5 in yellow) but switches onto Milan Momcilovic (#22 in yellow) on the handoff. Once Milan gets to the top of the key, he goes vertical and darts down to the paint to defend Blake Buchanan (#23 in yellow) on the right block. The ball is swung to Jefferson on the right wing, then back to Momcilovic at the top of the key.

Buchanan comes up to meet Milan to get the ball, which brings Cenac back out to defend along the perimeter. Blake dribbles out to the right block to hand the ball off to Tamin Lipsey (#3 in yellow). Cenac shoots off of Blake to blitz Lipsey. He does give Lipsey a little contact, but gets vertical to avoid getting called for the foul.

As a result of blitzing Lipsey, Chris is upwards of three feet past the three-point line—doubling Lipsey. Chris jets down the lane to meet Buchanan in the paint while JoJo Tugler (#11 in black) goes to the right wing to defend Jefferson. Cenac must now defend Buchanan on a drive to the paint, and does a great job of sliding his feet to stay in front of him. Buchanan pivots back to attack Chris baseline, but he isn’t able to establish an advantage.

Tugler gambles by going down to the paint to double Buchanan, which leaves Jefferson open on the right wing. Jefferson catches the ball deep and launches a three-ball. Chris Cenac Jr. is able to seal off Buchanan from getting anywhere close to the rebound, resulting in Cenac getting the board to close out the possession.

Chris Cenac has a Defensive Rebound Percentage of 26.0. When comparing Cenac to all college players with a Minutes Percentage of at least 60, he is 14th. If you narrow that down to just freshmen, that puts Cenac second among all freshmen with a Minutes Percentage of at least 60—over names like Cameron Boozer, Caleb Wilson, Nate Ament, and Hannes Steinbach.

These numbers are certainly good for college, and these bankable numbers give him a pretty safe floor as an NBA rotational big.

Interior Finishing

When he played at Link Academy, Chris ranked in the 55th percentile in terms of at-rim finishing. He was also just in the 35th percentile in at-rim frequency. When considering the quote from Cenac on why he opted to play for Coach Sampson, the part where Chris says, “I know Coach Sampson is going to coach me hard. I want that, and I need that,” really rings true in this area of Chris’s game.

PnR Finishing

One of the areas of the game in which Chris Cenac Jr. must be impactful is as a Roll Man out of pick-and-roll (PnR) sets. We’ll see an example of him being impactful in that role in this clip against Tennessee.

The ball starts off on the left side of the floor in this clip, but it eventually finds its way into the hands of Kingston Flemings on the right wing. Kingston stays there, awaiting the pending screen to his left from Cenac. Kingston runs his man into Cenac, which forces a momentary switch. Cenac makes a well-timed dive to the rim, which brings his man away from Kingston.

Flemings is able to toss a pass over the top of the defense, into the prepared hands of Chris. He is able to gather the pass in step, turn into the paint, and rise up into a two-handed jam. Cenac ranks in the 47th percentile as the Roll Man this season with Houston. While this is lower than what he did as Link in high school, he is doing so on more volume (13.3% of his possessions vs. 11.8%) with Houston—splitting time with Tugler as the screener.

We touched on how Cenac was not widely viewed as an elite finisher around the rim in high school, but there has been a noticeable shift for him in college. Chris ranks in the 97th percentile in at-rim efficiency. This is boosted by the 30 dunks that he has logged—with 22 of them coming in the halfcourt.

Interior Defense

With the “big man things” generally, being impactful can come down to a very simple idea: put the ball in the basket, then stop others from doing it. Particularly in the NBA, most teams put a heavy emphasis on their center to be the anchor of their defense. For a 5 to be an average or below average rim protector, they have to bring so much in other areas of the game (passing, shooting, rebounding) that their team can overlook any defensive efficiencies. That sort of big man also presents the front office and coaching staff with unique challenges when it comes to roster construction.

Holding it Down

Chris Cenac Jr. hasn’t really shown an elite level of rim deterrence or protection. Some of this may have to do with Tugler being the anchor of the defense—which has put Chris in some interesting developmental contexts as a perimeter defender. However, we have some significant evidence that Cenac can grow in this area of the game. We’ll look at a couple of clips that support this.

This first one is against Tennessee. We’ll see that the ball begins at the top of the key, and then is worked over to their star freshman, Nate Ament (#10 in orange). Nate looks to size up Milos Uzan (#7 in white). and work his way to the basket. On the left side of the floor, we can see Cenac in help—hovering around the right elbow. As Ament rips through and attacks baseline, Chris’s head is on a swivel. He sees that his Uzan is beaten, and Tugler is sealed off by his man.

Chris makes a line to the restricted arc and prepares himself to contest Ament’s shot. Notice how Cenac doesn’t just lunge at Nate. Cenac understands that Ament isn’t able to finish with his left hand based on his angle of approach to the basket. Chris gets off of two feet as Ament gets the ball into his right hand, and makes an emphatic block with his left.

Anchoring Ability

It has become increasingly clear that Chris Cenac doesn’t project to be a bell-cow big man —one who can anchor a defense based on his paint presence alone. But, while he isn’t going to be a lone ranger in the paint, there are signs that he can give spells as the 5-man within some lineups.

In this clip against Baylor, we see Chris working the paint. The ball swings to Michael Rataj (#12 in white) on the right wing. Cenac does a good job of not cheating off of his man on the left block, which could have resulted in an easy dump-off by Rataj. Instead, he slowly gets in front of his man while maintaining position to contest as the ball is driven into the paint. As Rataj picks up the ball just outside the paint, Cenac slides over, times his jump, and rejects the would-be layup from Rataj.

