Former Houston Cougars superstar Kingston Flemings has been busy adjusting to NBA life as a rookie with the Atlanta Hawks, but he’s had a few good reasons to return to Texas over the past week.
On Wednesday, Flemings strolled into the gym at San Antonio Brennan High School while the Hawks were in town for a Thursday night exhibition game against the San Antonio Spurs. However when the doors opened, throngs of former teammates, family and friends were there to meet him, as the school had prepared a ceremony to retire his jersey number into the rafters.
One of the people there to greet him was Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson. Sampson, who drove three hours from Houston to San Antonio with his son and assistant coach Kellen and daughter Lauren, shared why Flemings was so keen to return to the gym in the first place.
“ESPN’s doing a five-part documentary on Kingston, and part of the documentary is [spending] a lot of time getting interviewed and filmed and all that stuff,” Sampson said at Cougars Media Day on Thursday. “Part of it, I think, has got to be at Brennan High School. So I think that’s what they told him and how they got him there.”
A request for details from ESPN by Chron on the documentary went unanswered as of Friday morning, but the network has a long history of profiling the rookie experience in the NBA, including series like “NBA: Year One” and “Declared.”
Houston Cougars head coach was on hand in San Antonio to witness Kingston Flemings get his jersey retired in San Antonio on Wednesday. (Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Flemings led Brennan to the Class 6A state semifinals as a senior and was honored as the 2025 Gatorade Texas Boys Basketball Player of the Year. In his lone year with the Cougars, Flemings was a consensus Second-team All-American and First-team All-Big 12 performer. In June, the Hawks selected Flemings with the No. 8 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
For Sampson, making the drive and being a part of that moment is just what family does for one another.
“These kids aren’t just players to us, they’re family,” Sampson said. “So when Kingston has an event like that, as soon as I walked in, the first thing I did was go give his grandmother and grandfather on his mother’s side a hug. Then I went and gave his grandmother on his father’s side. They’re all part of our family.”
Sampson estimated that 200 to 300 people attended Flemings’ moment inside the Brennan gym.
“It was emotional. Kingston cried two or three times, but yeah, it was a good night,” Sampson said.
Kingston Flemings tonight: 15 PTS 5 AST 3 STL 6-8 FG 2-4 3PM What a game for the rook 👏 https://t.co/CfSNcvjSzK
– Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 9, 2026
Flemings went on to deliver an inspired performance in front of his hometown on Thursday, scoring 15 points and tallying 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals in just 20 minutes in a 123-116 Hawks’ exhibition win over the Spurs.
Cougars fans won’t have to wait long to see Flemings return to Houston, as the Hawks will travel to face the Houston Rockets on Oct. 26 in the second week of NBA action.
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This article originally published at Kelvin Sampson says ESPN is filming docuseries with Kingston Flemings.