Houston Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing Kingston Flemings’s Elite Ceiling

The Houston Cougars reached their first Final Four since 2021 after dismantling Tennessee with their suffocating defense. Kelvin Sampson built a powerhouse program in Houston, built on scheme, development and continuity. He’s done this without five-star talent, but that will change in the coming seasons.

Houston’s 2025 recruiting class features three five-star players according to 247’s Composite Board — Chris Cenac, Isiah Harwell and Kingston Flemings. Despite garnering a bit less buzz than the others, Kingston Flemings could be the best player of the group and the most likely one-and-done.

Flemings brings an on-ball ceiling that Houston hasn’t had in quite some time at the guard spot. Sampson doesn’t often rely on true freshmen, but Flemings has the advantage creation and playmaking chops to make this work.

He recently dominated against Grayson, led by a top-5 recruit in 2026 (Caleb Holt), in the Throne High School Basketball Tournament, dropping 31 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists with 7 turnovers on a solid 61.3% true shooting clip. Flemings looked the part of a one-and-done guard, dominating in every facet of the game.

kingston flemings (’25 5* -> houston) looked the part of a lottery pick against grayson, absolutely cooking with manipulative, high-value playmaking and incessant rim pressure.

has to clean up his decision making and change of speed but he’s the best non-DP guard in the class pic.twitter.com/PsfkefeWmn

— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) March 30, 2025

Flemings is a dynamic on-ball talent

He lived at the rim, burning defenders to the hoop with his exceptional first-step burst and vertical explosion. Flemings isn’t not a perfect driver, often neglecting to decelerate and leaning hard on his speed, but the slashing tools are tantalizing. Some of that recklessness extends to his passing, but many great passers exhibit his kind of risk-taking.

It’s rare for advantage creators of Flemings’s quality to exploit defenses as a passer like he does. When Flemings breaks defenses with his speed and ball-handling, he picks on late rotations with kicks to the perimeter. He’ll need to clean up his decision-making, but Flemings has more passing talent than any point guard in the class.

We saw more of his flaws against an elite Long Island Lutheran team, which swarmed the 6-foot-3 Flemings with size, speed, length and pressure. He scored 10 points on 12 shots with 3 assists and 7 turnovers, struggling to consistently crack a defense filled with next-level talent.

These are the types of defenders Flemings will see at Houston next year, and this experience should serve him well. He’ll need to stabilize his jumper and improve his efficiency, but Flemings will have better teammates at Houston than he’s had in his entire high school and AAU career. If Kelvin Sampson’s development track record sticks, there’s a chance for Flemings to develop into a strong NBA talent.