Kelvin Sampson appreciating Houston's latest Final Four trip much more this time

When Kelvin Sampson took Houston to its last Final Four, it was a much different experience.

That was in 2021, the year after COVID wiped out the entire NCAA Tournament, and things still hadn’t quite returned to normal. Every team in the field congregated in the greater Indianapolis area, there were still hardly any fans in attendance and there wasn’t any difference when the Cougars left their hotel to go play in their opening-round game to when they played their Final Four contest.

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But this week, with Sampson taking Houston to the Final Four for the second time as coach, things have definitely returned to normal. The Cougars left their campus on a bus Wednesday afternoon for the short drive west on I-10 to San Antonio, and got the VIP treatment at their hotel and when they went out to eat dinner that night.

Then on Friday, in front of a large crowd at the Alamodome, the Cougars will have a public workout. The following night, in front of thousands and thousands, they’ll be playing for the right to be in their first national title game since 1984.

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On Thursday, though, in his media press conference during Final Four festivities, Sampson reflected on that 2021 run to the Final Four.

“I think everybody that was in the bubble in Indianapolis got cheated out of the experience,” he said. “The only place we could go was the floor that the (hotel) elevator opened on to your floor. That was it. You couldn’t go down a floor, you couldn’t go up a floor.

“We had to stand in line to get tested before every time we went outside the building to come in, you know. I felt like we were going out to the yard in prison because they took us over to Victory Park to let us run around on the grass. And somebody had the great idea, why don’t you get a football or horseshoes or something. I mean, what do you want us to do? You know, look around and see how we break out of this place, so that was a different time. It’s hard to explain.”

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Sampson also disclosed he didn’t get the chance to see his wife, Karen, the whole time he and the Cougars were in the Indianapolis bubble.

“We played our first game against Cleveland State, and then we played the game to get there in Lucas Oil (Stadium). So the first two games, the next two games and then the next two games was the Final Four. And there were 68 teams in like two hotels.”

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Another unique thing Sampson pointed out about that 2021 Final Four was, with the bubble and the annual coaches’ convention that takes place the week of the Final Four, one coach may be at one school but end up at another school by the time they left the bubble.

“One day, I had Porter Moser from Loyola (Chicago) next to me; then at the end, I had Porter Moser from Oklahoma next to me,” Sampson said. “Then I had (UCLA coach) Mick Cronin over here and then I had (Eric) Musselman from Arkansas, and God only knows where he is now (Musselman is now the coach at USC), so that was something else.”

It was a much more rewarding experience for the Cougars on Wednesday when they arrived to San Antonio.

“Coming in here (Wednesday), the bus we were on had the Final Four logo with our team,” Sampson said. “The hotel we’re staying at, the staff there was just awesome with a mariachi band. You know, for me, fine, but for those kids, for them to get that experience (is special).

“And then (Wednesday) night, we went over to get a meal, and people stopping them and because they’ve seen them play the last three or four weeks, that’s what this is all about. It’s a reward; the should be rewarded for what they’ve accomplished.”

Much different than the atmosphere that awaited Sampson and the Coogs four years ago. Sampson is also hoping the results are far different than what Houston did in its previous Final Four.

“We didn’t do anything in Indianapolis; we won four games and then lost to Baylor and we could have played Baylor 10 times and not beat them once; that’s how much better they were than we were,” he said.