When I sat down to interview Kellen Sampson last Friday, I got a lot out of it. Both what you saw on video and then what we discussed after the recording stopped. But the most exciting thing was when he talked about, as the UH program and as UH coaches, not selling themselves short and that he has an ongoing process to change his thinking.
the daily #134 | 12/12/2023 | Archives
In recruiting, Kellen used to evaluate and recruit a guy, only to have a “big” school jump in, and he’d think he was going to get killed. Now, he realizes that players think UH is the big program. They don’t know any different.
To a 17-year-old, UH’s win over SDSU in the first round in 2018 is ancient history. High school seniors were in the sixth grade when that historic win happened. Since then, the Cougars have won 11 NCAA Tournament games (and there was no tournament in their eighth-grade year due to COVID). In their three years of high school, UH has gone to the Final Four, the Elite Eight, and the Sweet 16.
UH is a “titan,” as Kellen pointed out.
Compare that to a kid who went into sixth grade in 1997 and graduated in 2004. That kid saw Houston go 72-132 with an NIT appearance. Too many of us (and I’m sometimes guilty of this) see UH as that program instead of the last 6+ years: 186-34 with eleven Tournament wins, advancing to the second round every time, the Sweet 16 four times, the Elite Eight twice, and the Final Four and a COVID year.
High school kids – not just recruits but high school kids – know UH as a basketball powerhouse. Some want to attend a school that plays such awesome basketball. A kid enrolling in 1998 came to UH because it was close, it was cheap, they partied too much at Southwest Texas, or didn’t like the lifestyle in College Station.
They come because it’s a Tier One, top-100 public school with elite-level basketball. Soon, they’ll be able to point to what Willie Fritz is already doing in football in the Big 12 against the schools their friends are going to – TCU, Texas Tech, Baylor, and Oklahoma State.
Sometimes, as the “adult in the room,” we can’t see the forest for the trees. The University of Houston is headed to the moon. As alums, fans, and people who can influence kids, donate to the school, and attend games, we have to step up. UH has strung together win after win. Sure, they goofed on Major Applewhite and Dana Holgorsen, but they’ve rectified that and made your football program more like your basketball program.
A source of pride.
