Seven-win seasons don’t tend to create much belief.
They tend to produce frustration, roster turnover, and promises that next year will be different. Houston experienced plenty of the first two after going 7-23 and winning just once in 18 Big 12 games during Matthew Mitchell’s first season as head coach.
Yet ask the players what Mitchell built in that first year, and the answers have little to do with the final record.
Kayla King saw development. Justice Carlton found encouragement. Raegan McCowan saw a culture she wanted to join. Madison Carlton saw the opportunity to build a legacy alongside her older sister.
And Mitchell saw a foundation.
“I learned how important it is to stay connected to the process of building a championship program and keeping your attitude in control — your attitude and your effort,” Mitchell told reporters in early June.
Throughout Mitchell’s first season, Houston struggled to score consistently, and he realized early in non-conference play that wins may be hard to find. The challenge became continuing to improve without allowing the results to define the work.
Mitchell called it “an extremely valuable year,” one in which Houston learned to recognize improvement without attaching it entirely to their win-loss record.
King doesn’t need to be convinced. She’s one of only three players returning from last season’s roster, along with Jemma Hunter and Jorynn Ross. After the struggles of last season, King could have joined the wave of players seeking a fresh start through the portal. Instead, she stayed because she believed the work being done behind the scenes would eventually show.
“Despite the wins and losses last year, they developed my game in so many ways that people haven’t even been able to see,” King told The IX Basketball. “They believe in me, and I believe in them.”
As a freshman, King began learning to play both on and off the ball and says Mitchell gave her a better understanding of how to play either guard position. The experience also gave her something few players on Houston’s reconstructed roster possess: knowledge of Mitchell’s standards.
“Now that that base and that structure is laid down, especially as somebody returning, I have a voice,” King said. “I know the standard now, so I can hold everybody else to it.”
Recruiting players who wanted to build
Mitchell did not have the luxury of making minor adjustments after his first year.
Graduation and the portal forced Houston to rebuild most of its roster for a second straight year. This time, however, Mitchell had a full recruiting cycle to find players who fit what he wanted to build. He looked for shooting, size, versatile defenders and players ready to fill bigger roles.
He also looked for players who wanted to remain long enough to build something.
“We’re going to try to create some stability in our roster, and we’re going to try to serve these players at a level where they’re not looking to move,” Mitchell said. “Then, sign the right players that are wanting to stay in the program.”
That approach helped Houston attract players who had more established options.
Carlton arrived after playing meaningful minutes for a Texas team that reached the Final Four. McCowan became one of the country’s most productive scorers at Western Illinois before a dislocated elbow ended her 2025-26 season. She also drew interest from several high-level programs, including Iowa. Both had individual reasons for choosing Houston.
Carlton wanted to return to her hometown, play with her sister and assume a bigger role before pursuing a professional career. McCowan wanted to challenge herself at the Big 12 level.
Both said Mitchell’s vision mattered.
Carlton was drawn to his history of turning Kentucky into a consistent national contender and the opportunity to help begin a similar transformation in Houston. “I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself,” Carlton said. “Coach Mitchell was telling me about the plan that he has the next couple of years, and I just wanted to help him get that started, especially in my home city.”
Mitchell didn’t recruit Carlton simply as Madison Carlton’s older sister. He presented a plan for her to become a go-to player and more vocal leader after spending three seasons surrounded by established stars at Texas.
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“My responsibility to them is their individual game and what we can do to maximize their individual game,” Mitchell said of the sisters. “Justice said she had a desire to have an expanded role in how the team operated. I tried to paint the picture about how that could happen.”
That expanded role is not limited to taking more shots. Carlton is learning how to become one of the public faces of a program and how to lead teammates who may view her differently because of her experience at Texas.
“It’s hard, honestly, keeping that balance on the team,” Carlton said. “Being able to step into that vocal leader role has been something that the coaches have talked to me a lot about. There are things that I’ve never really had to worry about before that I’m now having to step into. But it’s a challenge that I’m willing to take on because this was something I was looking for when I transferred.”
A different kind of environment
Carlton immediately noticed another difference after arriving at Houston.
At Texas and within the SEC, Carlton said, players were expected to be tough, avoid excuses and move quickly past mistakes. She described Houston’s staff as more openly encouraging while still demanding improvement.
“Everybody is just super supportive and genuinely wants to see everybody win,” Carlton said. She described a staff that gives players room to learn from mistakes rather than fear them.
