Kelvin Sampson

Kelvin Sampson

Kelvin Sampson (born October 5, 1955), a Lumbee Indian, is the men's basketball coach of the Indiana Hoosiers at Indiana University. He previously held the same position at Montana Tech (1981-86), Washington State University (1988-94) and University of Oklahoma (1994-2006).

Early Life and Coaching

Sampson was born in the Lumbee Indian community of Deep Branch, where he excelled in the classroom and the athletic arena during his prep days at Pembroke High School, in Pembroke, North Carolina. Sampson was captain of his high school basketball team for two years, and played for his father John W. "Ned" Sampson. His father was also one of the 500 Lumbee Indians who made national news by running the Ku Klux Klan out of Maxton, North Carolina in what is annually celebrated by the Lumbee as the Battle of Hayes Pond. Later he played at Pembroke State University (now UNC Pembroke), concentrating on basketball and baseball. The point guard was team captain for the Braves as a senior and earned four letters in basketball and three in baseball. He earned Dean's List recognition throughout his collegiate career and was awarded the Gregory Lowe Memorial Award as the school's outstanding physical education major his senior year.

After earning degrees from Pembroke State in both health and physical education and political science, Sampson pursued his master's degree in coaching and administration at Michigan State University. He left with his degree and a year's experience as a graduate assistant under Jud Heathcote.

Sampson then moved to Montana Tech where he was named assistant coach. After serving as an interim coach for one season, Sampson guided the Orediggers to a 73-45 record in his final four seasons. Montana Tech had won just 17 games combined in the three years prior to his arrival. Sampson turned in three consecutive 22-win seasons and claimed three Frontier League championships at Montana Tech. He led his teams to two NAIA District 12 title games and was named the league's coach of the year in 1983 and 1985.

Tenure at Washington State

After five years at Montana Tech Sampson joined the staff at Washington State University as an assistant to Len Stevens. After two years under Stevens, Sampson was named the head coach of the Washington State Cougars in 1988. When Sampson led the team to the NIT in 1992, it marked the first time Washington State had participated in postseason play since 1983. He was named Kodak District 14 Coach of the Year by the NABC for the second time in three years. He first won the award in 1991 when his Cougar squad produced the school's first winning season since 1983. Sampson was also named Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1992. In his final year at the school in 1994 he led the Cougars to their first NCAA Tournament berth in 11 years. With records of 22-11 in 1992 and 20-11 in 1994, Sampson became one of only four men to win 20 or more games in a single season in Washington State history.

Tenure at Oklahoma

Sampson became the 11th head coach at the University of Oklahoma on April 25, 1994. Sampson was named national coach of the year in 1995 (his first year at OU) by the Associated Press, United States Basketball Writers Association and Basketball Weekly after guiding the Sooners to 23-9 overall and 15-0 home marks. It was the second-best overall record posted by a first-year coach in Big 12 history.

Coach Sampson possesses the highest winning percentage in Oklahoma history (.721). He guided OU to eight consecutive 20-win seasons. He averaged 25.0 wins over those eight campaigns and 26.0 victories over the last six years. He directed the Sooners to postseason tournament berths in each of his 11 seasons (10 NCAA Tournaments), with a Sweet 16 showing in 1999, a Final Four appearance in 2002 and an Elite Eight appearance in 2003. His teams have also played in the Big 12 Tournament title game five times in the past eight years. In 2001, 2002, and 2003 the Sooners won that tournament. Sampson has won more Big 12 games than any coach in the conference's history and also holds the conference's best Big 12 Tournament record (17-6).

Tenure at Indiana

On March 29, 2006 Sampson was named the head coach at Indiana University following the resignation of Mike Davis. Upon taking the reins of the Indiana Hoosiers he noted, "I love my job at Oklahoma and I would not leave OU for any job unless it was a job like Indiana. My family and I have had 12 great years at Oklahoma, the best years of our life, but Indiana is one of the great programs in college basketball and if they call and offer, it is a job as a coach that you have to take." [1]

Since becoming the head coach at Indiana, Sampson has proven to be an effective recruiter. The University of Illinois had been recruiting high school player Eric Gordon for nearly three years and had received a non-binding verbal commitment from him in November 2005. One of the nation's best shooting guards, Gordon had not wanted to play for Indiana University under former coach Mike Davis, but reconsidered when Sampson took the job. Gordon, an Indianapolis native, eventually decommited from the University of Illinois and signed a letter of intent to play for Indiana University in October 2006.

Controversy

Under Sampson's watch Oklahoma was placed under a three-year investigation by the NCAA for recruiting violations at the school. The NCAA issued a report citing more than 550 illegal calls made by Sampson and his staff to 17 different recruits. Oklahoma preemptively put itself on two years probation by reducing scholarships for two seasons. Sampson has also been criticized for a low graduation rate, but he maintains that the reporting methods are flawed for not taking transfers into account, or those who do not graduate in six years. [2]

On May 25, 2006, the NCAA barred Sampson from recruiting off campus and making phone calls for one year, ending May 24, 2007. [3] ] The NCAA placed no restrictions on Sampson text messaging recruits.

National Basketball

Sampson coached the 2004 USA World Championship to a gold medal in Halifax, Nova Scotia, after it posted a 5-0 record. He was also an assistant coach on the 2002 United States World Basketball Championship Team. The squad competed in the FIBA World Basketball Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana. Sampson was also the head coach of the United States Junior National Team that participated in the Junior World Games in Athens, Greece, in the summer of 1995.

In the summer of 1994, Sampson was selected to coach at the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia. He served as an assistant to former Southern California head coach George Raveling. The team earned a bronze medal and competed against USA Basketball's Dream Team II following the games. In 1993, Sampson was selected head coach of the West team at the U.S. Olympic Festival in San Antonio, Texas. His squad won the silver medal.

Sampson's Basketball Philosophy

Gritty defense and rebounding are the backbone of Sampson's teams. His philosophy is "letting defense be our foundation and playing from that end of the floor." [4] On the other end of the floor he uses a mixture of a simple 1-3-1 motion offense [5] and set plays.

Having a team identity is important to Sampson: "It's important for any coach to have a philosophy. You have to understand what you are and what you're trying to accomplish. It's like winning: We all want to win the game, but sometimes coaches aren't sure how they want to win." [6] He adds that all of his teams have one thing in common: "They have great respect for the each other. We've always had great team chemistry; it's very much a family-type atmosphere, and our kids compete their tails off. That's something we've always taken a lot of pride in." [7] Sampson also has a drive to toughen up players and drive them to work hard. "I've always believed that fatigue is the universal language for losers. We never want our kids to succumb to fatigue. That's why we work so hard," he said.