Kelvin Sampson

Kelvin Dale Sampson (born October 5, 1955) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the University of Houston of the Big 12 Conference.

Sampson was born in the Lumbee Native American community of Deep Branch in Robeson County, North Carolina, 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 Native Americans who made national news by driving 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 received 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 is married to Karen Lowry.

They have one daughter, Lauren, and one son, Kellen.

Lauren is the Men's Basketball Director of External Operations at the University of Houston, and Kellen is an assistant coach, also at Houston.

After leaving Michigan State, Sampson moved to Montana Tech (of the NAIA) where he became 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 before his arrival.

Sampson turned in three consecutive 22-win seasons and claimed three Frontier Conference 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.

After five years at Montana Tech, Sampson joined the staff of the Washington State Cougars as an assistant to Len Stevens.

After two years under Stevens, Sampson was named the head coach of the Washington State Cougars in 1988.

He first won the award in 1991 when his Cougar squad produced the school's first winning season since 1983.

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.

Sampson was also named Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1992.

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.

Sampson finished with a 103–103 record in his seven seasons at WSU.

In his final year at the school in 1994 he led the Cougars to their first NCAA Tournament berth in 11 years.

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 8 history.

Sampson possesses the highest winning percentage in Oklahoma history (.719).

He guided OU to nine consecutive 20-win seasons.

He averaged 24.4 wins over those nine campaigns.

He directed the Sooners to postseason tournament berths in each of his 12 seasons (11 NCAA Tournaments), with a Sweet 16 showing in 1999, a Final Four appearance in 2002 and an Elite Eight appearance in 2003.

His teams also played in the Big 12 tournament title game on five occasions during the 10 seasons he coached in the Big 12.

In 2001, 2002, and 2003, the Sooners won that tournament.

Sampson finished with a Big 12 Tournament record of 17–7.

His 279 wins are second in school history, behind only Billy Tubbs.

The University of Oklahoma is where Sampson earned his nickname "Mr. Blue Shirt" as he only wore blue dress shirts when he coached.

On March 29, 2006, Sampson was named the head coach at Indiana University following the resignation of Mike Davis.

Sampson was the second minority coach in the history of the Hoosier basketball program behind Davis.