Sampson thrives as master builder
Kelvin Sampson has been in marquee conferences, had more talent to work with, regularly played in front of sellout crowds and, until a few months ago, had far superior basketball facilities.
In a coaching career that has spanned nearly three decades, Sampson has gone from Montana Tech to Washington State to Oklahoma to Indiana and the NBA.
But it’s places like the University of Houston that seem to bring Sampson the most satisfaction.
“We’ve always had to build a team,” Sampson, 60, said. “Where some guys built careers at the Kansases, Dukes and North Carolinas, I’ve always enjoyed coaching the Washington States and Oklahomas and Houstons where you have to do a little more with less. I like that.”
In his second season at UH, Sampson has led a revival, taking the Cougars from bottom-dwellers to one of the top seeds in the American Athletic Conference tournament being held this weekend at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. UH, picked to finish seventh in the AAC preseason poll, enters Friday night’s quarterfinal game against Tulane as one of the hottest teams in the league at 22-8 and suddenly being mentioned as on the bubble for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Asked if this is one of his best coaching jobs yet in 27 seasons, Sampson smiles.
“It might be.”
Starting from scratch
Just don’t call what’s happening on Cullen Boulevard a rebuilding job.
“We didn’t rebuild this program,” Sampson said. “We had to build it.”
At the time of his arrival in April 2014, Sampson inherited a team reeling from a mass exodus of star players — “I guess we weren’t cool enough,” he said — and had only five players on the roster.
Sampson and his staff rushed to fill holes, digging deep into the junior college ranks. To no surprise, the Cougars struggled and just missed the fifth 20-loss season in the program’s proud and rich history.
Fast forward to this season. In January, the Cougars opened the $25 million Guy V. Lewis Basketball Development Center.
On the court, UH has been one of the league’s hottest teams down the stretch, winning nine of the last 11 games. It is the only school to beat all 11 AAC teams this season, which includes a 27-point road win against regularseason champion Temple.
The Cougars’ rise from 13-19 to 22-8 is the ninthbest turnaround in college basketball this season.
UH probably needs to claim the automatic bid that goes to the winner of the AAC tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament for just the second time since 1992. Whatever the outcome, Sampson said this year is already a success.
“You go from where we were April 2014 to where we are March 2016 is unbelievable, really,” Sampson said.
As quickly as Sampson has turned things around on the court, he’s been equally impressive off it with the opening of the state-of-the-art development facility and securing the OK from the university’s board of regents for a $60 million renovation of Hofheinz Pavilion.
“He knows how to build a program,” said Kellen Sampson, in his second year as an assistant coach on his father’s staff.
It’s been like that at every stop for Sampson, who had 18 consecutive winning seasons as coach at Washington State, Oklahoma and Indiana. He led the Sooners to the NCAA Tournament 12 times, including the Final Four in 2002.
People around the nation are taking notice of Sampson’s latest project.
Fran Fraschilla, a former head coach and current ESPN analyst, posted on Twitter this week: “Happy for Kelvin Sampson. He’s engineered a remarkable turnaround at Houston. Always has been a great coach and teacher. Cougars on the rise.”
Chemistry lesson
On an exhibition tour to China last summer is when Sampson first realized this year’s team had a chance to be good. But first there was the get-to-know stage with seven newcomers.
“All we had going in was individuals,” Sampson said. “They didn’t even know each other.”
Once that was out of the way, Sampson and his staff could begin assembling the pieces.
The one word Sampson uses to describe his team: sacrifice.
“We had good pieces,” Sampson said. “It was a matter of convincing those guys to sacrifice individually for the team’s success. It shows what kind of kids we have. We have really good guys.”
Rob Gray Jr., the leading scorer in the AAC, comes off the bench. Galen Robinson Jr. and Ronnie Johnson split time at point guard. Once a starter, Danrad “Chicken” Knowles comes off the bench. Kyle Meyer and Bert Nkali rotate at center. All-conference players Devonta Pollard and Damyean Dotson have combined to average 28 points for the league’s top offense. Make no mistake: defense and aggressiveness still remain the bedrock of Sampson’s teams.
“I wanted to be part of a rising program,” said Meyer, a transfer who began his college career at Iowa. “I wanted to be that guy who comes in and helps put this program back on the map.”
Enjoying the ride
Kellen Sampson said his father is “absolutely reenergized.”
Kelvin Sampson regularly walks and has shed about 15 pounds this season.
“He’s allowing himself to have a little bit more fun,” Kellen said. “He certainly has a little more nostalgic look in his eye as opposed to, ‘Hey, this is great for my career’ type approach. He’s enjoying his great career. The wear and tear of age has made him maybe enjoy the ride a little more, and that’s awesome.”