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Houston Basketball: Kelvin Sampson’s journey to becoming a top-tier head coach

By Jason Burgess

Mar 29, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson celebrates with the trophy to advancing to the final four after the game against the Oregon State Beavers in the Elite Eight of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 29, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson celebrates with the trophy to advancing to the final four after the game against the Oregon State Beavers in the Elite Eight of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Houston Basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Houston Basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

After some time in the NBA, the college ranks came calling again

Following the culmination of the 2013-14 season, Sampson was hired to replace James Dickey. The Cougars tabbed Sampson as the guy who cold once again put Houston on the national college basketball map. It wouldn’t be an easy task as the Cougars had gone just 302-335 from 1993-2014 before Sampson’s arrival, with nearly half of those victories coming during Tom Penders six-year tenure from 2004-10.

For Sampson, it would be a rebuilding project for both him and the school and the two took a chance on each other, and in today’s day and age, it has been about as much of a homerun hire as one can be. If Sampson was ever going to be hired in the college ranks again, it would always be a questionable decision given his past but much like Bruce Pearl, another coach who had a similar fate as Sampson, it has worked out for both the school and the coach.

Changing the culture of a program that hadn’t had much postseason success in thirty years, while at the same time rebuilding your own coaching reputation wouldn’t be easy. His first season wasn’t easy as the Cougars finished 13-19, winning just four games in the American Athletic Conference.