Bill Self Strongly Praises Kelvin Sampson After Kansas' Defeat at Houston

Sampson has made the most of his second chance in college basketball

Feb 22, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson sings the school song after defeating the Iowa State Cyclones in the second half at Fertitta Center. | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Monday night in Houston felt a bit like the old days of college basketball.

Head coaches Kelvin Sampson and Bill Self we're squaring off as the featured game on ESPN's "Big Monday" just like they would have done 20 years ago when Sampson was at Oklahoma.

Sampson of course left Oklahoma for Indiana, was fired by the Hoosiers for committing recruiting violations, banned from college basketball, but has since returned and done so in a massive way.

Monday night was the tip of the iceberg in Houston asserting its dominance in the Big 12, seeing as the Cougars are 33-2 in their last 35 conference games. However, it felt like it was the straw that broke the camel's back in regards to the way Kansas basketball is viewed in the Big 12.

Sure, nobody in the conference can compete with Kansas in terms of being a blueblood in the sport. It's also however true that nobody can compete with Houston as being far and away the current standard in Big 12 basketball.

After the 65-59 Houston victory, Bill Self gave an all-time compliment to Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson.

Kansas coach Bill Self on what Kelvin Sampson has built in 11 seasons at Houston:
“What he’s done in his time here is the best job anybody has done, in my opinion, in America in that period of time.”

— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) March 4, 2025

It's certainly hard to argue against Self's comments.

Previous to Sampson's arrival, Houston had gone to the NCAA Tournament just once in the 22 seasons previous. The Cougars were a 13-seed in 2009-10 under Tommy Penders, but have turned into a college basketball powerhouse under Sampson.

Houston has made the Sweet 16 in each of the last five NCAA Tournaments and reached the Final Four in 2021. Sampson and the Cougars will be eyeing a trip to San Antonio and the Final Four again as they will almost certainly enter the dance as a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in a couple weeks.

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