Kelvin Sampson on Houston’s completed basketball season: ‘We had a championship year’
In this story:
Just two weeks removed from the loss to Florida in the national championship game, Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson held a media conference.
He talked about a variety of topics, from the fallout from dealing with the loss, to the support Cougars’ fans gave the team during their Final Four run, a transfer portal addition and the Big 12 Conference going to an 18-game league schedule next season.
Here is what Sampson had to say in Monday’s media session:
Sampson on the addition of forward Kalifa Sakho
(Sakho, a 6-foot-11 forward, officially joined the Cougars after transferring from nearby Sam Houston State, and will have one season of eligibility.)
“Kalifa, his length, his athleticism, his activity, the fact that he’s been a starter; I think he understands what his role will be coming in, but that doesn’t mean that’s going to be his role as the season goes on.
“But, you know, I’m always honest with these guys about the role I think they’ll play. Then they have to make the decision whether that’s something they would be interested in, but I like Kalifa, I think he’s going to be a great kid, a great teammate. All the feedback we had on him was positive, so looking forward to getting him here in June and working with him.”
Sampson on if he addressed the team in the days after the title-game loss
“This year is no different than any other year, we don’t change anything. I have individual meetings with every kid coming in. … I meet with each player, and then we come up with a plan how to help the young man going forward. So as far as talking about (the national title) game and stuff, I really haven’t talked to any, maybe a couple of guys, but I haven’t talked to the team. J’Wan (Roberts) had to get ready for Portsmouth (in Virginia, to play in a tournament involving several of the top senior college basketball players in order to enhance their draft stock); he left to go to Portsmouth right after we got back (from San Antonio). LJ (Cryer) left to go work out with his people; Milos (Uzan, who recently declared for the NBA Draft) went back to Vegas and then he was headed somewhere else to work out with his group.
“Life moves, man. This thing’s constantly moving, whether it’s meeting with Milos and where he’s at or meeting with Mercy (Miller) and where he’s at. … You know, putting together a team in this day and age is not easy, every coach has to go through it, but we have our way of doing things here and we don’t change a whole lot.”
Several college basketball experts are high on Houston entering 2025-26 season
Sampson on the progress made by forward Joseph Tugler, especially not dealing with injury issues
(Tugler, who just completed his sophomore season with the Cougars, recently announced his return for the 2025-26 season.)
“JoJo is making great strides. One of the things that hurt us in the Florida game was when JoJo and (Ja’Vier Francis) both have to sit out for, I can’t remember how many minutes, but it was a big block of minutes. We’re having to play J’Wan at the five and actually Mylik (Wilson) before.
“But if you go back and watch the last five minutes of that Duke game (Houston's incredible comeback win in the national semifinals), and then watch the minutes he played (against Florida), I think he only got to play 12 minutes, I could be mistaken there. … But when JoJo’s on the floor, we’re a really good team. There’s so many things that he can get better at, and looking forward to just seeing his improvement, obviously.”
What Kelvin Sampson said after Houston's title-game loss: 'Incomprehensible'
Sampson on the Big 12 going to an 18-game schedule in 2025-26
(This past season, the Big 12 played 20 conference games. One of the benefits of an 18-game schedule, as Sampson points out, will be the inclusion of byes.)
“Well, that’s all we’ve ever had was an 18-game conference season, so it’s not like this is something new. The 20-game schedule was something new. When you have a 16-team conference, you’re going to have an unbalanced schedule, which means not everybody’s 20 games are the same as somebody else’s. … The conference commissioner and the basketball associate commissioner, when they take the schedule, they’re going to take the top teams, have them play each other twice and give those games to either CBS or ESPN or ESPN2, because those are the games that people want to see and the TV people want to market.
“But this year, I think the biggest difference obviously will be the bye games. If you had an injury this (past) year, it can be the difference in making the tournament or not making the tournament, because say you had a kid that had a high ankle sprain, those things take a little bit longer to recover from. But he may be out three weeks, but this year, that would have been at least six games. … There’s the problem; there is no other problem, it’s hard to win a game without your best players. So with the 18-game schedule, you have byes that are built in, and I do think that’s better for the players.
“So we have this term that the NCAA created, that they seem to have forgotten, it’s called student-athlete welfare. And as a coach, you’re always conscious of it but you deal with what’s been put on your plate. So I think it will be a better brand of basketball; I think teams get wore down during the season. It affects the way you practice, affects your presentation, affects everything. Then it becomes a really long, long season with the 20 games.
“Going to 18 games next year, I think the biggest thing there is you have a bye somewhere in that schedule where your kids are able to take maybe a couple of days off and recover.”
AP Top 25 Poll: Where did Houston finish in the final rankings?
Sampson on how he handled the aftermath of the title-game loss and starting things over for next season
“Well, I started over 37 times. … It doesn’t say anywhere in your contract where you get to go sit in a room and close the blinds and sulk. We lost Monday night, got back to our hotel late. I talked with our staff, made sure we knew what time the bus was leaving. Tuesday morning, we got on the bus (to go back to Houston).
“I want to say this, and I don’t know that I’ve done a good enough job making sure that our fans thank them enough, whether it’s the coming and going from practices in the hotel lobby, going up to our meeting space in the third floor, walking through the lobby, going up the escalator to the third floor, the space was just (full) of Cougar fans and that makes our players feel good; you know that you’re in a place where it’s a big game. We had unbelievable support.
“I mean, we were sad and we are upset that we lost, but look at where we lost; with two minutes to go, you know, we’re a play here or play there, or Ja’Vier and JoJo not get in foul trouble here or there from a chance to win the national championship, knocking on the door right there. Great opportunity. But I don’t want people to lose sight of the fact the journey that this team took. … Sometimes, we focus on the last game without putting it in proper context, sometimes we don’t give the team the credit that they deserve because we’re so focused on the last game and the last play. This was an unbelievable journey, an amazing journey with an amazing group of coaches and support staff and more importantly, unbelievable kids.
“As the days go on, as the months go on, these kids will reflect, but you guys can control a lot of that narrative, too, by giving these kids their flowers on what they’ve accomplished this year because they did a lot; it’s hard to make the tournament.
“Don’t sit there and roll your eyes about making the tournament, don’t do that. It’s hard to make the tournament, and this group of kids accomplished so much, and I cannot tell you how proud I am of this team and how proud I am of our fanbase, because we may not have won that last game, but we had a championship year.”
Did missed goaltending call cost Houston a national title?
On whether he has talked to guard Emanuel Sharp
(Sharp, who also declared his intentions to return to Houston for the 2025-26 season, has had to deal with the criticism of the ending to the national championship game. He had the ball with time running out, but was forced into a turnover after a strong defensive play from Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr.)
“Emanuel is one of the best shooters in America, he proved that all year. I met with Emanuel’s mother and father, and I met with Emanuel, and I reminded everybody that it’s really important to not let other people define who you are, because look at who’s trying to define them, and that’s why you draw the line, whether it’s bettors or haters or you’re always going to have somebody saying something negative.
“That’s kind of, you know, what the new age thing is, everybody’s trying to latch on to something and create opportunities for themselves and some guys want to be the loudest guy in the room or the smartest guy in the room that you wind up so who can holler the loudest after the last game. But I think I’ve always done a pretty good job of getting our kids to focus on the people that matter, and the only people that matter are your family and your team.”
