Kelvin Sampson has openly admitted that the Houston Cougars could not hold on to the No. 1 pick of the NBA draft, AJ Dybantsa, despite recruiting him successfully for all of two weeks during high school.
In a video call with reporters on Friday, Sampson claimed that the college "didn't have enough money" to keep Dybantsa despite having him for two weeks, as BYU managed to recruit the teenager.
Per Sampson, AJ Dybantsa's father, Ace, asked him why the Cougars stopped recruiting his son.
"We didn't have enough money," Sampson replied.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson says Cougars recruited No. 1 pick A.J. Dybantsa out of high school for two weeks.
His dad asked why they stopped recruiting.
"We didn't have enough money," Sampson says. pic.twitter.com/kV8nMohVqJ
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) June 26, 2026
It is widely reported that AJ Dybantsa was paid over $7 million for his time in college, and while not all of that money was paid by BYU, it is still a huge sum for one solitary year in college. High net worth companies such as Nike and Red Bull reportedly contributed significantly to Dybantsa's earnings in college, with NIL playing a major role last season.
The amount pales in comparison, however, to what he will earn with the Washington Wizards as the first overall pick in the NBA draft, with as much as $69 million there for him to make per the rules this year.
Kelvin Sampson's years in the sport of basketball allow him to usually be honest about the state of affairs, and for him, speaking about the reality of where the Houston Cougars' treasury stands is nothing new.
"We have a very poor athletic department," he said, per ESPN. "We're poor. We were poor when I got here, and we're still poor.
"We probably have the lowest budget of anybody in Power 4. The way our recruiting is going, we have to stop at some point because we don't have the money to keep bringing in many good players. And that's not easy for us to do."
In the circumstances, it has to be said that Houston has done remarkably well in recruiting some top talent despite the challenges, with Kelvin Sampson largely to be credited for the success.
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