Cenac has a Block Percentage of 2.5. As a player who is listed at least 6’11”, Cenac’s Block Percentage would rank sixth-lowest withinBart Torvik’s database among all players drafted in the First Round—directly trailing Marvin Bagley III’s freshman season with Duke. This may have something to do with the fact that his two most common lineups feature him at the 4—with either Tugler or Khalifa Sakho at the 5. Both of these lineups have seen over 440 possessions and 130 possessions, respectively, according to Hoop Explorer.

The lineup that features Cenac at the 5 the most consists of just 49 possessions. In that lineup, Houston allows a three-point percentage of 33.3% and a two-point percentage of 47.1%. Both of those numbers are fine, but they aren’t overly impressive, either.

Cenac doesn’t project as a primary rim deterrent. However, if he can defend in space and contribute as a weak-side rim protector, this helps shape his projection as a 4/5 combo big man.

The Jumper

The last area of his game that we will touch on for Chris Cenac is going to be the jump shot. With the existence of real questions in his game, Cenac’s ability to knock down jump shots could be the “special” ability that he brings to an NBA team.

This may be a strange point to be making, as Chris isn’t shooting particularly well from beyond the arc—or from other areas. Chris is shooting just a hair under 33% from deep. His volume is okay, as he is attempting 6.7 three-pointers per 100 possessions. He also hasn’t been very efficient from the free-throw line—going just 61% from the charity stripe.

It’s worth noting that these numbers are down from his high school efficiency numbers. At Link, Chris shot 36.4% from deep on 1.83 attempts per game. He also shot 77.5% from the free-throw line.

Trail Option

What makes a player of Chris’s dimensions so tantalizing is the way they can space the floor and impact the defense. For a player who will likely be defended by Centers in the NBA, teams will have to wrestle with how they defend transition opportunities. If the opportunity is there for a big man to get back to protect the rim, odds are that the big man will look to do so. If they are lined up against Chris Cenac Jr., the results could look like what they do in this clip.

There isn’t a whole lot of nuance or detail to break into here. Milos Uzan brings the ball up the floor in transition, with Arkansas getting back to defend the ball being advanced up the floor. Cenac’s man, Trevon Brazile (#7 in white), is down in the paint to protect the rim. Recognizing this, Uzan kicks the ball out to Chris Cenac—who is strategically trailing behind to get an open shot at three points. Cenac gets the pass and goes straight into a three-pointer.

It’s interesting to note that Houston doesn’t get into transition a ton. Only 8% of their total possessions are in transition (according to Synergy). This would explain the small sample that we have of Chris taking transition three-pointers (six total, making three).

The mechanics aren’t a problem. You can see how fluid and comfortable Cenac is taking threes. His priors also help give some supporting evidence that Chris can be a dependable stretch-big.

Halfcourt Floor Spacing

While it’s fun to take a look at the floor spacing that Chris Cenac can provide in transition as a trail option, NBA teams should be able to look at the work he’s done in the halfcourt.

We see Kingston Flemings bring the ball up the court on the left wing. We see Cenac set a screen on AJ Dybantsa (#3 in white), which forces Richie Saunders (#15 in white) to switch onto Kingston. Kingston then gets into a pick-and-roll action with Tugler. Tugler dives into the paint, which attracts the attention of Dybantsa. Flemings does a great job of recognizing that Cenac’s man has left him open and whips the ball over to him. Chris gets the ball and shoots it over the top of AJ Dybantsa making a hard closeout.

The presence of Cenac next to Tugler makes this play so interesting. Chris’s ability to space the floor really put AJ into a precarious position. If Tugler is freed up after setting a hard screen, AJ would be in the closest proximity to be able to challenge Tugler at the rim. But, in order to do so, he has to give Cenac the space to get the shot off. It’s a tough place to be as a defender.

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Wanna Be a Baller

After committing to Houston, Chris Cenac has averaged 9.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.8 SPG, and 0.5 BPG. Those numbers have mostly improved since conference play has kicked off, as Cenac has gone for 9.7 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.1 SPG, and 0.4 BPG. His contributions playing the 4 for Houston have mostly gone under the radar due to the meteoric rise of Kingston Flemings. His ability to play off of another big man for the first time in his career has come with some areas of concern, but there have been some impressive stretches where Chris has been quite brilliant.

As a big man moving forward, Cenac has proven to be a consistent finisher. Not only that, but he has become one of the best rebounders in all of college basketball. Those two aspects alone have been promising developments within his game. There are some questions as to his ability to hold down the back line of a good defense. The truth is, we haven’t seen a whole lot of Chris acting in that role. While that is true, it may be safe to assume that he is going to have some work to do in this area based on the film and projection numbers.

So, this projects him to be more of an offensively tilted big man, right? That’s likely a safe bet, but Houston has also introduced a new wrinkle into Cenac’s projection to consider. For the first time, Cenac has been used to guard some of the more promising wing/forward players in college. AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Nate Ament, Joshua Jefferson, and Cameron Carr—among others—have all had possessions where Chris went out and defended them well outside the paint. This could be huge for Cenac’s ability to come into the NBA to be a member of a two-big lineup.

His rebounding insulation, consistent finishing, projectable shot, and defensive switchability are rare at his size, and give him a clear path to be selected within the lottery of the 2026 NBA Draft.

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