Jim Nantz To Present Kelvin Sampson Into the Hall of Honor, Altering His NFL Travel Schedule To Be There for UH’s Biggest Night — a PaperCity Exclusive

Jim Nantz will be the one who ushers Kelvin Sampson into the University of Houston Athletics Hall of Honor on the university’s biggest night next Friday, October 2. The voice of CBS Sports and one of the heartbeats of UH in many ways will present Sampson on the Hall of Honor night, altering his NFL travel schedule to be able to do it.

“It’s a pretty irresistible offer,” Nantz tells PaperCity. “To take a different route to my NFL game to be able to do something for Kelvin, it’s my great pleasure and honor really. . . I’m excited to be there next week. I really am.”

Much like the Baseball Hall of Fame has had significant figures introduce and present its inductees, every member of this 2026 UH Hall of Fame class — Sampson (men’s basketball), Kimble Anders (football), Siong Ang (swimming), Lilly Denoon (volleyball), Ed Fiori (men’s golf), Monica Lamb-Powell (women’s basketball), Audray McMillian (football), Ollie Taylor (men’s basketball) and Jessica Valis-Shimek (softball) — will be presented by someone important to them.

For Sampson, it’s Jim Nantz, one of the first real significant believers in what the now legendary coach envisioned for Houston basketball when he first arrived on campus more than 12 years ago. Nantz plans to speak from the heart when he talks about Sampson, his good friend who forever changed the university Nantz loves.

“I don’t want to make it feel like I don’t prepare,” Nantz says. “I feel like my whole life I prepare. I’m compartmentalizing little files on people, subjects, places. And somewhere in my brain I have a very big file tucked away for Kelvin. And things I’d like to be able to express and say about him. And it will come out that night. And I’ll feel it. That’s the way it’s going to happen.

“I’m just so grateful to have him as our basketball coach. And the guy who has restored the glory. It will be in the moment, and I know it will feel right.”

Nantz is talking to PaperCity from the Miami International Airport while he is on a layover to get to Rio de Janeiro to call the Dallas Cowboys vs. Baltimore Ravens international game this Sunday (3:25 pm on CBS). His travel schedule this time of year is beyond busy, but after he gets back from Rio he will be making a detour to Houston before heading to his NFL game assignment next weekend, which is expected to be San Francisco or Las Vegas. Nantz may have to fly out right after the UH Hall of Honor night ends to make his production meetings and team visits before that game.

But he’s doing it for Kelvin. He would not miss this night because of how he feels about Kelvin.

“It’s a pretty irresistible offer. To take a different route to my NFL game to be able to do something for Kelvin, it’s my great pleasure and honor really. . . I’m excited to be there next week. I really am.” — Jim Nantz on presenting Kelvin Sampson into the Hall of Honor

As emotional as Nantz is liable to get — this is someone who’s always shown his heart and never tried to pretend to be anything he’s not on TV — he knows where the focus should be.

“The people are there to hear Kelvin not me,” Nantz says. “I want to be respectful of that and make my limited time impactful. And quick. We all want to hear Kelvin and his talk.”

The Bill Walton-John Wooden Example

This makes Nantz think of a story. He remembers when all-time basketball icon UCLA coach John Wooden was getting an award from the NCAA at the Final Four opening Salute event, which Nantz hosted for some 30 years, and the always loquacious Bill Walton introduced his old coach.

“I introduced Bill Walton to introduce his coach, to be his presenter,” Nantz says with a chuckle. “And he went on for a little bit too long. I want to be nice about it, because I love Bill. And Coach Wooden, ever the teacher, when he came up off the introduction from Walton, he said ‘William, there’s a lot of things I’d like to think that I taught you in life, but one thing I obviously didn’t do a very good job of teaching you is that the presenter’s comments are not supposed to be longer than the acceptor’s.’

“And the house came down. He was being gentle. He was being nice. It was a clever one liner for a man well into his nineties, and it warmed up the room. And Bill laughed along with it. But there was a message there. It’s Kelvin’s night.

“And I’m excited to be there to say a few words. But really to be able to honor him and stand and applaud.”

Nantz is pumped to see the other honorees in this 2026 Hall of Honor class inducted too. “I’m excited to be there and be with my Cougar family,” he says in that voice so familiar to generations of sports fans. And celebrate all of the people that are being recognized that night. Audray McMillian, one of my favorite guys on the planet, is going to be there getting recognized. And I just think the world of him.

“And I still remember how much excitement he brought to the football team. He could do anything. He could play quarterback. He could play corner. He had an incredible career in the NFL. Led the league in interceptions one year. Just a great, great Cougar.

“I know Eddie Fiori is going in posthumously. I knew Eddie well. They’re all deserving of their time to have the light shine on them. Thankfully, my night I get to sit back and just enjoy it all really. Until I get up and let my heart speak a little bit on Kelvin.”

UH Red Sports Coat Nights

Jim Nantz still has the red sports coat from his own 2002 Houston Hall of Honor induction, with the coat having survived several moves. “It doesn’t fit anymore,” Nantz says. “I’m not sure it even fit back then. It still hangs in my closet. I haven’t brought it out. But I’ll look at it as a reminder of that special night.”

Nantz credits the always elegant Katina Jackson, UH’s senior associate athletics director for special projects, with making this UH Hall of Honor an ongoing reality and fostering it along through multiple athletic directors. Much like Kelvin Sampson, Nantz never forgets the people behind the scenes who make things happen.

The 70-year-old Sampson himself tends to deflect when it comes to these Hall of Fame honors. He’s already in Montana Tech, UNC Pembroke and state of North Carolina’s Hall of Fame (with the official ceremony for that one to come in 2027) and he should be in the big one, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, soon. “I told (my wife) Karen I think a lot of it is the byproduct of longevity,” Sampson says when asked about the upcoming UH Hall of Honor moment. “But she said, ‘You’ve got to be good to be long.’

“. . . But it’s just an honor. I go back to what this place looked like when we first got here. I made enough enemies to make a difference. I had to do that. But I’ve been through four ADs, five football coaches. But I’ve only had one president. President Khator. And we’ve had our battles over the years. And I lost some of the battles. But I’ve always won the war.

“And I credit her for helping me win some of those wars. . . I think at Houston, you always have to prepare for hard. You can’t run from it. And I think the good Lord put me here for a reason. . . The hardest job I’ve had going in was Houston. The distance from where they were to winning. The hardest one was here.

“This doesn’t happen without Tilman Fertitta’s support. This doesn’t happen without Renu Khator’s support. And it helps to know what you’re doing. It helps to know how to win. We’ve been fortunate with that.”

“I think at Houston, you always have to prepare for hard. You can’t run from it. And I think the good Lord put me here for a reason. . . The hardest job I’ve had going in was Houston. The distance from where they were to winning. The hardest one was here.” — Kelvin Sampson

Jim Nantz, a forever devoted 1981 University of Houston graduate who uses some of his rare free time to watch Cougars sports (including UH football’s heartbreaking 28-26 loss at Texas Tech, which had Nantz texting Coach Willie Fritz afterwards, “Just telling him how proud I was of that team”), would say his school is the fortunate one when it comes to Sampson.

“Given where the program was to where it is now, in a massively successful career, I would guess he would view this as the job that has defined his Hall of Fame career the best,” Nantz tells PaperCity. “That when that day arrives and he goes into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, he’ll be bringing a lot with him in terms of Montana Tech, his dad’s influence, Washington State, all the stops along the way. The Final Four team at Oklahoma.

“But again, just as an observer,  I’m not speaking for him, I think this has to be the accomplishment he’s most proud of. What he’s done with this program.And who knows? There’s still some runway there. There’s still great things to come. And I can’t wait to watch it happen.”

Jim Nantz will be in Houston to help honor that still rolling Kelvin Sampson run at Houston in the school’s signature celebration night. He wouldn’t miss it.

The University of Houston Hall of Honor gala night is next Friday, October 2 at Tilman Fertitta’s Post Oak Hotel. For more information, go here. Willie Fritz’s UH football team hosts UCF in its Houston blue game the next morning at 11 am.