Veteran coach Mike Ekanem has joined the University of Houston Men's Basketball program as an assistant coach, Head Coach Kelvin Sampson announced Tuesday. Ekanem's hiring is pending approval by the University of Houston System Board of Regents.

Ekanem – whose last name is pronounced E-Con-Em – joined the Cougars after serving as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State during the 2024-25 season. There, he helped lead the Cowboys to 17 wins and a berth in the NIT Quarterfinals following wins over Wichita State and SMU.

He is highly regarded in college basketball circles. Silver Waves Media included him on its 2023 list of rising mid-major assistant coaches and was invited to that organization's Future Head Coaches Power Lunch in April. He was chosen to participate in the 2024 and 2022 TopConnect Assistant Coach Forums and was featured in the April 2022 edition of Ballers Magazine.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to work for Coach Sampson and in the program that he has built. He has taken Houston to levels it's never seen with a culture of winning, toughness, player development and in building men. Houston is a dream job for me and always has been," Ekanem said. "I look forward to building meaningful, lasting relationships with our current players and alumni while striving to bring value in every aspect of Houston Men's Basketball, both on and off the court.

"Mike fits in with our culture and is very much a go-getter. He is an extremely hard worker, is well connected and is well respected in our industry. When you have a program built on culture like ours is, it's important to find someone who matches that" Sampson said. "Mike fits in well in with our other staff members and will bring great value to our program. We're looking forward to working with Mike, and welcome him, Hannah, Major, Tye and Jersey to our family."

Ekanem has held similar titles over the past two seasons at George Mason (2023-24) and Sam Houston (2022-23) and has served on support staffs at Arkansas, Texas A&M, Nevada and Memphis as well as with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs during his career.

Ekanem helped lead George Mason to a 20-12 finish in 2023-24. The Patriots' posted their highest winning percentage since 2012 and knocked off their highest-rated opponent (No. 16 Dayton) since upsetting UConn in the 2006 Elite Eight. Defensively, GMU led the A-10 in scoring defense (65.9) and limited foes to a .404 field goal percentage (15th nationally).

Before that, he helped Sam Houston put together a dominant defense. The 2022-23 Bearkats won a school-record 26 games along with the WAC regular-season title and advanced to the NIT Second Round. Along the way, they held opponents to a paltry 59.3 points per game (4th nationally) on 39.1% shooting (7th) and forced an average of 16.6 turnovers (11th). Ekanem was instrumental in the team's recruiting efforts, helping land the first and third-highest rated signees in program history.

Ekanem teamed up with Eric Musselman for separate stints at Nevada (2018-19) and Arkansas (2021-22), both of which culminated with NCAA Tournament bids. He was the Razorbacks' director of player development during a season that ended in the Elite Eight and helped reel in the nation's No. 2 recruiting class. As multimedia specialist, he helped Nevada to a 29-5 record, the Mountain West regular-season crown and a No. 7 seed in the Big Dance.

In between, Ekanem spent two seasons in the SEC as director of scouting at Texas A&M.

Prior to his time at Nevada, Ekanem worked for four years at Memphis (2014-18) – the first two as special assistant for the head coach and the last two as the program's video and recruiting coordinator while assisting with scouting and social media.

Before arriving at Memphis, Ekanem worked at Louisiana Tech as an assistant women's basketball coach, overseeing the recruiting, scheduling, camps and guard development during the 2013-14 season.

He joined the San Antonio Spurs of the WNBA in 2008 and worked with that organization for two years before being employed by Spurs Sports and Entertainment as a Basketball Operations Assistant for the San Antonio Spurs under Gregg Popovich and as Director of Video and Athletic Performance for the Stars from 2009 to 2013. For both organizations, he assisted in practice and game preparation, video, skill development and strength and conditioning.

Ekanem was a four-year letterman at Texas Lutheran from 2001 to 2005 and earned All-Conference and All-Region honors.

Following his collegiate playing days, Ekanem played professionally in Germany (Wolmirstedt Baskets), Ireland (Longford Falcons) and Romania (BC Targoviste).

He received his bachelor's degree in athletic training and sports medicine from Texas Lutheran in 2007 and earned his master's degree in exercise science from California University of Pennsylvania in 2008.

Ekanem also holds certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

He and his wife, Hannah, have three children: sons, Major and Tye; and daughter, Jersey.

Ekanem followed Quannas White, who served the Cougars from 2017 to 2025 and recently left the program to become head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette.