The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Chemistry as an interaction between people working together. One look at the Houston Cougars basketball team, and you will see a team with a ton of chemistry. They are a team defined not by the individuals who make it up but by the parts that make it up.
Everyone who has watched the Cougars play understands the first part of this. They have their star in LJ Cryer, but every single player who steps on the floor for the University of Houston contributes to winning. They all play defense, don't turn the ball over, make the right pass, and win. Houston wins a lot, and one man is responsible for bringing this program back: Kelvin Sampson.
Coach Sampson took over a Houston program that had been to one NCAA Tournament the 20 years prior. The Cougars were one of the best programs in the country in the 1980s, and the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler led them to three Final Fours. The program Sampson took over was a shell of its former self.
It took Sampson three seasons to build the Cougars into a contender, but there was no turning back once he did. Houston is currently one of the most consistent programs in the country, and they do it with culture. Every player buys in and participates in the culture. If they don’t or won’t be a fit for what coach Sampson is trying to build, they don’t play for Houston. The culture and chemistry of that team are vitally important for their success.
Coach Sampson will be the first to admit that he made some mistakes, especially in his coaching life. Indiana is one of the premier college basketball programs in the country, and Sampson was awarded the job after a successful 12 seasons as the coach of Oklahoma. Indiana is where things went south quickly for the coach.
Sampson made phone calls to recruits, which was not allowed. His heart was in the right place because the purpose of the phone calls was to start the crucial relationship-building step a little earlier than other coaches. Contacting recruits early got him a 5-year show-cause penalty and forced Indiana to self-impose a postseason ban.
Sampson will never be able to escape his past, and it doesn't appear that he wants to. It is what made him into the coach he is today. Sampson is still the same coach from those days at Indiana. He values relationships and chemistry more than anything else. It is his precipice for winning.
The Cougars have built their team and their identity behind a smothering defense. As you all know, good defense takes the buy-in of the entire roster, and it's easy to get buy-in when you recruit to it. Recruiting high-character guys you have a relationship with is the first step in creating buy-in. The second step to buying in is showing that what you are selling is working. Houston and their resume under coach Sampson speak for themselves.
There is a narrative in the media now that there are no Cinderella stories with this season's NCAA Tournament. That is false. Sure, there are no Cinderella teams, but Coach Sampson's quest to get his first NCAA tournament is one of the best stories of the tournament.
A title would mean everything. Houston would win its first National Title in school history, but most importantly, it would be Kelvin Sampson's first title. That would make his career complete. He has done everything else and built himself a hall-of-fame career. Like so many others, he is just missing a National Championship.