Kansas Coach Bill Self Stumps for Kelvin Sampson’s Hall of Fame Case

The Jayhawks coach has nothing but respect for Sampson and the job he's done at Houston.

Kansas head coach Bill Self spent a portion of his postgame availability on Monday night stumping for Kelvin Sampson's Hall of Fame case. | Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

No. 14 Kansas played host to No. 5 Houston on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse, where the Cougars faced the same fate as many teams that travel to the Phog in a primetime spot.

The Cougars fell to the Jayhawks 69–56 for their third-straight loss—a stretch that included a trip on the road to No. 6 Iowa State, a home defeat to No. 4 Arizona, and now the defeat at Kansas.

While Houston is currently doing its best to cough up a spot on the 1-seed line in the NCAA tournament, it’s apparent to those coaching against the Cougars that they’re still one of the best teams in college basketball. This, of course, is in large part due to the coaching of Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame finalist Kelvin Sampson leading the program.

Kansas coach Bill Self stumped for Sampson’s spot in the Hall of Fame during Monday’s postgame media availability praising the job the 70-year-old has done at Houston.

“I’m not an expert on judging except I do know this. There’s not a better ball coach in America than Kelvin Sampson,” Self said. “You don’t have to be in the Hall to be one of the best. There’s a lot of great coaches that aren’t, but certainly if he’s a finalist, I hope he gets in because he’s terrific.”

Kansas coach Bill Self on Kelvin Sampson, Hall of Fame: "I'm not an expert on judging. But I do know this - there's not a better ball coach in America than Kelvin Sampson. So you don't have to be in the Hall to be one of the best..I hope he gets in. Because I think he's terrific" pic.twitter.com/Y0Pwl7soYa

— Chris Baldwin (@ChrisYBaldwin) February 24, 2026

The Hall of Fame inductees will be announced in April at the Final Four, which Sampson’s team could certainly be playing in. After all, he had the Cougars playing in the national championship a year ago, and despite the recent three-game losing streak, Houston has been one of college basketball’s best teams this season.

Houston will look to get off the schneid at home this Saturday against Colorado.

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