Kelvin Sampson’ Unique Mystique — How UH’s New $18 Million Man Knows His Son is Ready

Kelvin Sampson knows more about basketball than you do. He knows more about United States history too. And the University of Houston’s basketball savior, and new $18 Million Man, will let you know it.

It turns out that Sampson — who signed a six-year contract extension that keeps him at UH through the 2024-25 season and designates his son, Kellen Sampson, as the official head coach in waiting — would be the ultimate asset at any bar trivia night, too. This 63-year-old basketball lifer loves to ask (and answer) questions on random facts.

“The amount of joy he gets,” his son Kellen Sampson tells PaperCity, shaking his head. “I don’t even know what he’s looking at — whether it’s one of those spam emails or what. But just random trivia questions.

“He’ll just randomly ask you: ‘What’s the tallest bridge in North America?’ And he is so excited when he gets them right.”

Kelvin Sampson is used to getting things right. “His competitiveness is so maniacal,” Kellen Sampson says, “that if he gets a chance to win an argument, if he sees blood in the water, he’s going to go after it.”

The coach, who brought Houston’s basketball program back from the dead, certainly went after it in his negotiations with school officials, securing not only his future but setting up his rising star son to keep the Sampson family legacy going at UH even after he steps away. Not many coaches have the clout to pull that off.

Kelvin Sampson’s been building toward it, one step at a time, certain that Kellen is ready.

“Everywhere he’s been, he’s made a difference,” Sampson told me of his son/top assistant during Houston’s NCAA Tournament run. “I know. But people are always going to say the only reason he’s on the staff is because he’s your son.

“Good. I’m just glad he’s on my staff. I don’t care why you think he’s on the staff. I’m just glad he is.”

Let 610 AM radio voices Rich Lord and Sean Pendergast — who spent as much time around the UH basketball program this season as the Easter Bunny — get on the air and ignorantly declare that Houston should walk away from Kelvin Sampson before promising his son anything. The coach knows better.

Kelvin Sampson knows that Houston never lands future star Nate Hinton, the highest-rated recruit on the Cougars roster, without Kellen Sampson’s recruiting skill and the connections he built paying his dues as an assistant coach at Appalachian State. The head coach knows Houston never breaks the school record for wins and comes within a few whispers of toppling Kentucky without his son’s work either.

The basketball lifer who treats almost nothing as trivial is much too competitive to not give himself the best chance to win. Making his family a huge part of the University of Houston program is part of Kelvin Sampson’s edge.

Kelvin Sampson, the Most Competitive Teacher Ever

If you think coaching under Sampson is any easier because you’re his son, you simply haven’t been paying attention. The coach who woke up the echoes of Phi Slama Jama and made attending UH basketball games cool again is not easy on anyone.

Kelvin Sampson coaches everyone hard.

“When I first got here he chewed me out,” Houston forward Breaon Brady says. “I was still young in the mind. I didn’t know how to be coached. But he whipped me into shape early. And I’m glad he did.”

This is a coach who is always looking for a way to drive home a point — and connect with players 40-plus years younger than him.

“My dad has got such an awesome feel for this thing,” Kellen Sampson says. “Sometimes the ways he cuts the tension or cuts the moment by asking them some kind of historical perspective.”

“Who’s better?” Kelvin Sampson will ask his team of Generation Zers. “Elvin Hayes or Anthony Davis?” When DeJon Jarreau and Co, inevitably answer Davis, the current NBA star, their coach will roar in protest, “No and it’s not even close.”

“His favorite is ‘Who’s the greatest player to ever play?’ ” Kellen Sampson tells PaperCity. “Everybody says Michael Jordan or LeBron. He’ll say it’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And he’ll bring clips to prove his point.”

Kelvin Sampson has a library of vintage clips, seemingly queued up and ready to go.

“He’ll show us clips of guys we’ve never even heard of to show us how to do things,” Brady says. “He goes back into his memory bank.”

It’s all about making a connection. In some ways, it’s about making his players think. It turns out that those random trivia questions serve a purpose.

“I’m always giving them quizzes,” Kelvin Sampson says. “I just want them to know. I want them to know something about things, whether it’s the president, who the governor of your state is, who the mayor of your city is, who the president of the university is, who the athletic director is.

“What’s kind of going on. What the Proclamation Declaration was. I’m always quizzing them.

“One day I spent 30 minutes talking to them about Thurgood Marshall and Brown vs. Board of Education 1956. I talked to them about Martin Luther King and the March on Selma.”

To Kelvin Sampson, this is part of the job — part of the responsibility to do right by his players.

“A lot of them don’t have families where they have that kind of background,” he says.

This coach is a teacher, one who knows six decades of knowledge needs to be shared. Of course, this teacher wants to kick your butt in getting the questions right. Kelvin Sampson preps for these moments too.

“History Channel,” Kellen Sampson says of his dad’s routines. “Loves the ID Network. Oh my God. Any murder mystery. History. Civil War. American history. He loves it. Absolutely fascinates him.”

This is a coach who will go down rabbit holes and come up grinning because he’s armed with more knowledge. Knowledge that he can pass on — or use to help him win something. Even if it’s just a silly trivia debate.

The coach who changed everything for UH basketball will outcompete you in almost anything. Kelvin Sampson’s even turned himself into a good water skier — one who has a quick reply when asked if his son is equally skilled in it.

“I like to water ski,” Kelvin Sampson says. “He’s good at driving the boat.”

UH’s program changer knows its good to be the captain of the ship. But he understands a great first officer is invaluable too.