1 week Ago
I have never met Kelvin Sampson in person, although I did spend time interviewing him by phone in 2002 for a Page 1A story in The Robesonian about the Oklahoma Sooners, the team he coached at the time, reaching the Final Four. I do not remember details of the interview, except that is when I came to better understand the influence his late father, John W. Sampson, “Mr.
Ned,” had on his life – and the extended Lumbee community. Crushed for time with the demands of coaching a team to the Final Four, he was still generous in giving his to the local hometown newspaper – although I suspect that back in the day that newspaper probably was not interested in young Kelvin’s world. As I recall, family, faith and his fondness for his Lumbee community dominated the interview.
Although I do not know Coach Sampson, I know way more than a few people who grew up with Kelvin and have heard story stacked upon story of his days in Pembroke and that he was a fan of Dean Smith and the Tar Heels, a short route to my heart. With zero exceptions, they speak fondly of him, mixing in an anecdote or two about their time on the field or court with Kelvin. I know of no culture that takes more pride in the accomplishments of one of their own than do the Lumbee, a lesson for the rest of us.
They delight in the sharing nationally of their story. Sampson, after playing basketball for his father at Pembroke High, lettered four times in hoops at Pembroke State and three in baseball, and excelled in the classroom. He earned his master’s at Michigan State, doing a one-year tutelage as a graduate assistant under legendary coach Jud Heathcote, who coached the Spartans to a national title the year prior with the help of Magic Johnson.
That launched Sampson’s coaching career, and he has won at every stop, Montana State, Washington State, Oklahoma, Indiana and now Houston. His career stalled in 2008 because of minor transgressions with major implications while at Indiana, the crime of talking by phone too often to recruits, the punishment being six years in the NBA. He returned in 2014 to the college ranks at Houston and has since established himself among the coaching elite.
His teams have a record of 798-355, a win percentage just shy of 70 percent. As I write this, Sampson’s Houston Cougars are stinging from a heartbreaking 65-63 loss to the Florida Gators in the title game, which Houston led for almost its entirety. That loss followed an epic defeat of a Duke team that was drunk with NBA first-round picks, including Cooper Flagg, a generational player who will be remembered – unfairly — as much for what he did not get done at the end of that game as for what he did get done during the game’s first 39.
5 minutes and throughout the season. Duke led by 14 in the second half, nine at the two-minute mark, and six with 34 seconds to play, but could not withstand the Cougars’ relentless pressure, and refusal to quit – hallmarks on Sampson’s coaching. A buddy of mine often tells me that Coach Ned instilled in his players a love of the dirty work of playing defense and told them the best way to keep the man they are guarding from scoring was not to allow him the ball.
I am sure Coach Ned was smiling as Kelvin’s team did that to Duke in the waning moments of the game, denying a critical inbounds pass. The script flipped in the final, with the Cougars being the team that gave up the lead, unable to get off a potential winning shot as time expired, with Sampson looking on helplessly, hands on hips. The take-home for me as I watched the Cougars was that seldom have I seen a team that battled so ferociously, and that is an extension of not only Kelvin and Ned, but the Lumbee community, where there is no room for quit, and all is earned.
That helps explains the immense pride. Sampson is 69, in the winter of his coaching career, so who knows if he will get another chance at a title, especially given the collegiate landscape of NIL and the portal. The odds are heavy against it, but Sampson’s story is one of overcoming odds.
Should that happen, it will be a joy to watch, but in my mind will add little to his legacy. That is cemented. Reach Donnie Douglas by email at ddouglas521@hotmail.
com..
