When Kelvin Sampson decided to go into coaching, his mission was pure.
He wanted to win and help kids reach their goals and get the most out of their basketball talents. Sampson has accomplished both at a rate better than the vast majority who have ever coached the college game.
As a result, the University of Houston head basketball coach has been selected as a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame while his career is still very much in the making.
We can all imagine how it must feel to be a step away from enshrinement, but for a man who has been so laser-focused and process-oriented since he was a young head coach at Montana Tech, you wonder if he ever considered the idea of being immortalized in the C-Suite of Hall of Fames?
Sampson chuckled a little when asked if the Hall of Fame had ever been a thought.
“When you’ve had my path, that would have been the furthest thing that I would think about,” Sampson said to the Defender. “I was excited when my father got put into the University of North Carolina-Pembroke Hall of Fame, and then years later, I joined him in that Hall of Fame. I didn’t think it got any better than that. Then the Montana Tech Hall of Fame, and then this summer I’m going to be in the North Carolina Hall of Fame.
“But that’s just the byproduct of success. We’ve had a lot of success at every stop.”
What’s interesting and amazing is that Sampson has saved his best chapter for the end of his storied career book during this run at UH. To say Sampson has revived the Cougars’ once-dormant basketball program is the biggest understatement.
He has redefined what success looks like in his 12 seasons at the helm. He has led the Cougars to a program-best seven straight NCAA appearances – and you might as well put the eighth consecutive appearance in pen for the No. 2-ranked Coogs – dating back to 2018 and six consecutive Sweet 16 appearances. This current stretch also includes a couple of Final Four appearances in 2021 and last season’s national championship game berth.
“I’m glad I’m going to the next step, but it’s also great for the University of Houston. We have a great university, we’ve made some unbelievable strides, being able to be the coach here at this school, being able to work with my family and accomplish what we’ve been able to accomplish has been the highlight of my career.”
Kelvin Sampson
Under Sampson, UH has become a perennial national power program with the country’s longest streak in the AP poll, 121 consecutive polls. The Coogs’ current 26-straight weeks in the AP top 10 is the nation’s second-longest current streak. With the help of talented players and a top-notch coaching staff here at UH, Sampson has strung together 10 straight 20-win seasons, four straight years of 30-win seasons, while the Cougars have dominated the Big 12 in their first few seasons with a 41-5 record.
With the energy and attention to the finest of details, University of Houston’s winningest coach still displays at 70 years old, you know that every superlative will be added to before Sampson’s run is over, and he hands over the keys to the program to his top assistant and son, Kellen.
The only unknown now is whether Sampson will hear his name called for enshrinement during Final Four weekend on April 4. He needs 18 of the 24 votes required for finalists to be inducted into the 2026 Hall of Fame class. The field is stacked as Sampson is joined by joined Joey Crawford (referee), Mark Few (coach), Blake Griffin (player), Kevin Johnson (player), Gary McKnight (coach), Doc Rivers (coach), Amar’e Stoudemire (player), Jerry Welsh (coach) and Buck Williams (player) as finalists from the North American Committee.
But you have to like Sampson’s chances with better than 800 career wins (821), 14 National Coach of the Year awards to his credit, 20 NCAA Tournament appearances during a 37-year coaching career, amassed during stops at Montana Tech, Washington State, Oklahoma, Indiana, and now UH. While we are all anxiously awaiting the enshrinement announcement, there is one person who isn’t as concerned.
“As far as the wait, I can’t wait for practice tomorrow,” Sampson said.
Truth be told, the magnitude of going into the Hall of Fame isn’t lost on him. But injecting himself in the process is.
On the night that the finalists were announced, he was sitting on the floor playing Knockout with his granddaughter, Maisy, and one of her friends, oblivious to the finalist results for his first time as a Hall of Fame nominee. Sampson knew since December that it was a possibility he could be a finalist and one step closer to induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, but it was still the furthest thing from his imagination when the announcement was made.
“I’ve enjoyed everywhere I’ve been,” Sampson said to the Defender in conclusion. “It’s been a great journey. It’s hard to talk about yourself about the Naismith National Hall of Fame. That’s Mount Everest. That’s it. That’s how they define the best.
“I’ve never associated myself with the people, the coaches, the players, or contributors. I think lessons I learned from George Raveling and John Thompson, Nolan Richardson, when I was a young coach, watching Dean Smith and what he did at the University of North Carolina, this young man from Chicago named Mike Krzyzewski, and what he did at Duke, where I was from. It was almost a shining example of what greatness looked like. But you just toiled away in anonymity, you worked for the passion because you loved coaching, you loved helping kids reach their goals, and you have a chance to impact their lives. Hall of Fame, no. I never ever thought that someone like me could ever be considered for something like that.”
