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

Sampson has built Houston into a national contender again

In order to maintain that high level of play, a team must play well on both ends of the floor. Over the last five seasons, Houston has been one of the more elite teams both offensively and defensively in the country.

Since the 2018 season, the lowest the Cougars have ranked in defensive efficiency is 21st and their offensive numbers have been just as good with the bucket getters leading the team to a low watermark of 38th in that category over the same five-year span. But it has been over the last two years when the program has really taken off. They reached the Final Four and the Elite Eight this past season and Houston has ranked in the top-10 nationally in both efficiencies over that time according to KenPom.

Good play isn’t the only thing a program needs to maintain play at an elite level, they need players that can execute that play. Since 2017 Sampson has consistently brought in players every year that would become pillars of his program. From Corey Davis and Fabian White, Jr. in 2017 and Nate Hinton in 2018 to Tramon Mark and Jamal Shead in 2020 and the likely impact of five-star recruit Jarace Walker for the upcoming season.

One last area where Houston’s success on the court has helped is on the recruiting trail with Houston averaging the 43rd best recruiting ranking nationally over the last three seasons according to 247sports.

We often hear about how second-guessed relationships work out better than could’ve been expected. Considering many publications are likely to have the Cougars as the preseason No. 1 team in the country this season, it turns out the marriage between Kelvin Sampson and the Houston Cougars has to come together at the perfect time for both.