Dan Ninham
Special to ICT
Lumbee citizen Kelvin Sampson is guiding the Houston Cougars into March Madness.
The unranked Kansas Jayhawks were defeated by Sampson’s No. 3 ranked Houston Cougars on March 3. At the end of January, Houston first beat Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse 92-86 in double overtime.
Every possession is valuable, especially in close games, on both ends of the court. In the recent Kansas and Houston game, the Jayhawk’s had 20 turnovers to the Cougars six and five offensive rebounds to Houston’s 17. The Cougars shot 68 times to the Jayhawks 42. Yet, it was still a two possession game in the last few minutes.
After losing to Texas Tech, 82-81 on Feb. 1, the Cougars have won 10 games, including avenging their loss to Texas Tech with an eight point win a few weeks later.
Houston clinched the Big 12 regular season championship with a win over the University of Cincinnati, suffering only one loss in conference play. The team has won a record 14 consecutive Big 12 road games, dating back to last season.
“The Cougars are just the fourth Conference program to win back-to-back regular season titles, joining Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas. Houston is the first team in a century to join an existing major conference and win the regular season in its first two years of membership, joining 1921-22 and 1922-23 Idaho in the Pacific Coast Conference (now Pac-12). Over two seasons, UH is 32-3 in Conference play,” according to the Big 12 Sports website.
However, other teams loom large within the conference.
Don’t discount Kansas, Texas Tech or anyone in the Big 12 because March Madness got its title for a reason. Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson is a proud Lumbee and an Indigenous core value is respect. Sampson respects all opponents before, during and after the game.
Sampson is a coach’s coach. He is observed by so many that he’ll never realize the magnitude of being observed. In a mid-January game at Kansas State the Cougars were ahead by thirty points with a few minutes left in the game and he was still standing and teaching his players on the bench and on the court.
There are lessons to be taught on and off the court 24/7/365.
A post-game media conference demonstrated the Indigenous identity of Sampson. The Indigenous core value of humility not only comes from being humble in his thoughts and actions but also striving to make his team and program be the best they can be each day.
In his recent Texas Tech post-game media talk he said: “We work so hard when nobodies around. When you put in the time and effort that we do we create our own expectations. We prepare to be successful. It’s not easy to win in this league. It’s hard to win on the road … it really is.”
Dr. Benedict Heblich updated his social media post on Personal Core Value: Humility by questioning: “When have I shown humility in my interactions with others? How can I remain humble while achieving success or recognition?”
Dr. Heblich defined humility as “… a multifaceted personal value characterized by an understanding and acceptance of one’s own limitations and an appreciation of other’s strengths and contributions.”
In the same Texas Tech post-game media conference, Sampson acknowledged the other team’s coach and athletes and also recognized his own athletes. He does this frequently in post-game media conferences and humility lessons were exhibited on these short YouTube video segments.
There are various levels of playing hard at all levels of athletics including playing smart. Sampson believed there was another way to play hard.
“Competing is the main part of playing hard,” Sampson recently told ICT. “Being competitive is what we strive to do every day.”
Sampson is looked upon by so many as being an ultimate leader in the basketball coaching profession. Many coaches throughout Indian Country have followed him for many years and he continues to increase his following.
Sampson appreciates inspiring, and being inspired by others and it has driven him to have his team execute their game plan.
“I don’t take this support lightly,” said Sampson. “I have Native people contact me after every game from Montana, Arizona, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Washington. I value people talking about me being a role model. People not only dream but they dream bigger. They know they can do it by looking at me and knowing I look like them.”
Sampson was featured at a coaching clinic in Bemidji and Red Lake, MN in June of 2011, also leading a youth skills clinic at the Red Lake Nation. Chris Jourdain, Red Lake Band of Ojibwe citizen and assistant coach of the Red Lake High School boys’ basketball team, had been a fan of Sampson since those clinics.
“It was part of a series of clinics that really helped me as a young junior high coach at the time,” said Jourdain. “I was able to take high level instruction and implement it at the middle school and feeder level that I worked with at the time. I was inspired to learn that he was a Native American and coaching at the highest level, with the Milwaukee Bucks at the time.”
“I’ve been his biggest fan ever since, following him on TV with the Houston Cougars, picking them on my bracket and not just because of being Native American, but I admire the way he gets his teams to play year in and year out. The effort always seems to be there, and that can be one of the hardest things to coach,” added Jourdain.
Lance Kelley, Muskogee, is a University of Oklahoma graduate. Kelley was the Oneida Nation (WI) High School head boys basketball coach from 1999-2004. He remembers meeting Sampson toward the end of his time at Oklahoma and coached Sampson’s son in middle school.
“Coach and his family always welcomed me and even today when I see him or his wife they still treat me nicely. Early on in my coaching career I always incorporated some of his intense drills/philosophy into my team practices and game preparations. Today out of the game for 20 years I still watch his games which always brings back good memories,” Kelley said.
Sampson has also received praise from fellow coaches.
Joseph Duarte quoted on X what Kansas Coach Bill Self said about Sampson’s achievements at Houston in the past 11 seasons:
“What he’s done in his time here is the best job anybody has done, in my opinion, in America in that period of time.”
Houston concluded the regular season with a 65-61 win over Baylor and now heads to the Big 12 Conference tournament in Kansas City.
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