Giving back: Houston Cougars men’s basketball spent Thanksgiving serving meals to Houstonians

The Houston Cougars men’s basketball team has been cooking on the court to start the season, but this past Thanksgiving holiday, they also spent time serving up meals to those in need at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Giving back to the community has always been an emphasis for Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson. For highly-touted student-athletes, a lot of their young lives is about receiving, but that is not what life is about, Sampson said.

“Education comes in a lot of different ways,” Sampson told reporters this past Friday. “Not just in the classroom, or in a book or in an assignment, some of the best lessons that [are] educational for our kids is the value of giving back. That’s something my antennas are always up on.”

During the holiday, the Houston players were scattered across the convention center. The event was organized with different stations and serving lines, Sampson said.

Houston players and coaches alike wore hair nets, aprons, and gloves as they scooped food from trays and served it up for those at the convention center. The event provided Houstonians with free Thanksgiving meals.

“It’s always a good thing to do that,” Houston guard Marcus Sasser said on Monday. “Just go out there and give back. Especially when you got what you want and what you need. Seeing the people that don’t really have the things in life that they want, it’s always good to give back and see the smiles on their face.”

For Sampson, he hopes serving their community teaches his team about the opportunity to give back and understand the importance of helping others, he said. The head coach always tells his kids there are people going through worse things in life, Sasser said.

“That’s why he is a great coach to me on and off the court,” Sasser said. “He teaches life lessons. He tells us about [giving back] a lot.”