Houston coach Kelvin Sampson looking to add National Championship to career full of accomplishments

HOUSTON - University of Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson has done just about everything a coach can do in college basketball, except win a national championship.

Sampson is in his 36th season as a head coach.

He has won two AP Coach of the Year Awards (1995, 2024), several conference tournament titles and led three teams to the Final Four (2002, 2021, 2025).

Monday night will be the first time Sampson has coached a national title game, with a chance to cement his legacy as one of the sport's best.

Kelvin Sampson Coaching Career

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - APRIL 5: Head coach Kelvin Sampson of the Houston Cougars reacts in the second half against the Duke Blue Devils during the Final Four round of the men's NCAA basketball tournament at Alamodome on April 5, 2025 in San Antonio, Te

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Timeline:

Kelvin Sampson started his head coaching career at NAIA's Montana Tech in 1981. In four seasons, he posted a 73-45 record and was named the league's coach of the year twice.

After his time at Montana Tech, he became an assistant coach at Washington State, eventually becoming the Cougars head coach in 1988. Sampson led to the team to the NIT in 1992 and their first NCAA Tournament in 11 years in 1994.

The following year, Sampson was hired as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. He won his first AP Coach of the Year award in his first season, leading the Sooners to a 23-9 record. In his 12 years at OU, he posted a 279-109 record.

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Sampson was named the head coach of Indiana University in 2006. He was forced to resign in 2008 after a recruiting scandal.

After becoming an assistant coach in the NBA, Sampson returned to college to coach Houston in 2014. He turned around the struggling program, leading them to 10-straight 20+ win seasons. Houston has been in the NCAA Tournament every year since 2018, except for 2020, when the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.

In 2018, the team won its first March Madness game in 34 years and in 2021 he took the Coogs to their first Final Four in 34 years. He is the first Native American coach to ever lead a team to the NCAA Championship.

By the numbers:

Sampson has won 724 games in Division I basketball.

That is 24th most of all-time.

The 69-year-old would surpass UConn’s Jim Calhoun as the oldest coach to win a men’s basketball Division I national title.

It would also be his 799th career victory as a head coach, including his time in NAIA.

Kelvin Sampson on his future

Many have speculated about Sampson's future.

Ahead of the Final Four game against Duke, the 69-year-old said he'll be the one who decides his future.

"I've had a lifetime contract here for a long time. I'll decide when it's time to go, and I'll make that decision, independent of anyone else, but my wife," Sampson said.

In an interview with FOX 26's Will Kunkel in November, Sampson said he's happy with his current role.

"To me, the best program in the country for Kelvin Sampson is University of Houston," he said. "I love the city. I love, the upward trajectory of our program. We're not done growing. If that was the case, if I thought that we had reached the level, the highest level, then I would either retire or move on somewhere else. But we're still growing here."