Apr 6, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson talks to the media at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Houston Cougars Job Has Been Special For Kelvin Sampson

Originally posted on Houston Cougars on SI
By Aaron Raley | Last updated Aug 28, 2025 4:39 PM ET

The Houston Cougars' men's basketball team has made quite the turnaround ever since Kelvin Sampson was hired as the team's head coach on April 3, 2014.

Since Sampson's hiring, after two appearances in the NIT tournament in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, the Coogs have made it to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen since 2019 (with the exception of 2020, where the tournament wasn't held due to COVID-19), which has been upgraded to Elite Eight appearances in 2021, 2022, and 2025, and Final Four appearances in the 2021 and 2025 seasons.

The success on the hardwood obviously has to feel good, but has that made Sampson's job with the Cougars his most rewarding in his coaching career?

Sampson Credited His Family with Making His Houston Job the Most Fulfilling

Sampson, who has his family with him in the Houston area with his son, Kellen, as an assistant on his staff, and his daughter, Lauren, as the Men's Basketball Director of External Relations, told CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein in his talk show that his family had indeed made his gig with the Coogs his most satisfying in his many years of coaching basketball.

Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

"Absolutely, Jon," Sampson said to the insider. "Seeing Kellen and Lauren (his children) and the respect that they have from the other people in the office. This is the canvas we walked into, we get to paint it how we want to paint it. Forge your own path."

"I don't like to sit down with my coaches and give them their job description. We do a job description update once a year, and that's at our coach's retreat. I want both of them to show what their job description is. Do your own job description, you know what you do. If I give you one, that may be all you do, but if you give one to yourself, then you're going to spread your boundaries."

Sampson's head coaching career began all the way back in 1979, when he was a graduate assistant with the Michigan State Spartans.

After a season there, he would he to the Montana Tech Orediggers, where he would eventually become their head coach from 1981 to 1985.

After seven years at Washington State, Sampson would then head south to the Oklahoma Sooners, where he would lead the team to either the NCAA or NIT tournament in all 12 seasons that he was the head man in Norman, before departing for the Indiana Hoosiers for the next two seasons.

After three-year stints with both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Houston Rockets as an assistant, he was then hired by the Cougars, where he has since amassed a 299-84 record, and has finished either first or second in the conference standings since the 2017-18 season.

This article first appeared on Houston Cougars on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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