Kelvin Sampson isn't taking Houston to Final Four with a superstar but rather a superpower

Story by

Story by
Kelvin Sampson isn't taking Houston to Final Four with a superstar but rather a superpower

Jenni Carlson, The Oklahoman · The Oklahoman

Fri, Apr 4, 2025 ·

9 min read

About Our Ads

Kelvin Sampson sat close enough to the front of the charter bus to be serenaded by the steady click-click, click-click, click-click of the blinking hazard lights.

The lights weren't because of an emergency but rather a police escort. Sampson and his Houston Cougars were headed to the Final Four on Wednesday afternoon, making the 203-mile journey from Houston to San Antonio via Interstate 10.

"Somehow," Sampson said, "that seems natural."

Perhaps he meant going to the Final Four seems natural. After all, Houston has made it twice in five seasons, joining only college basketball bluebloods Duke and UConn in doing so during that span.

Or maybe Sampson, the former University of Oklahoma coach, meant being together with his team seems natural.

That's because you can look far and wide but struggle to find a more stable program. At a time when the only thing guaranteed in college athletics is instability, Houston looks like Valhalla. Since the transfer portal roared to life and started teleporting players all over the country, Houston has lost just three rotation players.

Three!

That's a day's worth of transfers in some programs.

Why is Houston so different?

"There's a brotherhood here that's unique," Sampson said the other day as the charter bus zipped west, "and that's why they stay."

More: Final Four rankings: The best March Madness fields since NCAA Tournament expansion

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson holds the championship trophy after his team defeated Tennessee in the Midwest Regional final of the 2025 NCAA men's tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Kelvin Sampson, Houston Cougars still chasing first NCAA title

This weekend as Sampson and Houston go after their first national title, they do so without the star power of their Final Four brethren. Duke has super freshman Cooper Flagg while Auburn and Florida have first-team All-Americans Johni Broome and Walter Clayton Jr .

Don't misunderstand: Houston has talent. L.J. Cryer is outstanding, and Sooner fans are still smarting over how good Milos Uzan has been for the Cougars.

But Houston's superpower is its culture, an environment of loyalty and commitment.

"We're not real fancy," Sampson said. "We don't have all the bells and whistles that a lot of other schools do, but what we have is the success we've had and kids that are committed to each other and to this program. "Our program is the star here."

The Cougars' current success has a direct throughline to Sampson's earliest days in Houston. When he took the job in 2014, returning to the college ranks after being fired at Indiana and spending six years as an NBA assistant, his phone started ringing almost immediately.

"Bombarded" is how he remembers it.

He was getting phone calls from guys who'd played against his teams over the years, who'd gone to Baylor and Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M, Duke and Michigan. They were looking for a chance to get into college coaching.

"Wait a minute," Sampson remembers thinking. "What about my guys? If I hire these coaches, who's going to hire my guys?"

So, he called Hollis Price and Quannas White, guards who helped build OU into a powerhouse during Sampson's tenure and powered the Sooners' run to the 2002 Final Four. Price joined Sampson's first staff as the director of player development while White came on board three years later as an assistant coach.

More: Final Four predictions: 5 reasons Duke won't win March Madness (and one reason it will)

Both have changed positions and titles, but even when other job opportunities arose, they remained at Houston.

The same goes for Sampson's adult children, Kellen and Lauren. Lauren is the director of basketball operations while Kellen is his dad's right-hand man and has been designated as the head coach-in-waiting once his dad retires.

But listen to Kelvin Sampson talk, and the 69-year-old doesn't sound like a guy who's ready to retire. He sounds as youthful as he did during his OU days.

He credits a lot of his energy to the people around him. The decision he made early on to hire those who were close to him worked so well that he's continued to do so.

Houston's auxiliary staff — video interns and graduate assistants, for example — all worked as team managers for Sampson.

"We don't take resumes," he said. "I don't take anybody's phone call recommending someone.

"Our program is homegrown. Our team is homegrown. Our staff is homegrown."

And he believes the loyalty, stability and cohesion of the staff has rubbed off on the players. They not only stay but also become the drivers of success.

Sampson offers Uzan as an example.

After Houston lost Jamal Shead to graduation and the NBA last spring, the Cougars needed another dynamic backcourt player. Sampson and Co. knew about Uzan — OU was still a Big 12 foe last season — and they liked what they had seen.

"He had great size," Sampson said, "and he had great skills."

More: Final Four reseed: Power rankings of the teams left in March Madness

Head coach Kelvin Sampson, of the Houston Cougars, cuts the net down March 30 after his team's 69-50 victory against the Tennessee Volunteers in the Midwest Regional Elite Eight round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

OU transfer Milos Uzan provides spark to Houston

But Sampson knew Uzan could be better and thought that improvement could happen at Houston.

