This Ain't Chopped Liver
Active Member
Smith: This UH team is Kelvin Sampson’s best coaching job
Cougars have overcome key injuries to rank sixth in the country a year after reaching...
Excerpts:
So maybe there was one other season during the last four-plus decades when Sampson did more with less. Kept winning and winning when he ultimately was supposed to lose. Maintained constant momentum — on the hardwood, off the court, as a head coach, program leader and recruiter — while college basketball waited for his team to fall backward.
Sampson has created annual consistency during a new era for the game. Finding consistency this season has been as challenging as it has been rewarding.
UH is 19-2 and 8-0 in the American Athletic Conference because of Fabian White Jr., Josh Carlton, Taze Moore, defense, rebounding and consistent full-court intensity. But the Cougars are also ranked higher than Baylor, Duke and Kansas because of Sampson, who’s followed up the program’s first Final Four appearance since 1984 with throwback coaching that echoes the sport’s best days.
“I’ve got to be honest with you, I’m having fun with it,” said Sampson, whose Cougars face Cincinnati on Sunday in an AAC road matchup. “I enjoy this. … Getting these kids to believe that their best is good enough. Maybe their 70 percent or 60 percent, that’s not good enough. But their best will be.”
“We’ve been working toward that,” said Sampson, referring to getting a full buy-in from his revamped roster. “This isn’t a light-switch profession. You’re dealing with kids that have people influencing them. I’ve got people telling kids, ‘You need to shoot more. You need to start looking at an agent.’ We’re dealing with a generation of kids that you have to convince, more than anything else, to look at me. Listen. There’s a difference between hearing someone and listening to someone. … We’re constantly talking to these kids, coaching them, teaching them — let’s play for each other here.”
I learn something new every time that I speak with Sampson. Or I’m reminded of something powerful about life. Or I remember that college basketball, despite no longer being what it once was, can still be the premier sport in the country as March becomes crazy and the intensity cranks to 10.
Some would insist there’s no way a team with UH’s setbacks can return to the Final Four. Sampson preaches a “unique opportunity” — one that has opened new doors for inexperienced names who weren’t supposed to be soaking up critical hardwood time.
“These kids are locked into what we’re trying to do, and I appreciate them,” he said. “I really like this group.”
Last edited:
