Age is just a number for Sampson’s squad UH update
Cougars’ 51-9 mark past two seasons tied for second-most wins in D-I over that span
Earlier this week, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson read an email from close friend Roy Williams, the coach at North Carolina.
“Did you know your team the last two years is 50-8?” Williams wrote.
“Full disclosure,” Sampson said after the Cougars beat Tulane 75-62 on Thursday, “I did not know that.”
That is nothing unusual for Sampson, a 32-year coaching lifer who rarely, if ever, concerns himself with such trivial matters. But something about the two-year run, now 51-9 heading into Sunday afternoon’s game against Wichita State inside Fertitta Center, caught Sampson’s attention.
“When I saw it on paper, I said that looks like something Gonzaga would be,” Sampson said. “Or Virginia.”
Put Houston in the conversation. Through Friday, the Cougars’ 51 victories during the 201819 and 2019-20 seasons are tied with Duke for second-most among Division I men’s basketball programs. Yes, that Duke. The only program with more victories during the two-year stretch? Gonzaga at 57-5.
“We’re not a dominant team,” Sampson said. “I never project us to be. We have not been. We aren’t. And we’re not going to be.”
Don’t misinterpret Sampson. He’s happy — no, “proud as heck” — of a team that has turned its nose up to talk that they are too young and too inexperienced to be serious challengers this season. But why not the Cougars?
Why not now?
With a month left in the regular season, UH is 18-5 overall, 8-2 and tied with Cincinnati for first place in the American Athletic Conference, and No. 25 in both national polls. A combined four points in losses to Tulsa and Cincinnati is the only thing standing between UH being 10-0 in conference play.
A third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, not accomplished since the famed Phi Slama Jama days, is a strong possibility.
“That (success) was the plan and dream Coach Sampson had when he came in,” forward Fabian White Jr. said. “I’m happy to see it come true.”
All this comes a year after losing three veteran starters to graduation, and another who decided last-minute to turn professional, from a team that won a school-record 33 games and advanced to the Sweet 16.
“I know what a dominant team looks like,” Sampson said, referring to veteran-led squads Virginia and Texas Tech that played in last year’s national championship game. “They are usually full of juniors and seniors.”
UH’s roster is comprised mostly of underclassmen and only one senior, which bodes well for the future as the Cougars get set to welcome a three-member signing class that was ranked 26th nationally by 247Sports. Two of the best players on the roster — Caleb Mills and Marcus Sasser — are freshmen. Nate Hinton, a doubledouble machine, is just a sophomore. Quentin Grimes, another sophomore, continues to find his way offensively. White Jr. and DeJon Jarreau will be back for one more year.
Still, flaws and all, the Cougars keep winning. There is nothing pretty about how the Cougars generate points. Some games they are just as likely to have a big first half and go cold in the second half. Scoring is by committee and akin to picking a name out of a hat, although Mills has been the most consistent. What’s non-negotiable: rebounding and defense. UH ranks second nationally in rebound margin (plus-9), fourth in total rebounds per game (42), fifth in offensive rebounds per game (14.09) and 15th in field-goal percentage defense (38.1).
Sampson has seen the progress. He admits the Cougars “weren’t a good team” in a 97-89 win at Rice on Nov. 19. Three days later in a 78-66 loss at then-No. 19 Oregon?
“It was almost like we were trying to figure out where the light is in the dark. We kept running into the coffee table. We busted our head against that thing that holds your mama’s crystal,” Sampson said, stumbling around to emphasize his point. “Boom! Boom! That was in November. I’d sit there and completely understood it. You know they are just going to have to take their lumps until they get it.”
That moment came in early December in a 20-point win at South Carolina, followed by backto-back wins over Georgia Tech and No. 21 Washington in Honolulu. In AAC play, UH went on the road and dominated then-No. 16 Wichita State 65-54 and had Cincinnati on the ropes before a second-half meltdown.
“(Our team) has gone from hoping to thinking to knowing,” Sampson said. “We knew we had to be patient with this bunch because we had never had a young team. We’ve always been veteran.”
In what might have been a transition season for most programs, the Cougars have continued to find ways to win. After all, it’s all the current roster has ever known.
Fifty-one wins and counting. “For me personally, I just think it’s the standard,” Hinton said. “I don’t know anything else but winning.”