CHICAGO – For the second time this week, UIC men's basketball welcomed another native son to Chicago's College Team for the 2025-26 season, as graduate student guard Sam Silverstein (Glencoe, Ill./New Trier/Harvard/Cal Baptist) affirmed his commitment to join the Flames next year, head coach Rob Ehsan announced Thursday. Silverstein joins junior guard and Bellwood, Ill., native Mekhi Lowery, who made his transfer from Towson to UIC official on Monday.
 
"Sam truly embodies what it means to be from Chicago with his grit, toughness and blue-collar mentality," Ehsan said. "He's also a tremendous leader who's been a captain with every team he's been with, and he has experienced success at a number of levels, both in college and internationally. We believe he'll be a great addition to our squad next season, both on the court and in the locker room."
 
A 6-foot-6, 215-pound guard, Silverstein (last name pronounced SILVER-steen) comes to UIC after spending last season as a starter and team captain at Cal Baptist, where he helped pace the Lancers to a third-place finish in the Western Athletic Conference and a spot in the WAC Tournament semifinals. Silverstein appeared in all 32 games for CBU last season, starting 19 times and playing nearly 26 minutes per night while averaging 4.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. He ranked ninth in the WAC in rebounding (fifth in offensive rebounding at 2.2 per game) and also led the team in steals and blocks (20). He also grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds in a WAC Tournament quarterfinal win over Tarleton State.
 
Prior to coming to Cal Baptist, Silverstein spent two seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23) playing at Harvard University before electing to take a redshirt year (2023-24) to complete work on his undergraduate degree in applied mathematics. During his two seasons at Harvard, Silverstein played in 54 games and started 24 times while averaging 5.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game. As a junior in 2022-23, he was a team captain for the Crimson and started 24 of 28 games, averaging 7.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals in 31.4 minutes per game, ranking seventh in the Ivy League in minutes and ninth in steals. His efforts landed him a place on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court and the Asheville Championship All-Tournament Team, along with garnering the program's Defensive Player of the Year and Free Throw Accuracy Award (he shot .878 from the line in '22-23).
 
Silverstein graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill., in 2019, collecting all-conference honors as a senior and all-tournament recognition as a junior, in addition to serving as team captain during his final season. He went on to take a post grad year (2019-20) at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gill, Mass., where he captured all-conference honors as well. All told, he earned eight honor roll selections during his prep career.
 
In addition, Silverstein has international playing experience, helping Team USA to a 6-0 record and the gold medal at the 2022 Maccabiah Games. He started all six games for the Americans in the tournament, averaging 14.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, including a double-double (17 points/10 rebounds) in a preliminary-round win over Israel, 23 points in another early-round victory over Canada, and 18 points and eight rebounds in the gold medal conquest of France.
 
During Ehsan's first season at UIC, the Flames finished with a 17-14 record and tied for fifth place in the Missouri Valley Conference. UIC also registered its best regular-season winning percentage (.567) since 2004 and picked up four Quad 1-2 wins (second-best in the Valley). What's more, the Flames posted five wins over teams that competed in the postseason, including victories over Drake, Yale, Bradley and Illinois State, and produced the program's second-highest scoring offense (76.0 ppg. – fourth in MVC) in the past 30 years.
 
Details on season ticket packages for the 2025-26 Flames' men's basketball campaign will be available in the coming weeks. For more information, fans are encouraged to contact the UIC Athletics Ticket Office (312.413.8421; athleticsticketing@uic.edu).
 
For more information on UIC men's basketball, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_MBB and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_mbb and @uicflames).