SAN ANTONIO — In the aftermath of Houston’s improbable semifinal win over Duke on Saturday, something even more plausible occurred: Hakeem Olajuwon was prevented from joining the on-court postgame celebration.
Was the security guard simply doing his job? Or did he fail to recognize basketball royalty, the greatest player in the history of Houston basketball?
If Olajuwon felt a certain kind of way, that moment was fleeting as Houston coach Kelvin Sampson — who was being showered with love from Cougar fans — embraced the Hall of Famer as he reached the bottom of the steps.
“My man,” a beaming Sampson said to Olajuwon. “My man.”
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Sampson, in leading Houston to a shocking win over Duke on Saturday, helped shepard the Cougars to Monday’s national championship game against Florida. And that win put the Houston program one step closer to shedding the label it would rather not be associated with:
The greatest college basketball program to never win a title.
All Sampson has done since his arrival at Houston in 2014 is win. He’s led the team to seven NCAA tournament appearances and two Final Fours (the other in 2021). A win Monday will, perhaps, lessen the lingering pain of the powerhouse Houston teams in the early 1980s, coached by Guy Lewis, that failed to win a national title despite three straight trips to the Final Four.
“We are so proud of this team,” said a jubilant Olajuwon, who played for those three Houston teams that fell short of a title.
Credit the turnaround to the 69-year-old Sampson, who is vying to become both the oldest coach and the first Native American to win an NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship.
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While some older coaches have retired in recent years to avoid the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) minefield that comes with high demands from players and agents, Sampson has continued to coach his way.
“I think the strength of our program is maybe not recruiting the five-star guys that a lot of the schools that are here do,” Sampson said.
The biggest impact players for Houston on Saturday were those with lengthy collegiate experience. Three starters have played their entire careers at Houston: fifth-year senior J’Wan Roberts (11 points, 12 rebounds), junior Emanuel Sharp (16 points) and sophomore Joseph Tugler (eight points, four blocks).
The other two starters have extensive experience: fifth-year senior L.J. Cryer (26 points) played three years at Baylor before transferring to Houston, while junior Milos Uzan is in his first season with the Cougars after starting for two seasons at Oklahoma.
It’s a collection of veteran players who have experience playing in high-pressure games.
Counter that with Duke starting three extremely talented freshmen with limited big-game experience. Cooper Flagg (27 points) was fantastic on Saturday. However, Khaman Maluach, a 7-foot-2 center, had zero rebounds in 21 minutes. And Kon Knueppel, an incredible talent, scored just four of his 16 points after halftime.
Sampson played no freshmen on Saturday.
“I’m able to work independent of everything,” Sampson said. “I run the program without any resistance. I make all the decisions…with my staff, of course. We’ve kind of done it our way. It’s worked out pretty good.”
Sampson’s approach to avoid five-star recruits has allowed him to, for the most part, keep players longer. That’s allowed Houston, in the past, to develop guys like:
- Marcus Sasser, a three-star recruit out of high school before a four-year career at Houston that included a trip to the Final Four and first-team All-American honors as a senior. Sasser, a guard with the Detroit Pistons, was first-round pick (25th pick overall) in the 2023 NBA draft.
- Jamal Shead, who was a four-star recruit leading up to his four-year career at Houston. Shead, who also played on that 2021 Final Four team, is a rookie with Toronto Raptors after being selected in the second round of last year’s NBA draft.
Change, for Sampson and the Cougars, is imminent. Beating Duke to reach the national title game, as well as the team’s dominance in the Big 12 since the 2023 move from the American Athletic Conference (Houston is 34-4 in Big 12 regular season games) will surely attract more top-level players.
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There were two Houston commits (Chris Cenac and Isiah Harwell) in last week’s McDonald’s All American Game. Prior to Cenac and Harwell, Houston has only had three McDonald’s All American commits in program history.
That history is rich. Hanging from the rafters of the Fertitta Center, Houston’s home, are retired jerseys representing the Cougars’ rich basketball history, including Elvin Hayes (1965-68), Otis Birdsong (1973-77), Hakeem Olajuwon (1981-84) and Clyde Drexler (1980-83).
Olajuwon and Drexler were members of the Phi Slama Jama “fraternity” that made up one of the most exciting teams in the history of college basketball. Yet there was a big gap of meaningful history prior to Sampson’s arrival in 2014 to provide a jolt to a program that had one NCAA tournament appearance in the previous 22 years.
A drought like that breeds apathy, which Sampson was attempting to address in 2016 when he traveled the campus with a bullhorn pleading with students to attend games.
That culture has clearly been transformed, as evident by the tremendous reception from Houston fans who loudly greeted the team in the lobby of the riverwalk hotel following the win over Duke.
A game away from a national title, Sampson’s phone was bombarded with calls and texts following Saturday’s win.
“Tubby [Smith], Rick Barnes, Tom Izzo, Pop [Gregg Popovich], a bunch of the older coaches,” Sampson said. “They all kind of had similar messages to me. Win one for the old guys.”
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While Sampson appreciates the love from the coaching fraternity, he also relishes in the love for his players.
“I see all our kids now, I’m happy for them,” Sampson added. “I’m happy for their families. They’re creating memories that will last them forever.”
The players, to their credit, would like to complete the mission and win the national title on Monday night.
For themselves.
For Sampson.
And for the former greats like Olajuwon, who might be able to enter the court on Monday if the Cougars are crowned champions.
Roberts, the winningest student-athlete in program history, has occasionally received post-play tips from Olajuwon. “He’ll give me certain tips or certain things to do,” Roberts said. “How to attack certain defenses, offensive moves and stuff like that.”
With his collegiate career coming to an end on Monday, Roberts hopes he can make Olajuwon and the other legends happy.
“Us getting back to the Final Four, now playing for the national championship, you can see on their face that they’re especially happy knowing they went to the University of Houston,” Roberts said.“I feel like everything that Coach Sampson has built…just means a lot to everybody.”