Kelvin Sampson

Kelvin Dale Sampson (born October 5, 1955) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the University of Houston of the Big 12 Conference.

Early life

Sampson was born in Laurinburg, North Carolina, to parents who were members of the Lumbee Native American community of Deep Branch in Robeson County, North Carolina, in which he was reared. Sampson excelled in the classroom and the athletic arena during his prep days at Pembroke High School, in Pembroke, North Carolina. Sampson was captain of his high school basketball team for two years, and played for his father John W. "Ned" Sampson, who was later named to the UNC Pembroke Athletics Hall of Fame. His father was also one of the 500 Lumbee Native Americans who made national news by driving the Ku Klux Klan out of Maxton, North Carolina in what is annually celebrated by the Lumbee as the Battle of Hayes Pond. Later he played at Pembroke State University (now UNC Pembroke), concentrating on basketball and baseball. He earned four letters in basketball and three in baseball, and was team captain of the basketball team as a senior. He also earned Dean's List recognition throughout his collegiate career and received the Gregory Lowe Memorial Award as the school's outstanding physical education major his senior year.

After earning degrees from Pembroke State in both health and physical education and political science, Sampson pursued his master's degree in coaching and administration at Michigan State University. He left with his degree and a year's experience as a graduate assistant under Jud Heathcote.

Coaching career

After leaving Michigan State, Sampson moved to Montana Tech (of the NAIA) in Butte, where he became assistant coach. After serving as an interim coach for one season, Sampson guided the Orediggers to a 73–45 record in his final four seasons. Montana Tech had won just 17 games combined in the three years before his arrival. Sampson turned in three consecutive 22-win seasons and claimed three Frontier Conference championships at Montana Tech. He led his teams to two NAIA District 12 title games and was named the league's coach of the year in 1983 and 1985.

Washington State

After five years at Montana Tech, Sampson joined the staff at Washington State University in June 1985 under head coach Len Stevens, replacing Stu Jackson as assistant coach. Two years later in April 1987, Stevens left the Palouse for Nevada and Sampson was promoted to head coach at age 31, with a two-year contract and a base salary of $42,500 per year. When he led the Cougars to the NIT in 1992, it was Washington State's first postseason appearance in nine years. Sampson was named Kodak District 14 Coach of the Year by the NABC for the second time in three years; he first won it in 1991 when the Cougars produced their first winning season since 1983. Sampson was also named Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1992. In his final year in Pullman in 1994, he led WSU to their first NCAA tournament berth in eleven years. With records of 22–11 in 1992 and 20–11 in 1994, Sampson became one of only four men to win twenty or more games in a single season in Washington State history; he finished with a 103–103 record in his seven seasons as head coach.

Oklahoma

Sampson became the 11th head coach at the University of Oklahoma on April 25, 1994. Sampson was named national coach of the year in 1995 (his first year at OU) by the Associated Press, United States Basketball Writers Association and Basketball Weekly after guiding the Sooners to 23–9 overall and 15–0 home marks. It was the second-best overall record posted by a first-year coach in Big 8 history.

Sampson possesses the highest winning percentage in Oklahoma history (.719). He guided OU to nine consecutive 20-win seasons. He averaged 24.4 wins over those nine campaigns. He directed the Sooners to postseason tournament berths in each of his 12 seasons (11 NCAA Tournaments), with a Sweet 16 showing in 1999, a Final Four appearance in 2002 and an Elite Eight appearance in 2003. His teams also played in the Big 12 tournament title game on five occasions during the 10 seasons he coached in the Big 12. In 2001, 2002, and 2003, the Sooners won that tournament. Sampson finished with a Big 12 Tournament record of 17–7. His 279 wins are second in school history, behind only Billy Tubbs.

The University of Oklahoma is where Sampson earned his nickname "Mr. Blue Shirt" as he only wore blue dress shirts when he coached.

