Watching Bedlam last night made me think of Kelvin Sampson’s recent coaching milestone he just passed at the University of Houston. Kelvin’s run at OU was excellent before he went to coach at Indiana. He was an assistant in the NBA during his five year hiatus from the NCAA due to the fact he got in trouble for texting. Can you believe that given that the world of college hoops is now under an FBI probe for pay for play.
People don’t realize it but OU’s last four head coaches have all made significant runs in the NCAA Tournament. Billy Tubbs made four Sweet 16’s, two Elite 8’s and one NCAA championship game. Kelvin Sampson took OU to two Elite 8’s and one Final Four. Jeff Capel led OU to an Elite 8 and coached a National Player of the Year in Blake Griffin. Lon Kruger led OU to a Final Four and coached two National Player of the Years in Buddy Hield and Trae Young.
OU in my view has the best athletic director in the country in Joe Castiglione in that regardless of the sport he finds coaches who work at OU. Name another program in the country which has had three National Player of the Years in the past ten years then maybe other than Duke.
Anyway, Kelvin Sampson is a good basketball coach and I’m pretty sure his coaching skills would translate to the NBA level if the right NBA head coaching job ever came along.
Maybe something to put in a file and consider if the right job ever opened… as in either Houston or Oklahoma City. He’s a hungry coach. He coaches with a chip on his shoulder. His teams play with a chip on their shoulder. Just saying.