Kelvin Sampson still receiving support - and a gift - from one of his former bosses
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Much has been made of Kelvin Sampson’s return to college basketball coaching when he took the Houston job in 2014.
Without a doubt, Sampson has made a career comeback since being forced to resign from Indiana in 2008 because of allegations to NCAA violations, also going back to his previous tenure as coach at Oklahoma. After receiving a five-year show-cause penalty, and working his way out of exile as an assistant in the NBA, Sampson finally got the chance to pace a college sideline once more with his hire by Houston, and since then, he has reinvigorated the Cougars’ program.
Sampson led the Cougars to the 2021 Final Four, and Houston is currently making its sixth straight appearance in the Sweet 16, the longest active streak in the nation. This season may arguably be his finest coaching job since arriving at Houston.
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After losing dynamic point guard Jamal Shead and starting the year 4-3, the Cougars have now won 28 of their last 29 ballgames and dominated the Big 12 Conference in its second season in the league. They’re also considered one of the favorites to finally win it all, a first for the program and the first in Sampson’s illustrious career.
And one person who knows Sampson quite well is rooting for him to finally capture that long-awaited title - one of his former bosses, longtime Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione.
In a column about Sampson written by Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com, Castiglione talked about the job Sampson has done since coming to Houston.
“He built that program when it was from the ashes,” Castiglione was quoted as saying in Dodd’s column. “It’s beyond impressive.”
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Castiglione took over at OU in 1998 when Sampson was already entrenched as the Sooners’ basketball coach. Four years later, Sampson took OU to the Final Four and had the Sooners in the Elite Eight the following season before leaving after the 2005-06 season to take the Indiana job.
But while there may have been a bit of animosity between Castiglione and Sampson when the coach left Oklahoma, and with the subsequent NCAA violations against the Sooners - mainly from Sampson making numerous phone calls to prospects that was at the time against the rules - time definitely healed all wounds when Sampson took the Houston job. In fact, in Dodd’s column, it was mentioned that Castiglione sent Sampson a congratulatory gift.
It was a ladder, which is indicative of what is being used whenever nets need to be cut down upon winning a championship. Castiglione sent Sampson that ladder with an attached note that said, “I hope you’ll need to use this a lot during your journey as a Houston Cougar.”
In fact, according to Dodd’s column, Sampson has used that ladder to cut down the nets each time Houston has won a conference title, which has happened eight times since he took over the Cougars.
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Now, especially with Oklahoma’s season having come to an end in last week’s opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Castiglione is among many who are hoping to see Sampson climb up the ladder two more times. One, this weekend should the Cougars win the Midwest Region title in Indianapolis, and again the following week at the Final Four in San Antonio, finally culminating his brilliant career with a championship.
Houston (32-4), the No. 1 seed in the Midwest, takes on No. 4 seed Purdue Friday night at Indianapolis, with the chance to move on to Sunday's Midwest Region final.
