How Kelvin Sampson Handled Houston Cougars' Loss in National Championship
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Coach Kelvin Sampson appeared on CBS Sports' Inside College Basketball with host Jon Rothstein on Aug. 28 to discuss how he and the Houston Cougars handled their shortcoming in their national championship game loss to Florida on April 7, in both the immediate and long-term facets.
Despite the Cougars' heartbreaking fashion of an end in which on the final possession, redshirt junior guard Emanuel Sharp halted his motion on the ball to avoid a carry call only to have it chased away by senior guard Walter Clayton, Sampson alluded to how his players should continue to feel proud and not beat themselves up, while also noting how important it is to wash it away despite it coming in the final 40 minutes of the 2024-25 season.
A wide range of emotions... in one weekend
It was no question that the Cougars felt extreme highs following their historical late comeback against East region champion Duke on April 5, a 70-67 win for Houston in which it held the Blue Devils to just one field goal in the final 10 and a half minutes of the game.
Less than 48 hours later, despite holding a lead as large as 12 and forcing over 10 early turnovers against the West region champion Gators, Houston ultimately fell victim to its own late missed free throws and finished with nine turnovers late, including its dreaded final play. It was a weekend with a dwindling spectrum of emotions, much like what Houston had experienced two times prior in the Guy V. Lewis era.
"I was almost a nuisance in their lives at that moment," Sampson said. "I didn't say anything. I just let the sounds of the crying, the sniffling, the wailing, the emotions, I just let that control the moment. I didn't want to break that, they needed that."
Sampson, who holds the fifth most career NCAA tournament wins as a head coach without a national championship, had stated before that his program's main mission wasn't about finally crossing that finish line, but rather for the sake of the game as a player's vehicle for professionalism on and off the court. In this aspect, he analogized to Rothstein the emotional range within a short period of time one can experience in both settings, while noting that losing doesn't necessarily mean failure.
"It teaches you what your life is in a 48 hour window," Sampson said. "You're gonna have to handle the highs and handle the lows."
The keys to redemption for Sampson
Despite seeing the departure of four seniors including graduate forward J'Wan Roberts, who Sampson felt was like a son of his in his Houston tenure, the aftermath didn't show any signs of weighing the Cougars down, in which although their roster is relatively younger thanks to the incoming freshman class ranked the highest in program history since the Phi Slama Jama era, they are incredibly deep in the rotation.
The returns of Sharp and guard Milos Uzan for their senior seasons ultimately bolstered the Cougars' odds of returning to the third weekend, as they have consistently remained with the second best odds behind Purdue, another program without a national title, across multiple books and outlets.
With a younger roster outside of those two, Sampson made a point on how age and youth is not a factor, but how attitude and effort ultimately influence program success and have kept Houston in this position since the start of its Big 12 tenure, no matter how experienced anyone is. Those were the qualities he originally saw in his incoming freshman class including 6-foot-10 stretch center Chris Cenac, a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
"That to me is the biggest hurdle for freshman," Sampson said. "It's learning how to start their motors everyday, which allows them to have a good practice, which allows them to get better, but more importantly allows the team to get better. If you're having to coach attitude and effort everyday, that means you're not coaching basketball."
Michael Carrara is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He attends the University of Houston, where he is a journalism major and a marketing minor. He is also a sports writer and reporter for the Daily Cougar, having covered baseball as an NCBWA member. You can find Michael on all major social media channels, including X on @michaelcoalec.