McCowan heard Mitchell’s emphasis on culture throughout the recruiting process. After arriving in Houston, she found the environment matched what he had described. “He holds us all to a higher standard every day,” McCowan said. “I think he did a really, really good job recruiting all the girls that he did here. All of us are of high character, and we all get along so great. He really focused on the culture aspect, and that’s something he wasn’t willing to give up in his recruiting process.”
Culture, support, accountability and family have come up repeatedly during Houston’s first few weeks together. The players don’t always use the same language, but they describe the same environment.
King said this is the fastest she has ever connected with a new group. “I feel like some of the teammates I’ve known for years, and I just met them not even that long ago,” she said. “Everybody is positive. Everybody lifts you up.”
Sisters together again
No relationship illustrates that connection more literally than the one between Justice and Madison Carlton.
Mitchell first began recruiting Madison, a 6’1 forward from Seven Lakes High School, without realizing she was Justice’s younger sister. Madison committed to Houston early in the process, telling Mitchell during her official visit that she had already made her decision.
Justice entered the portal months later.
Madison made sure her sister knew Houston was available but said she tried not to pressure her. Justice ultimately chose to come home, in part because it allowed her to play with Madison and remain close to their mother and two younger sisters.
The significance of the reunion struck Madison during an offseason pickup game. “I got emotional because I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, it’s high school again,’” Madison said. “I just love playing with her. She makes everything so easy for me.”
They already appear to have retained some of their old chemistry.
McCowan played on the sisters’ team during an open gym and watched Justice find Madison with a pass near the basket. “I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, that was definitely a mind-to-mind telepathy type thing,’” McCowan said.
Their relationship also comes with a challenge.
Justice wants to help Madison adjust to college without becoming a second coach or parent. Madison appreciates the guidance but knows she must learn to handle some things on her own. “I think she’s trying to get into that role of understanding that she doesn’t need to babysit me or look after me,” Madison said. “She has to realize I have to do some things on my own.”
Madison has also drawn lessons from watching Justice play at Texas. The biggest is confidence. “There are so many people who want to look at you and be like, ‘She’s not that good,’ or, ‘So-and-so is better than her,’” Madison said. “You need to really be confident in yourself.”
More than good feelings
Houston’s early chemistry does not guarantee anything once the season begins.
The Cougars remain a program coming off consecutive last-place Big 12 finishes. Most of the roster hasn’t played together in a college game, and several players are making significant jumps in competition.
Mitchell also has not settled on precisely how Houston will play. He intends to use the summer to learn how the pieces fit rather than forcing the roster into a predetermined system. He believes the Cougars have enough versatility to become “multidimensional” and difficult to guard.
Carlton gives Houston a proven scorer with size on the perimeter. McCowan can play multiple positions and scored at all three levels at Western Illinois. Tarleton State transfer Elodie Lutbert provides a mobile 6’6 presence around the basket. Esmeralda Enriquez shot nearly 50% from 3-point range in junior college, while freshman Alyvia McCorkle brings the kind of full-court ball pressure Mitchell values defensively.
King has already noticed the difference during summer workouts. “I feel like everybody can shoot the ball,” she said. “Everybody is really gritty and grimy on the defensive end, too. We have bucket-getters.”
McCowan sees the same combination of pieces. “I think we have a lot of people who can score the ball,” she said. “We have great point guards. I’m super excited. I think all the pieces are there.”
Mitchell isn’t ready to decide where all those pieces belong. He’s more interested in establishing principles: honesty, discipline, effort and an understanding that the work must continue regardless of immediate results.
That was the lesson of Year One.
“We learned a lot about staying the course,” Mitchell said. “We learned a lot about showing up and working hard every day, even though you’re not getting the results that you want competitively.”
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A championship goal
The Cougars have not formally established their team goals for the season, but that hasn’t stopped the players from identifying one.
McCowan didn’t hesitate when asked what a successful season would look like. “Going out and winning a Big 12 championship,” she said. “We’re not going to settle for anything less than that. I don’t think that’s out of the realm for us to complete.”
King also talked about competing for a Big 12 title. Madison went even further, saying she wants this group to win the conference, reach the NCAA Tournament and change the way people think about Houston women’s basketball.
That is a bold vision for a program coming off a seven-win season, and the players understand that. King described the Cougars as underdogs — but also as “some dogs” who are hungry for a comeback season.
Summer chemistry is one thing. Houston still has to see how this group responds when the rotation tightens, playing time shrinks, and a demanding Big 12 schedule starts testing their confidence.
But something has already changed.
Last year, Mitchell was trying to convince his players that progress could exist without wins. Now, those who stayed believe him. Those who just arrived can see it. And several members of a team that won a single conference game last season are openly talking about winning the Big 12.
The victories haven’t come yet, but the belief has.
