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Kelvin Sampson is Reviving Houston Cougars Basketball

By James Fitzgerald

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Most of the memories that people have about the Houston Cougars hoop program has to do with the greatness of 1980’s college basketball and the faces that you saw on the basketball court in that era.

Watching head coach Guy Lewis get excited while watching the dunking fraternity aptly named “Phi Slamma Jamma” made college basketball great back then.

Youngsters of this generation have no clue that Guy Lewis led Houston Cougars squad to the Final Four three straight seasons with names like Clyde Drexler, Akeem Olajuwon, and Michael Young on it.

These kids would not understand that the Houston Cougars were as exciting as Jerry Tarkanian’s UNLV Runnin’ Rebels and Steve Fisher’s “Fab Five” teams at Michigan from 1990’s lore.

The Houston Cougars in the early to mid 80’s were must see TV!

The Houston Cougars are also one of the greatest teams in sports history to never win a championship. Yes, in sports history!

Along with the Buffalo Bills of the 90’s, Michigan Wolverines of the 90’s, Minnesota Vikings of 1999, and whoever else you can think of that shined without actually grabbing championship gold.

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It is not like the Cougars lost to chopped liver though. There is no shame in losing to Michael Jordan, James Worthy and the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 1982 National Semifinal.

You really can’t scoff at Houston losing back-to-back National Final games to Jim Valvano’s NC State Wolfpack in 1983 or John Thompson’s Georgetown Hoyas in 1984 either.

Losing to the champions is the only consolation that those Houston Cougars’ teams could take solace in.

But since those days, Houston Cougars’ basketball has had a hard time rekindling its old glory.

Since those days, you can count on one hand how many times they have qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

Four appearances, four first round exits. The last first round boot came under head coach Tom Penders in 2010.

There was a 16-year drought before that appearance, and with a 19-16 record going into the 2010 tournament, the selection of Houston into the tournament was suspect anyway.

It would be nice to see the Houston Cougars become a prominent NCAA Basketball power again, well at least for the people who appreciate the “Old School”.

That is why watching what Kelvin Sampson is trying to do in his second season at the helm of the Houston Cougars’ program is pretty exciting.

Jan 11, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson on the sideline during the first half against the Memphis Tigers at Hofheinz Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Coach Sampson took the reigns of the Houston Cougars hoop program and finished with a 13-19 record last season.

This season he has the Cougars off to an 11-2 start including starting off American Athletic Conference play at 1-0 after taking out South Florida on the road by a score of 73-67.

Kelvin Sampson has the Cougars in the position to actually crack the Top 25 for the first time in a while.

The knock against his squad is that they have not been road tested this season and that the competition that they have played against was not very difficult.

Those complaints are actually warranted. The Cougars have not played anyone in the RPI Top 100 and the highest ranked teams that they have played defeated them.

Houston has loses to the 128th ranked Rhode Island Rams 67-57 on the road and the 129th ranked Grand Canyon Antelopes 78-69 on a neutral court in Las Vegas.

Their overall strength of schedule ranks 176th in Division I basketball. But they do have a win over the LSU Tigers and top freshman on planet earth Ben Simmons who’s team is ranked 181 in the RPI. Then again, that win is starting to look like it will not mean much the way the Tigers are playing.

Regardless of what you may think about their schedule, the object of the game is to beat who is in front of you, put together the best resume possible to be considered for the NCAA Tournament if you can’t get an automatic bid, then simply let the chips fall where they may.

Kelvin Sampson to this point has his team headed in the right direction on that front behind a high scoring offense that drops 84.1 points per game on the ledger.

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Things are going to get much darker for the Houston Cougars
Things are going to get much darker for the Houston Cougars /

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    • Rob Gray Jr. has spearheaded the revival this season with his outstanding play from the perimeter.

    The 6-foot-2 sophomore guard is averaging 18.5 points per contest on 46.8% shooting from the floor and 37.9% shooting from three-point range.

    He has gotten solid support from 6-foot-8 senior forward Devonta Pollard who is averaging 13.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest, and Oregon transfer guard Damyean Dotson who is dropping 12.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest while shooting 48.7% from the floor.

    The Cougars have four players averaging double figures when you factor in guard Ronnie Johnson’s 12.8 point contribution per game.

    Are these guys going to be “Phi Slamma Jamma” anytime soon? Probably not, but they can be an important cornerstone to what Kelvin Sampson is trying to build in Houston if they continue to win, and more importantly, take down some of the tougher competition that is going to be in front of them in AAC play.

    Kelvin Sampson appears to be getting the Houston Cougars back on track this season to this point. There is still a lot of basketball yet to be played, which gives the Cougars plenty of time to make their case for postseason play.

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    It is just a matter of Sampson recruiting solid players without getting any infractions and the Houston Cougars playing consistent winning basketball and maybe there could be a complete revival of Houston Cougars basketball.

    It would be nice to see a team from yesteryear regain national prominence again.