Indiana

On March 29, 2006, Sampson was named the head coach at Indiana University following the resignation of Mike Davis. Sampson was the second minority coach in the history of the Hoosier basketball program behind Davis. Upon taking the reins of the Indiana Hoosiers he noted, "I love my job at Oklahoma and I would not leave OU for any job unless it was a job like Indiana. My family and I have had 12 great years at Oklahoma, the best years of our life, but Indiana is one of the great programs in college basketball and if they call and offer, it is a job as a coach that you have to take."

In his first season at Indiana, Sampson led the Hoosiers to a 21–11 record overall and a 34th appearance in the NCAA tournament as a 7th seed in the West. Indiana beat first round opponent Gonzaga, losing in the second round to eventual Regional Champion UCLA, 54–49.

On February 22, 2008, Sampson was forced to resign due to allegations of serious NCAA violations, which included sending text messages to recruits, something that was against NCAA rules between 2007 and 2013. As a result of these allegations, Sampson received a five-year show-cause penalty. See NCAA violations section below.

NBA

On March 8, 2008, Sampson was hired in an advisory role by the San Antonio Spurs, before accepting a role on May 14, 2008, as assistant coach of the Bucks under Scott Skiles.

In 2011, he became an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets before returning to the NCAA in 2014.

Houston Cougars

Following the expiration of the five-year show cause penalty, the Houston Cougars hired Sampson to coach the men's basketball team on April 2, 2014. Sampson was instrumental in Houston's push to raise funds to build a $25 million practice facility in 2016 and a $60 million renovation to Hofheinz Pavilion (renamed the Fertitta Center) in 2018. Sampson led Houston to the NIT in his second and third seasons. In 2018, Houston posted its first Top 25 finish since 1984 and won its first NCAA tournament game also since 1984. In 2019, the Cougars won a school-record 33 games, only the fourth 30-win season in school history. They also advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, their deepest run in the tournament since advancing all the way to the national championship game in 1983 and 1984.

In 2021, Sampson led Houston to its first conference tournament crown since 2010. In the NCAA Tournament the Cougars, who became the first team to play four schools seeded tenth or higher, defeated Oregon State to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1984. Sampson became the fifteenth coach to have reached a Final Four again after a gap of over ten years, having last reached the Final Four in 2002 (only Ray Meyer, Lon Kruger, and Lou Henson had a longer gap between Final Four appearances). In 2022, Sampson's Cougars overcame season-ending injuries to two key players to win both the regular-season American Athletic Conference crown and the conference tournament and proceeded to advance to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. They finished with a record of 32–6 and a ranking of #7 in the Coaches Poll, and Sampson was voted AAC Coach of the Year for the third time.

In 2025, Sampson's Cougars were a #1 seed entering the NCAA tournament. After reaching the Final Four, the Cougars pulled a stunning upset of heavily favored Duke. Down 45–59 with eight minutes left, the Cougars ended the game with a 25–8 run, defeating Duke by a score of 70–67, and setting up a clash against Florida for the championship. They went on to lose to Florida, 63–65.

Sampson is currently the second-winningest coach in UH history, behind only Hall of Famer Guy Lewis.

NCAA violations

Sampson played a role in the controversial recruitment of star player Eric Gordon, who signed with Indiana after reneging on an early verbal commitment to the University of Illinois. Sampson was criticized by fellow coaches for failing to communicate with then-Illinois coach Bruce Weber about the recruitment, and hiring people close to Gordon to gain favor. Some observers said that Sampson's recruitment of the verbally committed Gordon was unethical, but legal.

In addition to the Gordon incident, Sampson has been in the middle of a number of other controversies. Under Sampson's watch, Oklahoma was placed under a three-year investigation by the NCAA for recruiting violations. At the end of their investigation, the NCAA issued a report citing more than 550 impermissible calls made by Sampson and his staff to 17 different recruits. The NCAA barred Sampson from recruiting off campus and making phone calls for one year, ending May 24, 2007.