"People want to give me credit for Milos," Sampson said after Uzan increased his averages from last season to this season in points per game (9.0 to 12.7), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1/1 to 3.2/1), field-goal percentage (39.2% to 47.9%) and 3-point percentage (29.6% to 46.8%).

"No," Sampson continued. "I would give all the credit to the returning players because they took him under their wing and they made sure he understood that we need you to play this way.

"Yeah, I got on him and pushed him and challenged him and did all that stuff I do to all of them, but I think our players did the job that needed to be done."

Uzan came to trust his teammates, and in turn, they trusted him. That helped him buy into the defense, the rebounding and the toughness that are hallmarks of Sampson's teams.

"He took off," Sampson said, "and we took off."

But it's not just the current players who lead.

Since the NCAA Tournament started, Houston alum Quentin Grimes got on a FaceTime call with the guards.

"You guys aren't rebounding like you should," Sampson remembers the current Philadelphia 76er saying.

Marcus Sasser, now a Detroit Piston, and Shead, a Toronto Raptor, have also reached out to Sampson. They wanted to know how to get in touch with some of the current players.

"I can't get a hold of him," they said to Sampson, "and I need to talk to him about his defense."

More: This Final Four isn't the 2008 March Madness party of No. 1 seeds. Here's why

Houston Cougars guard Ramon Walker Jr. smiles with assistant coach Kellen Sampson before a Jan. 6 game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Fertitta Center.

Those sorts of moments make Sampson beam.

But he knows such things don't happen magically. Building a culture of teamwork and togetherness takes work, but those aren't just things that Sampson and his staff preach.

They live it.

After years of Quannas White turning down offers to be a head coach, he accepted one last month. He'll soon be the new head coach at Louisiana, a job Sampson wholeheartedly encouraged White to accept.

He's a native of New Orleans, and Lafayette is only two hours away.

"I'm so thrilled and excited for him because I think he's just going to kill it," Sampson said.

But White didn't tell the players right away that he'd accepted the job. After three or four days of sitting on the news, Sampson told White it was time.

"You need to tell the team," Sampson said. "They need to hear that from you."

In the team film room later that day, White stood in front of the players and began to tell them that he was headed to Louisiana.

But he couldn't get out the words.

Tears started flowing.

"And the entire team stood up and gave a standing ovation," Sampson said. "I think half of them were crying."

Finally, White was able to choke out a few words.

"If Coach will have me," White said, "I'm gonna be here until we're done."

More: Final Four should be an all-timer: Stunning metrics make these teams special

Quannas White, of Oklahoma, looks to advance against Butler during the NCAA Tournament on March 28, 2003, at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York. Oklahoma defeated Butler 65-54.

Ex-Sooner Quannas White hired as Louisiana basketball coach

Sampson paused, mindful that assistants in other programs who've gotten head coaching jobs have left immediately to get a jump on recruiting and transfers and NIL.

Not White.

"He's still here," Sampson said as the Texas countryside flashed outside the charter bus.

So are Kellen and Lauren and Hollis and so many others who walk in lock-step with Sampson.

"So I have all these little soldiers that are out there in the field from the time (the players) get here preaching culture," Sampson said. "And there's no doubt they're loyal to it. I mean, if you can't trust your son and daughter and your former players, who can you trust?"

Even as other longtime head coaches at top programs leave the profession because they just can't stand the changing landscape of college athletics — Jay Wright at Villanova, Tony Bennett at Virginia, Leonard Hamilton at Florida State and Jim Larranaga at Miami are among those who've thrown up their hands — Sampson seems as happy as he's ever been. He has isolated himself and his program from much of the turmoil because of a decision he made long before the portal or NIL.

He decided to hire people who knew and loved his way of doing basketball. People who could influence players to get on board. People who he wanted around, too.

Walk one way from Sampson's office, and there's Kellen. Walk the other way, and there's Lauren.

"Then if I get aggravated in practice, I can look at Kellen and kind of salute to him and say, 'I'm leavin',' and I'll go see my two grandkids," Sampson said.

You could hear the smile in his voice.

"Life can't get any better," he said. "This is the best job I've ever had because we did it with our family and former players, and we did it our way."

Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

More: Houston stays hot in March Madness by dominating Tennessee to reach men's Final Four

Final Four

Saturday's NCAA men's basketball games at the Alamodome in San Antonio:

No. 1 Florida (34-4) vs. No. 1 Auburn (32-5), 5:09 p.m. (CBS)
No. 1 Houston (34-4) vs. No. 1 Duke (35-3), 7:49 p.m. (CBS)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Kelvin Sampson, Houston return to Final Four powered by culture

Mobilize your Website

View Site in Mobile | Classic

Share by: