Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
"Coaches Series" - Kellen Sampson (Head Coach-in-Waiting) Interview
94 Plays1 month ago
Welcome to the final installment in our offseason "Coaches Series" (episode #58) on the No Conference for Old Men Podcast.
2 of the 3 Old Men had the privilege to sit down and chat with top Assistant Coach Kellen Sampson (UH MBB Head Coach-in-Waiting). Coach Sampson was extremely generous with his time, sitting down with us for almost a full hour in covering topics far & wide as we dive into coach's background, his journey as a player at OU playing for his dad & then transitioning into coaching as a Graduate Assistant at both IU & OU. Then getting his first break as a fulltime Assistant Coach at Stephen F Austin, moving on to App St, & then finally rejoining his dad's staff at UH where they've transformed the program side-by-side. We bring a depth and insight into Coach's background / perspective that you won't find anywhere else!
- No Conference for Old Men is available for free via Spotify / Apple Podcast / SoundCloud & the GoCoogs.com website; we're also available via the Republic of Football Podcast feed from the folks at Dave Campbell's Texas Football as their only basketball-centric offering
- Intro / Exit music: Ground Zero provided by FreeBeats.io
- Please follow us on https://gocoogs.com/old-men/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction of Kellan Sampson
00:00:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Welcome folks to the penultimate episode of our special off season and coaches series on the no conference improvement podcast today, where two of the three old guys have a special guest in university of Houston, Ben's basketball assistant coach and head coach in waiting, Kellan Sampson joining us for a bit of Q and a, we've had a few noted guests here on the show in our first two years of the podcast, including coaches sister last off season, but it's safe to say that this is definitely our high point in getting coach Sampson on our humble podcast.
Career Overview of Coach Sampson
00:00:36
@NoConfForOldMen
for fans that may not know and hopefully i get the strike coach coach samson's been at uh since 2014 joining his father's staff as the number one assistant from day one but coach had already forged his own path in basketball with a rapid rise in the coaching ranks prior to joining the cougars again i'm not going to get into too much detail because we actually want to hear about the journey directly from coach but just before coming to houston coach samson had spent three years as an assistant at appalachian state where They were actually a bit of an offensive juggernaut while he was there.
00:01:06
@NoConfForOldMen
And part of that coach had entered the full-time coaching ranks at Stephen F. Austin as assistant coach where, surprise, they led the nation in scoring defense. In addition to those stops, coach got his start in college hoops with a couple of stints at IU as grad assistant on his dad's staff there, and then at his alma mater, OU, as grad assistant, and then as strength and conditioning coach.
00:01:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Coach Kellan Sampson received both a bachelor's and master's of degree from Oklahoma, and was also a three-year letterman on the OU men's basketball team. Super impressive background, and we're excited to have Coach join the podcast.
Inspiration and Family Influence
00:01:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Welcome to the podcast, Coach Sampson, and thanks so much for taking the time out from your busy schedule.
00:01:44
Kellen Sampson
No, appreciate you guys. Appreciate everybody who's, as we enter the dog days of summer, that's that's dreaming of maybe some cooler temperatures outside.
00:01:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Ha ha.
00:01:55
Kellen Sampson
Back in Fertitta Center, and and as we get ready to get after it and have another awesome year.
00:02:01
@NoConfForOldMen
All right. So we've gathered some questions. Do you want us to just get right into it?
00:02:06
Kellen Sampson
Right into right into it.
00:02:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay, let's let's do it. So I gave a highlight of your background, Coach, but maybe you can spend a few minutes providing listeners with your own perspective on your basketball coaching journey.
00:02:18
@NoConfForOldMen
mean, obviously, your dad is an all-time great basketball coach, but how did you come to realize that it was actually the right path for you?
00:02:27
Kellen Sampson
you know You know, it's interesting. is So I'm a third generation coach.
00:02:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, that's right.
00:02:31
Kellen Sampson
My granddad was a Hall of Fame coach in the state of North Carolina at the high school level. So my dad played for him and then and I was fortunate to play for for my dad. But when I was a little boy, my my grandmother gave me a Bible and a children's Bible. and And they asked you a series of questions that I'm sure just kind of you know, would would serve as a reference chronicle as where you were at at that time in your life. And I think was a first grader.
00:03:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice.
00:03:03
Kellen Sampson
And they ask you your future occupation. There's three lines. And in all three lines, I wrote basketball coach.
00:03:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh wow.
00:03:11
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:03:12
Kellen Sampson
You know, you there was, yeah, there was just, yeah, the the the two most important men in my life was my grandfather and my dad.
00:03:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Why you do early? ha
00:03:24
Kellen Sampson
And I couldn't fathom or process not doing what they did.
Early Basketball Experiences
00:03:29
Kellen Sampson
And it just seemed like the best job in the world to me that, you know, I i didn't understand why i had to go to school every day and he got to go coach basketball.
00:03:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:03:40
Kellen Sampson
like this This is BS, man.
00:03:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:03:41
Kellen Sampson
But yeah. but
00:03:43
Tom Lidiak
not
00:03:45
Kellen Sampson
And fortunately, those two men did a wonderful job explaining to me that I had way more upside as a coach than a player. and
00:03:54
@NoConfForOldMen
a
00:03:57
Kellen Sampson
And so I got to play basketball, you know, to fill my time in between. I can actually coach basketball. But now it, you know, I was so fortunate that
00:04:04
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:04:10
Kellen Sampson
Hey, my dad and granddad, who were both my heroes, and and it was the the thrill of a lifetime to live in both of their shadows you know every second of every day that I could.
00:04:22
Kellen Sampson
And then yeah my dad's teams were really good growing up.
00:04:24
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:04:26
Kellen Sampson
And and i probably the first yeah old enough to have start having real memories is is about the time my dad's teams got really good at Washington State.
00:04:35
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:04:36
Kellen Sampson
And so the the the magic, the excitement, the juice going to the NCAA tournament his last year at Washington State. And then when he took over at Oklahoma, I was a fourth grader and he went to the NCAA tournament every year.
00:04:50
Kellen Sampson
And so traveling with his teams and going to practices and watching how he would take a team and in in the first day of school and just understanding the college basketball calendar And then just taking the journey with each team to fall conditioning.
Family's Coaching Legacy
00:05:09
Kellen Sampson
You know, the first couple of days of practice was always but you know back then you couldn't start practice till October 15th.
00:05:14
@NoConfForOldMen
That's right.
00:05:14
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:05:15
Kellen Sampson
And so every weekend he would have two practices on Saturday, two practices on Sunday. And, you know, I'd get to school Monday. My friends would ask, hey, where you been?
00:05:26
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:05:29
Kellen Sampson
What was that practice, man?
00:05:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:05:31
Kellen Sampson
What do you mean where i have I been?
00:05:32
@NoConfForOldMen
you know
00:05:33
Kellen Sampson
And, you know, I was, and there's so many Sunday morning, Sunday mornings at church where, where they're asking you to bring out the the hymnals for, for, and, and in between, I've got last night's stat sheet and I'm studying, know, who shot what I always managed to steal my dad's stat sheet on the way to church.
00:05:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Ha ha ha ha.
00:05:54
Kellen Sampson
Yeah.
00:05:54
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:05:55
@NoConfForOldMen
So you're studying it during church?
00:05:56
Kellen Sampson
And so I'd study it and then look at you know trends and in minutes played and kind of maybe home from church, he'd ask me, or I'd ask him, why did so-and-so only play X amount of minutes?
00:05:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Ha
00:06:08
Tom Lidiak
you
00:06:09
Kellen Sampson
humble
Role at University of Houston
00:06:09
@NoConfForOldMen
ha. Ha ha ha.
00:06:11
Kellen Sampson
uh, just, but I was just totally enthralled with every part of it.
00:06:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:06:16
Kellen Sampson
there's so many nights I stood at the top of the stairs and listened to my dad on, uh, recruiting, uh, calls or so many Saturday mornings. i you know, I, you know, because I was, i had, I had sat at the top of the stairs, you know, I knew what recruits were visiting and I knew how important they were based on how the conversations were going. And, and, uh,
00:06:37
Kellen Sampson
You know, just just every piece of of of the gig I was excited for.
00:06:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow, that's awesome.
00:06:46
Kellen Sampson
We didn't have NIL then, but that's been new.
00:06:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah,
00:06:48
Tom Lidiak
Ha! Ha!
00:06:49
Tom Lidiak
Ha!
00:06:49
Kellen Sampson
But just...
00:06:51
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah we'll actually get into that a bit.
00:06:52
Kellen Sampson
ex but just It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do. And and to to sit here next year, I think it's my 18th year coaching.
00:06:58
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow.
00:07:04
@NoConfForOldMen
That's
00:07:05
Kellen Sampson
And I took 120 credit hours because i majored in communications because I heard there was no math.
00:07:13
Kellen Sampson
and
00:07:14
Tom Lidiak
yeah
00:07:16
Kellen Sampson
I took a hundred. I graduated college and in early and in just over three years. because my my goal was to be done with my master's. And so I didn't have, so I could skip being a graduate assistant.
00:07:29
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay. Wow.
00:07:30
Kellen Sampson
i want i You
00:07:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow. Super focused.
00:07:34
Kellen Sampson
i knew what I wanted to do.
00:07:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:07:36
Kellen Sampson
no I got an offer from Tad Boyle. He was head coach at Northern Colorado.
00:07:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:07:41
Kellen Sampson
but I actually got an offer to be my first offer to, and that was a check mark is straight from being a player to being an assistant coach.
00:07:53
Kellen Sampson
I got a job offer. So that was advised to finish my master's.
00:07:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow.
00:07:59
@NoConfForOldMen
from From your folks? Yeah.
00:08:00
Kellen Sampson
Yes.
00:08:01
Tom Lidiak
you Hey coach, do you remember playing Augustana when you were at Northern Colorado or not?
00:08:07
Kellen Sampson
You know what? I never went to North Carolina. to turn it down.
00:08:10
Tom Lidiak
Oh, okay.
00:08:11
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:08:11
Kellen Sampson
You know, I, yeah, I became a judge.
00:08:11
Tom Lidiak
Okay.
00:08:12
@NoConfForOldMen
You had to finish school. Yeah.
00:08:13
Tom Lidiak
Okay. so yeah Okay. So you didn't take the UNC job?
00:08:16
Kellen Sampson
Now I sold out.
00:08:16
Tom Lidiak
Okay. Okay.
00:08:18
Kellen Sampson
I sold out the education.
00:08:19
Tom Lidiak
Okay.
00:08:20
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, what a bummer. Yeah.
00:08:22
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. I asked you that because my wife's Augustana grad and back then they were in the same conference. Yeah.
00:08:28
Kellen Sampson
Got it. Yeah.
00:08:29
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:08:30
Kellen Sampson
No, I heard Greeley is beautiful, but I never, I never quite made
00:08:30
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:08:35
@NoConfForOldMen
All right.
00:08:35
Tom Lidiak
Okay.
00:08:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Hey, so as part of the original staff that joined on when your dad took over, mean, obviously all the hardcore fans know exactly the the role and importance you played in kind of creating the whole program and how instrumental you were in kind of building the culture of toughness required of coaches teams.
00:08:57
@NoConfForOldMen
But the casual fan may not know kind of how your role evolved over because like you said, you've been here since 2014. And even as the top assistant, your role has had to have morphed and evolved over time.
00:09:12
@NoConfForOldMen
you know, given the profile of the program, when you started to where we are today, as well as now the advent of n NIL, the transfer portal, house settlement, things of that nature. So maybe you can spend a bit of time describing to the listeners, you know, how your role has changed as the number one coach for
Developing Houston's Program
00:09:30
@NoConfForOldMen
the program.
00:09:31
Kellen Sampson
Yeah, no, I think
00:09:34
Kellen Sampson
it's kind of on all of us to keep us current, to keep us cutting edge. I think yeah there's kind of an an awesome inner circle of guys on our staff that have been with us from from the beginning.
00:09:45
Kellen Sampson
Hollis Price, Stacy Beard, our trainer, John Houston, have kind of, we've we've grown and and done this this journey together.
00:09:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Sure.
00:09:56
Kellen Sampson
Yeah. But yeah know when we first started, we we just felt like we were swimming upstream so much in so many ways. And when we first started, you know we were trying to acclimate Coach Sampson back to the college game.
00:10:10
Kellen Sampson
And then KC hadn't been in the college game for a little while.
00:10:12
@NoConfForOldMen
sure
00:10:13
Kellen Sampson
And then Hollis had never been in the college game.
00:10:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:10:16
Kellen Sampson
And so my role back then was was was to just almost help acclimate everybody into college basketball and and recruiting calendars and the and the but flow of the way is you know the events and the recruiting stuff worked.
00:10:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:10:26
@NoConfForOldMen
yep
00:10:35
Kellen Sampson
And I felt like I was a bit more of a recruiting coordinator back then. and it But just kind of introducing everybody to, hey, look, this is in in building out our our databases of sophomore juniors and seniors and and and and just kind of creating our our recruiting infrastructure, so to speak.
00:10:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:10:56
Kellen Sampson
And we were having to recruit so many guys back then because
00:10:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Ha ha ha!
00:11:03
Kellen Sampson
Yeah, there's a lot of guys that just wouldn't listen to us or take our calls or or at least take us serious. And so, you know, the amount of prospects we were responsible for back then was was massive.
00:11:17
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:11:18
Kellen Sampson
We couldn't be a rifle shot. We'd zero in on a guy, and he wasn't zeroing in on us right back. Yeah.
00:11:25
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:11:26
Kellen Sampson
oh
00:11:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, that must have been so tough early days, right?
00:11:28
Kellen Sampson
Oh, just humbling, frustrating at the time for sure, but just humbling moments.
00:11:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:11:37
@NoConfForOldMen
I'm actually curious because you had been at Appalachian State. So even I almost even want to understand year one and the kinds of kids that you recruited, were you able to get more traction at Appalachian State versus where Houston was at?
00:11:53
Kellen Sampson
No, I wouldn't say that. But we were also recruiting just a different level player from App State to to Houston. And that was, it was new for me because I wasn't.
00:11:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay.
00:12:03
Kellen Sampson
I hadn't recruited at this level. And so that the, I knew who they were, but I didn't necessarily have deep rooted relationships with the guys that could really help us.
00:12:14
Kellen Sampson
The only guy I had a deep rooted relationship with actually he was in the office today was Rob Gray.
00:12:20
Kellen Sampson
He's a mountain kid from North Carolina. and And so I recruited him at Appalachian State. But that was our first year.
00:12:25
@NoConfForOldMen
okay
00:12:28
Kellen Sampson
You know, we were actually we were telling a story earlier today about our first year recruiting a kid. And, you know, we had to sign so many guys that first spring.
00:12:41
Kellen Sampson
And we didn't even know where the buildings were. I mean, I got lost on the campus twice. We're on golf carts cruising around sidewalks and all of a sudden the sidewalk ends because I didn't know campus at all.
00:12:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:12:53
Kellen Sampson
And so I'm having to hit reverse.
00:12:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:12:55
Kellen Sampson
was awful.
00:12:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:12:56
Kellen Sampson
You know what I'm having to be right there in front of the library.
00:12:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow.
00:13:01
Kellen Sampson
I'm having to hit reverse and in the golf carts making that heinous, awful sound. And people, oh my God, where is he going? is he lost? Yeah, I am.
00:13:10
@NoConfForOldMen
You are.
00:13:11
Tom Lidiak
what What was that building again? The library?
00:13:13
Kellen Sampson
Say that again? Say that word again?
00:13:15
Tom Lidiak
I never saw that one.
00:13:17
Kellen Sampson
Yeah, exactly. so
00:13:20
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:13:20
Kellen Sampson
but So my my role back then was was was almost, gosh, just trying to be an energizer bunny and keep spirits high and and keep our excitement going.
00:13:34
Kellen Sampson
I think, you know, my dad always knew the vision of where we could go and how, and he was always steadfast that we're going to get there. I don't think any of us ever believed for an instance that we would not be super successful here.
00:13:47
Kellen Sampson
But, you know, back then it was, gosh, it was, it was just a journey kind of keeping the morale high and and realizing that, look, this isn't going to be an overnight turnaround.
00:13:52
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:13:58
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:13:59
Kellen Sampson
and identifying maybe some guys that are bridge guys that look, we can take this guy, get us back to a little respectability and he'll lead us to the guy that leads us to the guy.
00:14:12
Kellen Sampson
And then from there, maybe we can we can kind of be on our way.
00:14:13
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:14:17
Kellen Sampson
Whereas now, you know, it's it's certainly they
Team Growth and Learning
00:14:22
Kellen Sampson
the recruiting culture has changed in in the landscape with NIL and Revshare. And so I'm a little bit more of have to have a little bit more of a general manager's hat and and figuring out pie charts and and and trying to kind of work through the weeds of numbers and and things like that.
00:14:31
@NoConfForOldMen
and Yeah.
00:14:41
Kellen Sampson
But the the fun stuff hasn't changed. you know The fun stuff is still getting on the floor, lacing your your shoes up tight.
00:14:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay.
00:14:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:14:48
Kellen Sampson
no Pouring your your heart soul into player development, pouring your your heart and soul into your your installation. your 12 years ago, we were trying to establish what our systems were.
00:15:02
Kellen Sampson
you know it was so funny. as My dad had so many awesome ideas from the NBA, and he was so itching to to see if they could work in college.
00:15:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Uh
00:15:11
@NoConfForOldMen
huh.
00:15:12
Kellen Sampson
And some of them could, some of them didn't.
00:15:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:14
Kellen Sampson
But people say, well, well who, what what do you,
00:15:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:15:17
Kellen Sampson
Look, our defensive system is us. It's a hodgepodge of of things that we felt like have worked, that we stole from this, or we acclimated to to this this particular opponent.
00:15:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Yup.
00:15:32
Kellen Sampson
And we thought, oh hey, you know what? That works. We like that. Okay, let's let's make it a rule.
00:15:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Yup.
00:15:36
Kellen Sampson
And so yeah are so when we install our system, it's ours. you i don't I can't go to YouTube or you know defensive for dummies and find the answer.
00:15:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:15:49
Kellen Sampson
Look, our system is our system. and
00:15:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:15:52
Kellen Sampson
and so But 12 years ago, we didn't have a system. We just had ideas.
00:15:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay.
00:15:57
Kellen Sampson
We had concepts that we felt like might work or could work.
00:15:57
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:16:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:16:00
Kellen Sampson
And then through 12 years of trial and error, we now know exactly what we do. We're really grooved out with our summer installs and we're really grooved out with just our summer flow and process.
00:16:09
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:13
Kellen Sampson
It's interesting, as I was having a conversation with Emmanuel Sharp in the spring and and he was already back home. And so I called him one night, we had this real awesome, long, lengthy conversation and So we were we were both still bummed.
00:16:31
Kellen Sampson
You know, we were both, you know, the work was done, our our team was set, but we maybe finally got a chance to mourn not winning at all. And i told him, i I said that, you know, there's two things. Number one, our our incoming guys had already spent a little time on campus.
00:16:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:48
Kellen Sampson
and And they were rejuvenating and and excited because they were so excited to be here.
00:16:52
@NoConfForOldMen
That's fresh for them, yeah.
00:16:52
Kellen Sampson
And they still, but I said, E-Man, you know, the exciting part for us is, or exciting for everybody is we got where we went because we got the right process and we got the right formula.
Coaching Philosophy
00:17:04
Kellen Sampson
And it wasn't locked. It was the byproduct of us doing the right things and stacking the right day after day after day.
00:17:11
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. Yeah, no, know.
00:17:12
Kellen Sampson
If you do it once, it means you can do it again.
00:17:16
Kellen Sampson
You know, we we we we we know how to duplicate our flow and our process year over year, which which gives us a chance to to to to get right back here if if if we get a little luck and and we got the right attitude now for
00:17:31
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah no i know you know, we're, we're jazzed, the fans are jazzed as well. yeah know, the the way you and your dad and the whole staff have built the program, it's just been, an incredible display of elite consistency.
00:17:48
@NoConfForOldMen
That's really, it's a little bit shocking, right? Even even as fans, as it's a little bit shocking.
00:17:54
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, I'd say, Steve, from a from a fan standpoint, people are jealous of the the program that that U of H has.
00:18:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, absolutely.
00:18:03
Tom Lidiak
You know, it's there the way you all play hard and and, you know, play together. And, yeah, people are jealous. they They're fans of other teams, and they're like, man, I wish our team would play that way.
00:18:17
@NoConfForOldMen
absolutely.
00:18:17
Kellen Sampson
I appreciate you guys saying that it's the labor of love.
00:18:21
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. And coach, and you kind of mentioned this a few times. I know your dad has mentioned it quite a few times in interviews, the the whole aspect of culture and the unique approach you guys take, right? With this heavy emphasis on accountability, effort, toughness, and humility, right? It's a,
00:18:41
Kellen Sampson
Yep.
00:18:42
@NoConfForOldMen
it's a combo that's hard to to instill and stay true to. And so I'm kind of curious, you know from your own personal perspective, you know as you bring new players on board and you're trying to communicate and teach, every kid's gonna receive information differently. And I'm just kind of curious as a leader,
00:19:03
@NoConfForOldMen
of men, right? How you, what's your philosophy? How do you go about, you know, trying to reach the kids and any philosophy in terms of how you approach, uh, getting that messaging across succinctly, right? Where they're receiving it.
00:19:20
Kellen Sampson
I think, and we have the advantage that we get to recruit. Right.
00:19:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:19:25
Kellen Sampson
And you how we coach kids begins with how we recruit.
00:19:30
Kellen Sampson
When we get into the recruiting process, one of the things that we pride ourselves most on is is that we don't lie. We don't over promise.
00:19:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. Yep. Yep.
00:19:38
Kellen Sampson
you know and I had a conversation once with a recruit family and they said, well, do you do you think my son's one and done? my answer is that, look, there's no, there's zero chance I can speak on that because I don't determine if he's wanting to.
00:19:53
Kellen Sampson
That's the NBA.
00:19:53
@NoConfForOldMen
yep
00:19:55
Kellen Sampson
What I can, you know, and I got into but what I can say is that, look, he's going to have an every, I think he is immensely talented, bla blah, blah, blah. But we just don't recruit. How easy would it have been for me to say right there in that instance, oh, heck, you know, and just,
00:20:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Blow smoke, right? Yeah.
00:20:12
Kellen Sampson
it would have been just sold out to,
00:20:12
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. Yep.
00:20:16
Kellen Sampson
bankrupted the the culture and the effort and and and all the hard days that he was having just to win that moment.
00:20:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:20:24
Kellen Sampson
And I don't think we ever sacrifice the process and the journey to to win a moment.
00:20:33
Kellen Sampson
and And I think it's it it starts there is that everybody's a little, <unk>s there's a hello world moment when they get here,
00:20:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:20:42
Kellen Sampson
going through our flow.
00:20:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:20:46
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:20:46
Kellen Sampson
up But nobody who comes through our doors is surprised at that that that things are gonna be difficult, things are gonna be challenging. And then what goes with that is that we expect everybody to lean into difficult.
00:21:02
Kellen Sampson
We expect everybody to lean into how hard things are.
00:21:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:21:06
Kellen Sampson
Don't don't run from it.
00:21:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Mm-hmm.
00:21:08
Kellen Sampson
but Whatever scars that we have, coming, let's let's have him on our face, not our back, because we're going to run to the fight.
00:21:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:15
Kellen Sampson
And everything that we want is on the other side of the fight.
00:21:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:21:19
Kellen Sampson
I think one of the hallmarks of of our program is that we we we really challenge our guys to get good at confrontation. Don't run from your problems. Don't run from difficult.
00:21:34
Kellen Sampson
Run to it and learn to conquer it nose to nose, eyeball to eyeball, because that's what that that's what life's going to be from from the rest from from now to
00:21:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
Unique Team Culture
00:21:44
Kellen Sampson
the rest of your days.
00:21:45
Kellen Sampson
And nobody's fighting your fights for you
00:21:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:21:48
Kellen Sampson
And those are the ingredients of our great culture is first of all, you got to get kids who can bite that, that, that, that excites them. You know, if they're running from that messaging, look, let's find, let me find out right now.
00:22:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:22:03
Kellen Sampson
oh Because then I, I for sure don't want to find out with, we're down six with,
00:22:09
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:22:09
Kellen Sampson
to go at Lubbock and hey, I don't want any part of the fight.
00:22:12
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:13
Kellen Sampson
oh
00:22:13
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:22:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:22:14
Kellen Sampson
Look, I screwed up. i didn't I wasn't a good detective in the recruiting process and and really, really challenged that person to to to to put make them a little uncomfortable.
00:22:16
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:22:25
Kellen Sampson
and lets Let's reveal something about each other. But then, i you know how easy is the wrong tour, but but what a luxury that we all have, as that we work for the most consistent human being on the face of the planet.
00:22:38
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:22:40
Kellen Sampson
you know Coach Samson is the same person every single day.
00:22:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:22:45
Kellen Sampson
You never have to guess which which way the boat's going.
00:22:47
Tom Lidiak
Amen.
00:22:49
Kellen Sampson
you You just got grab an oar follow him.
00:22:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:22:52
Kellen Sampson
And, you know, we're...
00:22:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice. Nice, nice. so So here's a question from from Bill Walker, who's not here today.
00:22:56
Kellen Sampson
and
00:23:00
@NoConfForOldMen
We all know, like in other industries, college basketball is a copycat profession where everyone tries to mimic success. Right. And I'm sure you guys have had tons of coaching staffs come through to want to learn and observe and incorporate right that same approach.
00:23:17
@NoConfForOldMen
level of toughness. And I don't want to no one's been able to replicate it because there's some tough, you other tough programs as well, like, you know, Barnes at Tennessee and things like that. But really, why hasn't there been, know, more ability to replicate the type of culture that you all have created here at Houston?
00:23:37
Kellen Sampson
Well, the head coach has got to be 1,000% 10 toes committed to the same things that Coach Sampson's committed to.
00:23:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:23:52
Kellen Sampson
And there's that.
00:23:56
Kellen Sampson
to go about things. You know obviously our national championship game is a great example.
00:23:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:24:00
Kellen Sampson
Todd Golden's a young guy.
00:24:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:24:02
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:24:02
Kellen Sampson
is
00:24:03
Kellen Sampson
He's my age.
00:24:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:24:04
Kellen Sampson
And, they go at things a different way than, than than we do.
00:24:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:24:08
Kellen Sampson
We value similar things, but they go about it differently. And so, but if you're trying to be like us, you better be like coach Samson.
00:24:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:24:17
Kellen Sampson
Everything starts with him.
00:24:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. At the top.
00:24:19
Kellen Sampson
And, and, uh,
00:24:22
Kellen Sampson
you're trying to replicate who we are, you gotta to ask yourself, can your ball can can the head coach replicate him?
Rebuilding Success
00:24:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:29
Kellen Sampson
And if that answer is no, then then look, you gotta find your own way to do that.
00:24:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Path. Yeah.
00:24:35
Kellen Sampson
There's cheese at the end of the maze. There might be four different routes there. If our route isn't for you, our our route is for you if you can replicate coach, Coach Samson.
00:24:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:24:47
Kellen Sampson
I haven't seen anybody do that.
00:24:48
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:24:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, absolutely.
00:24:50
Kellen Sampson
He's one of one.
00:24:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:24:51
Kellen Sampson
i
00:24:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:24:53
Kellen Sampson
And that's the reason he's a legend, that's the reason he's a Hall of Famer, that's reason he's still in his prime.
00:24:58
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:24:58
Kellen Sampson
He's still, he might be, he's better today as a head coach than he was when I played for him.
00:25:00
@NoConfForOldMen
oh absolutely
00:25:05
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah yeah
00:25:06
Kellen Sampson
He's better today as a head coach than he was when I worked for him at Indiana. He's better today than I worked for him 12 years ago when we first got at U of H.
00:25:14
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:25:15
Kellen Sampson
I mean, he's awesome. but
00:25:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, but well most definitely.
00:25:19
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:25:20
Kellen Sampson
I probably sound like a complete Homer.
00:25:23
@NoConfForOldMen
No, no, no, we're we're we're in there 110%. I mean, we all feel so lucky to have Coach as well as you and the entire staff, right, as part of the program.
00:25:30
Kellen Sampson
Yeah, he's awesome.
00:25:33
@NoConfForOldMen
We've... You know, as we had kind of mentioned to earlier before we got started here, right? All three of us guys are from the old days, right? You know, back in the early 80s.
00:25:43
Kellen Sampson
yeah
00:25:44
@NoConfForOldMen
And so we saw, you know, some good years and then basically two decades of a desert. I mean, I wouldn't even call it a desert. It was so bad. Uh, and it wasn't until you guys came on board where you basically did a entire forklift, which is still, uh, amazing that you were able to pull off.
00:25:55
Kellen Sampson
I
00:26:03
@NoConfForOldMen
So we're, we're all very appreciative. And obviously it's a reflection of how great of a coaching staff you guys are.
00:26:09
Kellen Sampson
appreciate that. But that that that's the long and the short of it.
00:26:10
Tom Lidiak
And I coach.
00:26:12
Kellen Sampson
If you see like my kids, that's all I do.
00:26:14
@NoConfForOldMen
That that's, that's, that's fine.
00:26:15
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, that's fine. Yeah.
00:26:17
@NoConfForOldMen
It's not an issue at all.
00:26:18
Kellen Sampson
got I got the fourth generation here.
00:26:21
Kellen Sampson
But that's why people can't replicate it, is they can't replicate him.
00:26:21
Tom Lidiak
And I tell people all the time that I think this is the the greatest rebuild in college basketball
00:26:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
Recruiting Challenges
00:26:27
Tom Lidiak
history.
00:26:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:26:28
Tom Lidiak
I think it I think it is.
00:26:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:26:31
Kellen Sampson
me
00:26:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Nah, it's cool. so obviously recruiting and player retention is the lifeblood of the program. And I know Your dad has mentioned in other interviews that he never pays attention to star rankings and you know things like that. You do your own assessment on players and things like that. But on the flip side, I'd say there's no denying the fact that the profile of players that you guys are able to recruit and pinpoint and bring in are just at.
00:27:05
Kellen Sampson
Amen.
00:27:05
@NoConfForOldMen
an elevated level, right? Versus when you guys just just got here.
00:27:07
Kellen Sampson
no
00:27:09
@NoConfForOldMen
It's just, we've never, right? This program has never recruited at this level. Even back in Guy V. Lewis's heyday, we would never be able to consistently recruit at this level.
00:27:21
@NoConfForOldMen
I think one of the the questions that we had for you, and and we've asked the the other assistant coaches this, the same question as well is, as you're starting to elevate in terms of the kind of national profile players, are you finding it more difficult to find those traits of toughness, humility, and accountability in these players? Because quite honestly, a lot of these kids at the highest levels have been somewhat...
00:27:48
@NoConfForOldMen
kind of babied along the way, right? and And for the type of hunger and effort that you guys demand, I'm always curious as to, well, yeah, you can find the talent, but can you find as many of the those players with that right fit or or traits that you're looking for?
00:28:06
Kellen Sampson
You know, the the exciting part is who we are as a program is a bit more known. And so we We don't have to explain who we are.
00:28:20
Kellen Sampson
Typically it's it's already been explained for us. And if a young person
00:28:27
Kellen Sampson
chooses to still hear from us and hold us in high regard and and they they themselves want to go through the the recruiting journey with us, they know who we are.
Evaluating Player Compatibility
00:28:42
Kellen Sampson
And they know, again, they're always surprised when when the bullets get flying, right? But
00:28:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:28:50
Kellen Sampson
you know what you're signed up for.
00:28:52
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:28:53
Kellen Sampson
and And what I do feel like as we go through this journey, and again, I think just transparency is everything, is we are uncomfortably honest at times with kids.
00:29:05
Kellen Sampson
about what is expected of them if they choose Houston. Chris Zienak is a great example.
00:29:11
@NoConfForOldMen
ye
00:29:12
Kellen Sampson
Jairus Walker is a great example. Jairus Walker's dad had maybe the greatest line ever in a home visit. When he said, he was talking to my dad, he said, Coach Sampson, I want you to know this.
00:29:26
Kellen Sampson
if we If we do this right, my son's not gonna graduate college. We're not picking a school, we're picking a coach.
00:29:34
Kellen Sampson
everybody says how good my son can be, how good my son can be. He said, I've never seen it. So my challenge is as his father is to put him into the hands of somebody who can get the best out of him.
00:29:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice.
00:29:52
Kellen Sampson
And A, that was super powerful.
00:29:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, absolutely.
00:29:55
Kellen Sampson
if did
00:29:55
@NoConfForOldMen
like
00:29:57
Kellen Sampson
Freaking awesome is that.
00:29:58
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:29:58
Kellen Sampson
But B, they recognize that, look, maybe maybe my son up to this point has has not exhibited the traits necessary, but we feel like by sending him to Houston, he will.
00:30:05
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Right.
00:30:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:30:13
Kellen Sampson
And so when we're identifying how coachable are you, there's two things. Every really good player we've ever had here had two things in common. And then everybody that maybe didn't live up to the hype or the billing or or just didn't quite work out,
00:30:30
Kellen Sampson
they they were missing one of these two things, but all of our, the best of our players are unbelievably competitive and they're unbelievably mature.
00:30:40
Kellen Sampson
If you possess those two things, there's no change you won't make.
00:30:44
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:30:46
Kellen Sampson
There's no adjustment that you won't, you know, undergo because You want to win. i want the best for myself.
00:30:55
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:30:56
Kellen Sampson
I want the best for my team. I'm not going to accept 90% of, you know, 90 cents on the dollar. I want i want the whole dollar. And the most competitive people and the most are so competitive that they'll change you know in an effort to win.
00:31:14
Kellen Sampson
And the maturity piece that comes into play is if things aren't going your way, do you have the the maturation to accept, I need to change?
00:31:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:31:23
Kellen Sampson
And yeah know it's just thing that we ask all of our, everybody's look, you've got to become us because we're never going to become you.
00:31:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Mhm.
00:31:31
Kellen Sampson
you You came to to play at the University of Houston, not the University of Jairus Walker, at the University of Marcus Sasser, not the University of LJ Cryer.
00:31:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:31:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:31:40
Kellen Sampson
You came to become a part of the University of Houston. It's a heck of a lot easier for 13 guys to learn to play to one standard than for us to learn to play to 13 standards.
00:31:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:31:54
Kellen Sampson
and that And when you look at it from that perspective, you're able to filter through the weeds a little bit.
00:32:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:32:01
Kellen Sampson
Hey, this guy, look, he doesn't have the requisite maturity or competitiveness to to do this, you know regardless of his talent.
00:32:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:32:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:32:11
Kellen Sampson
This isn't a good fit. This isn't going to go good for anybody involved. And now the hard part for us, or not hard part, but challenging part sometimes is having the courage to, dang, he's really good.
00:32:25
Kellen Sampson
He's going to be a good fit.
00:32:25
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:32:25
Tom Lidiak
Hehehehe.
00:32:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:32:28
Kellen Sampson
But I think that's where, when you have the leadership for from Coach Samson, that he truly doesn't care.
00:32:28
@NoConfForOldMen
But.
00:32:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:32:37
Kellen Sampson
wow
00:32:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:32:39
Kellen Sampson
You know, he he doesn't know what anybody's ranked.
00:32:39
@NoConfForOldMen
But.
00:32:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. So has there been any cases, you know, especially in recent years where right kids are now approaching, you know, you all voicing interest you
00:32:43
Kellen Sampson
Yeah.
00:32:54
@NoConfForOldMen
you know, these are still kids, right? There's still 17, 17 year kids are not always the most self-aware. So sometimes in their own minds, they think that they can handle it. And have you ever had to tell them, you know, in the recruiting process that I'm sorry, I don't, I
00:33:05
Kellen Sampson
Oh, man. I can't hear how many kids.
Core Values in Recruitment
00:33:09
@NoConfForOldMen
don't think you can.
00:33:10
Kellen Sampson
Yeah, no, no, no, 100%.
00:33:11
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:33:12
Kellen Sampson
Look, I just had one of those conversations last week where, hey, look, appreciate the interest.
00:33:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Okay.
00:33:19
Kellen Sampson
appreciate the, I'll tell great story.
00:33:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:33:21
Kellen Sampson
As was recruiting Jamal Shedd and I was torn between him and another player.
00:33:21
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yep.
00:33:26
Kellen Sampson
I won't say player's name, but I was torn.
00:33:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:33:29
Kellen Sampson
was going back forth, back forth, back forth, didn't know what I was going to do. And finally, in his infinite wisdom, my dad kind of said, look, you need to figure it out.
00:33:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:33:40
Kellen Sampson
you know, you're all, you're, you're all over the place. Therefore I'm all over the figure it out. And, uh, Jamal, uh, what all Jamal's high school is what super early in the morning.
00:33:52
Kellen Sampson
his, his athletic spirit was the first, the first period of the day, uh, of course enough. So it was Kingston Flemings, but, uh, but so before school, Jamal would lift and then he'd have basketball.
00:33:58
@NoConfForOldMen
Hmm.
00:34:04
Kellen Sampson
This was, uh,
00:34:07
Kellen Sampson
March of early, april late March, early April of 2019. And nineteen and i was I was kind of, look I liked both of them.
00:34:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay.
00:34:19
Kellen Sampson
I wasn't, and just was trying to figure out which one I liked more.
00:34:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Hmm.
00:34:23
Kellen Sampson
And I knew it was Jamal, but I just was, the the other kid was was talented.
00:34:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Hmm.
00:34:27
Kellen Sampson
i knew it was Jamal, but I went watched him.
00:34:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:34:31
Kellen Sampson
And Jamal at 6.30 in the morning was a ball of fire. He was popping around.
00:34:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:34:36
Kellen Sampson
He was engaging his teammates. he was just He was just a leader. He was terrific.
00:34:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:34:42
Kellen Sampson
And then he went to basketball. He went to his athletics period thereafter, and it was the same thing. And I went, man, Shed was pretty good. So I called my dad and I said, said well, Shed was, Shed was, he goes, what'd you think?
00:34:49
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:34:54
Kellen Sampson
I said, well, Shed was, he was really good. He was himself.
00:34:56
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:34:56
Kellen Sampson
But I didn't want to, I said, look, i need I need to see this thing out. So the other kid was up in Dallas and he had an afterschool work, his athletic spirit was the last period of the day.
00:35:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:35:06
Kellen Sampson
So it was at like one o'clock, you know, nothing outrageous. And he, that particular day, his high school coach was making them run. and he was he was running the mile, and he finished last, and he was just terrible, and his attitude was even worse, and then we got to the basketball part, and he was awesome.
00:35:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:35:26
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:35:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:35:32
Kellen Sampson
He was phenomenal, but he was a mute. He didn't say a word.
00:35:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:35:35
Kellen Sampson
He didn't engage anybody.
00:35:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:35:37
Kellen Sampson
He didn't take anybody with him. He was actually, he was a massive distraction on the
00:35:38
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:35:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, wow.
00:35:43
Kellen Sampson
And so I'm driving home from Dallas that day and he and I said, Coach Jamal sheds the answer.
00:35:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:35:51
Kellen Sampson
is He embodies everything that we want in our point guards from the leadership, from a cultural, from... and But again, we're just blessed that I know what the culture, I know what our identity is because Coach Sampson leads it.
00:36:06
Kellen Sampson
You know, we never have to guess who we are.
00:36:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:36:09
Kellen Sampson
We have a clear cut idea of who we are.
Retention and Support
00:36:14
Kellen Sampson
I'll finish with this is that Jamal Shedd won 11 NCAA tournament games. That kid won one. one
00:36:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow.
00:36:22
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:36:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow. Mic drop.
00:36:25
Kellen Sampson
And so...
00:36:26
@NoConfForOldMen
So that's awesome.
00:36:27
Kellen Sampson
But I didn't. So I say that the other kid was more talented.
00:36:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:34
Kellen Sampson
But Jamal was a better fit.
00:36:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow. That's a fantastic story. Thanks for sharing. So I've got a follow on question from Bill. And kind of going along the lines of recruiting retention right now is hugely important. And and you guys in the Houston program has done such a phenomenal job, especially in these trying times, right, with all the the money that's flown around in terms of you know retention with key players year over year.
00:37:03
@NoConfForOldMen
And You know, you talk about great programs and and things of that nature, but we're seeing great programs, even our peers within the Big 12, right? By any measure, you would call KU and Baylor great programs, right? That have won national championships in the very recent past.
00:37:21
@NoConfForOldMen
And you're talking about off seasons, in Baylor's case, of losing the entire team, right?
00:37:26
Kellen Sampson
aye
00:37:27
@NoConfForOldMen
And KU, by a choice or attrition, also losing... the vast majority of their teams. it It's like, so how are, what is the secret sauce, right? So to speak in terms of your success and how quickly you guys have adapted to the changing landscape in college basketball.
00:37:48
Kellen Sampson
Well, I'll say this on behalf of Baylor is there they were so good for so long.
00:37:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:37:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:37:55
Kellen Sampson
that a lot of their staff has gotten opportunities.
00:37:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:37:59
@NoConfForOldMen
True.
00:37:59
Kellen Sampson
You know, Jerome Tang got an opportunity to go the head coach at Kansas State.
00:38:06
Kellen Sampson
My man Jake has got an opportunity to go to Florida Atlantic. So some of their retention issues are related to the the guys that did the recruiting of the players left.
00:38:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:38:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:38:17
Kellen Sampson
And that's always tough. Alvin Brooks III left and and and and went to Kentucky.
00:38:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. That's right.
00:38:21
Kellen Sampson
And so they... They've had staff that left for really, really, really awesome
00:38:31
Kellen Sampson
positions within the industry. So I think it starts there. We've been really fortunate in that we've but we've we've built and created a staff that people want to be a part of.
00:38:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:38:43
Kellen Sampson
And that, you know, we lost Qantas this past year to Louisiana Lafayette, but that was far and away. That was definitely not the first head coaching opportunity that he he had been offered.
00:38:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:38:53
Kellen Sampson
He could have been a head coach easily three or four years earlier. yeah You U of H has made an awesome commitment to me and so that I've never felt like.
00:38:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:39:03
Kellen Sampson
I needed to look around. i I've had a number of opportunities and so but that helps keep our, know, the voice or
00:39:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, absolutely.
Impact of Families
00:39:11
Kellen Sampson
the messenger a lot of times in the recruiting process can help keep keep the cake batter together so it doesn't fall apart on you.
00:39:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:39:25
Kellen Sampson
I also think that because Coach Sampson refuses to lie on the front end, his credibility with the families is unbelievable when it gets to the offseason.
00:39:39
Kellen Sampson
When they go through hard times, it's not while it is uncomfortable, it is not a surprise. no Nobody feels ambushed when when when they have adverse and adverse moments in their program here.
00:39:47
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:39:55
Kellen Sampson
we've We've already talked that this is part of the journey. yeah we we and And then i think the best thing that, and again, it starts with Coach Sampson, but we give everybody a plan.
00:40:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice. Yep.
00:40:08
Kellen Sampson
that is that that that's executable. and We never talked about Jamal Shedd being one and done. We talked about what the end of the road looks like. we And we never talked about the end of when the end of the road is.
00:40:23
Kellen Sampson
We just talked about the journey that he's gonna have to go through in order to be the player he wants to be. And if, just keeping with Jamal, Jamal's journey was, look, he he needed a development year.
00:40:35
Kellen Sampson
He needed to grow physically, he needed to grow mentally, he needed to grow emotionally in order to become the... But those were things we identified and talked about in the recruiting process. A guy like Marcus Sasser, quite honestly, he surprised us.
00:40:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:40:51
Kellen Sampson
We were open to the idea as freshman year that he may be a redshirt guy. And then he comes and he's a total ass kicker.
00:40:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:40:57
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:40:57
Kellen Sampson
And... you know, kind of actually changed some other people's, some other people's careers while he was here. But his mom had the had the greatest line ever to He was having a really tough moment. It was like all freshmen whining and moaning. He really just wanted, but he was thinking about quitting and just, you know, he really just wanted to be heard.
00:41:17
Kellen Sampson
His mama told him to, you need to shut up and read all them tattoos you got.
Player Development and Retention
00:41:22
Kellen Sampson
So, <unk>m so oh So I say the next piece is we we we do a good job of identifying
00:41:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice.
00:41:31
Kellen Sampson
a young person's circle too.
00:41:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:41:35
Kellen Sampson
and And if the same voice is hitting on the same messages all the time, Again, you just keep an awesome level of of transparency and organizing each young person that about where they're at on their journey.
00:41:50
Kellen Sampson
It was super easy recruiting, or super easy year for Jaris Walker in long ways. He started every game, eighth pick, come on, it's a dream.
00:41:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:41:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:41:59
Kellen Sampson
we had a We had a game, it was New Year's Eve, we're playing Central Florida and Jaris plays awful.
00:42:10
Kellen Sampson
He is terrible. And the other freshman from Central Florida, Taylor Hendricks, kicks his butt.
00:42:14
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:42:16
Kellen Sampson
And coach looks at us on the bench and says, we got a choice. We could either play Jaris or we could win.
00:42:22
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:42:23
Kellen Sampson
Which do you think I'm going to
00:42:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Nice.
00:42:26
Kellen Sampson
I said, I got arrested. So I said, Reggie, get in there.
00:42:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Love it.
00:42:29
Kellen Sampson
oh We benched Jairus the last 10 minutes.
00:42:33
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:42:34
Kellen Sampson
The next morning, coach had a text message on his phone, Horace Walker, Jairus' dad, kind of one of those, oh man, it's going to be about, it's going be a hard day here.
00:42:38
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:42:47
Kellen Sampson
And the text said, thank you for coaching my son. This is why we chose Houston.
00:42:50
@NoConfForOldMen
nice nice love it
00:42:53
Kellen Sampson
And look,
00:42:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow.
00:42:56
Kellen Sampson
They were as much on Jarris' butt for how he played as we were.
00:42:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. Wow. Yeah.
00:42:59
Kellen Sampson
His circle was right. His circle was intact.
00:43:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:43:02
Kellen Sampson
The next game we played, SMU, he had 18 at halftime.
00:43:08
@NoConfForOldMen
wow
00:43:08
Tom Lidiak
Wow.
00:43:09
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:43:09
Kellen Sampson
Now, when you recruit the right kids from the right families with the right circles, there's there's no amount of adversity you can't get through. no no Nobody's year is going to be perfect without some bumps along the way.
00:43:19
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:43:23
Kellen Sampson
But when you've got great open lines of communication with the family, it makes the end of the year
00:43:31
Kellen Sampson
you're able to set the table to have an awesome end of the year conversation. We value, I think the the last piece of it is as a staff, we we still think of ourselves as very much a developmental program.
00:43:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:43:43
Kellen Sampson
We value our retention, we value our returners.
00:43:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:43:47
Kellen Sampson
If we had our druthers, we would backfill and then push everything up to the front. you know, our best, you know, we always try to have our best player already on campus for the following year.
00:44:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:44:02
Kellen Sampson
And I think that that that creates a culture that, look, the longer I'm there, the better things
Adapting Strategies for Recruits
00:44:06
Kellen Sampson
get.
00:44:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah. No, that's, that's fantastic.
00:44:10
Kellen Sampson
I'll say the last piece of it.
00:44:12
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:44:13
Kellen Sampson
Nobody likes moving from Houston. Right? The city itself is awesome.
00:44:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, no doubt.
00:44:19
Kellen Sampson
The amount of...
00:44:22
Kellen Sampson
enhancements that President Couture has made, our director of athletics, Eddie Nunez, just our entire administration, they've they've made Houston a really cool place to go to school to.
00:44:33
Kellen Sampson
And the so I worked in Appalachian State, man. It's a little easier to leave in a place that's under four feet of snow once a year.
00:44:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:44:43
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:44:43
Kellen Sampson
Okay.
00:44:45
Kellen Sampson
You're living on a mountain underneath four feet of snow. Coming home, yeah. Those 72-degree days in January go a long way.
00:44:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no kidding. Now, kind of as we pivot on the performance front, obviously, we've just completed record-setting basketball season, running away with the Big 12 championship by an even larger margin than in season one, which was but incredible.
00:45:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Incredible success, obviously tough in terms of how the season ended. And clearly, the formula that you guys have put together works. Works extremely well, and it's consistent.
00:45:21
@NoConfForOldMen
But I guess in... Kind of the the whole thinking of continuous improvement and things of that nature. Have you guys thought of new wrinkles or things that you want to, or new learnings that you want to incorporate in heading into this season, especially with some new kids coming on board?
00:45:42
Kellen Sampson
Oh, of course. Yeah, i don't I don't know if we've, we've got a couple of program staples, certainly offensively, that we always install and touch on and get through.
00:45:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:45:55
Kellen Sampson
But outside of that, you know, every every team is is, the makeup is different. That's one we started the year last year four and three, is we were having Milo's run Jamal's offense, you know,
00:46:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:46:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:46:10
Kellen Sampson
I know St. Jamal, that's okay.
00:46:11
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah Uh huh.
00:46:11
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:46:13
Kellen Sampson
And we come out of Vegas and yeah we modify things.
00:46:15
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:46:17
Kellen Sampson
we we we We tweak things to play to Milo's strengths and the things Milo's was able to do, Jamal couldn't do. and And so, yes, we're we're incorporating some new thoughts and new ideas.
00:46:32
Kellen Sampson
you know we We haven't had a foreman who can really, really shoot threes in the last couple years.
00:46:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:46:37
Kellen Sampson
Jaris was the last one. And then before that, you Fabian.
00:46:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:46:42
Kellen Sampson
So you know having a foreman who could step out and shoot, Chris, seeing that car, obviously can. Chase McCarty, who's going to play little four for us, certainly can.
00:46:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:46:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow.
00:46:52
Kellen Sampson
And so that that that'll change us and and and modify what we do a little bit. Kingston gives us a little bit more some athleticism than we've had here at the last, certainly so than last year.
00:47:06
Kellen Sampson
He's got more athleticism in the mold of Jamal. You know, Milo's is going to have to score little bit more this year.
00:47:09
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:47:13
Kellen Sampson
oh And so Isaiah Harwell is is terrific of an all around guard. as as we've as we've had here, just just being good at a lot of things. And then, you know, Mercy Miller's gonna take a nice big step up.
00:47:31
Kellen Sampson
Hopefully we're all but knocking on wood that we can get a fully healthy year out of Cordell Jefferson and Ramon Walker to let those come. We haven't had three really healthy backup fives.
00:47:47
Kellen Sampson
in in a long time, you know, watching Khalifa Sacco and said lot and Jacob McFarland worked through their summers has been a lot of fun. oh And so that that'll present new opportunities for us to evolve and grow as we figure out what the, what the right buttons are.
00:48:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:48:05
Kellen Sampson
I would really like it if we don't have to go four and three, we'll start four and three.
00:48:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:48:10
Kellen Sampson
help
00:48:13
Kellen Sampson
the best coach this team that wasn't made for a really uncomfortable December?
00:48:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
Summer Training Adjustments
00:48:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Well, it's going to be, well, I think the, the schedule is going to be front loaded again though.
00:48:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Right. With the new era tournament.
00:48:23
Kellen Sampson
Yes.
00:48:24
Kellen Sampson
No. No.
00:48:25
@NoConfForOldMen
So there's no rest, right?
00:48:26
Kellen Sampson
Well, hey, the way it ended, we looked like geniuses.
00:48:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:48:31
Kellen Sampson
but Why are we changing?
00:48:31
Tom Lidiak
You should be
00:48:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Exactly.
00:48:34
Kellen Sampson
well so don't Don't evaluate the sausage until it's done, right?
00:48:38
@NoConfForOldMen
it That's right.
00:48:40
Kellen Sampson
Don't get caught up on how we make it.
00:48:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:48:43
Kellen Sampson
Oh, you're you're not going to like this part.
00:48:45
@NoConfForOldMen
ha But yeah, obviously a lot of really fun pieces for this year's team for you guys to experiment with. It was interesting. i mean, just this week, I think both John Rothstein and Gary Parish had mentioned, you know, insiders from, I guess, you guys hinting that you might go to point guard starting lineup. Is that, is that?
00:49:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah,
00:49:10
Kellen Sampson
July fodder. No.
00:49:11
@NoConfForOldMen
i exactly. It's like,
00:49:12
Kellen Sampson
We would be, look, we would be, and people act like it's a new thing.
00:49:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:49:17
Kellen Sampson
Sasslin's wall were two point guards.
00:49:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, yeah.
00:49:21
Kellen Sampson
Gaylon Robinson, we started three one year with Gaylon Robinson, Corey Davis, and Rob Gray.
00:49:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:49:26
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:49:26
Kellen Sampson
oh You're always just in an effort to get your best players on the floor.
00:49:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:49:31
Kellen Sampson
And you certainly don't want to put limitations on you. Summer's a great time to experiment in, in,
00:49:37
@NoConfForOldMen
It is.
00:49:39
Kellen Sampson
push and prod and pull apart and let's see if this works. And, and, you know, he's, believe me, he is long, long, long ways away from retirement. I think this is the part of the year that Medano missed the most when it's time is, is just the time on the hardwood, time on the, time on the floor tinkering, you know, he's he's a mad scientist and then he just sometimes likes to, let's just see if this will work.
00:49:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:50:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:50:07
Kellen Sampson
And, and moves this piece there, that piece there. And you know
00:50:15
Kellen Sampson
that's the fun part about summer.
00:50:15
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah yeah
00:50:17
Kellen Sampson
You know, we're certainly not married to any idea or concept on July 30th, I can promise that.
00:50:24
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yep.
00:50:24
Kellen Sampson
But it has been, it's been a lot of fun watching all these young guys compete, watching them become Cougars.
00:50:29
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. Nice.
00:50:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:50:32
Kellen Sampson
And it's been a lot of fun.
Call for Support
00:50:35
Kellen Sampson
Every time they have a a little bit of a morsel of success, the old guys come across and kind of uncle them a little bit. And so a really competitive, fun, intense summer in that regard too.
00:50:42
@NoConfForOldMen
a
00:50:42
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:50:44
@NoConfForOldMen
nice
00:50:47
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:50:48
Kellen Sampson
And I think that that's the ingredients of of a great year.
00:50:52
@NoConfForOldMen
All right. I mean, I think that's all we had from a prepared questions perspective. i mean, thanks so much for the deep insights and I'm sure Cougar fans are really going to enjoy listening to this one.
00:51:03
@NoConfForOldMen
Any final words or points you wanted to to highlight today, coach?
00:51:08
Kellen Sampson
Man, just, uh, I think, oh, man, this is a basketball show and we all love hopes, but man, I really hope Cougar fans can get behind coach Fritz and the boys issue.
00:51:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, absolutely.
00:51:21
Kellen Sampson
you know, I, I know what a new, the, the new building did for our mojo, our energy of pop, in 2015, 16, the,
00:51:37
Kellen Sampson
that internal belief kind of move our guys to thinking, man, you know what? We're big time now.
00:51:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:51:45
Kellen Sampson
you know when when the Guy V. Lewis Development Center got built and the Pratita Center got built, it just and put a little bit more wind in our guys' back that, you know what? This is is major college basketball now.
00:51:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:51:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow.
00:51:58
Kellen Sampson
our Our football program has a major college basketball foundation now.
00:52:03
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:52:04
Kellen Sampson
and i think and and and I hear those whistles going. I hear Coach Fritz on the mic in the morning.
00:52:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:52:11
Kellen Sampson
I know that they their staff feels like they've had a terrific summer. I know it's hot as Hades and in Houston. in August and September. there to But I really, that that program is on the verge of something pretty cool.
00:52:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I would agree.
00:52:31
Kellen Sampson
I feel it in my bones with them. and And I hope Cougar fans will will believe in them while they're proving it. don't Don't make them prove it and then believe.
00:52:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:52:42
Kellen Sampson
Our fourth year you know our fourth year At Houston, we were playing at Texas Southern. We had not been to the NCAA tournament.
00:52:53
Kellen Sampson
We had a Tuesday night game against Tulsa where we had 700 people in the stands.
00:52:57
Kellen Sampson
And that was our first tournament team.
00:53:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:53:00
Kellen Sampson
We knew we were tournament good.
00:53:03
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:53:04
Kellen Sampson
we we just hadn't done it yet. And we were we were in our we' on our way, but we we hadn't done it. And it was really frustrating and and discouraging. And we had to do a heck of a job as a staff,
00:53:20
Kellen Sampson
kind of with the mental psyche of those guys that look, coach, we're doing it, but does it even matter? Or what are we building towards?
00:53:26
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:53:28
Kellen Sampson
and And I wouldn't i wouldn't envy that on anybody else. So Cougar fans, by buy stock now.
00:53:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, completely agree.
00:53:39
Kellen Sampson
you know, get get get to TDCU, did it go to the...
00:53:45
@NoConfForOldMen
I think they're changing next season.
00:53:47
@NoConfForOldMen
I guess they're keeping it as TDECU.
00:53:47
Kellen Sampson
Okay, I thought so.
00:53:48
Kellen Sampson
Yeah, yeah, so get to TDCU, support those kids.
00:53:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:53:52
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:53:52
Kellen Sampson
They've had an awesome summer.
00:53:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Agreed. And a lot of new kids, right?
00:53:56
Kellen Sampson
And it's a lot of new ones.
00:53:56
@NoConfForOldMen
A lot of new kids coming in.
00:53:57
Kellen Sampson
There's a lot of fresh energy, fresh life.
00:53:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:53:59
Kellen Sampson
I think we got a QB that we can get behind. and i know we've got the head coach that we can certainly get behind.
00:54:03
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:54:06
Kellen Sampson
His staff is terrific.
00:54:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Agreed.
00:54:08
Kellen Sampson
I think when we get to November, people are going to feel really good about the direction of our program. Don't wait till November.
00:54:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:54:17
Kellen Sampson
Get there now. Get there September. but My final words is... is is
00:54:22
Kellen Sampson
Don't make them go through what we did and go through year four. don't don't Don't make them get good before you support them.
00:54:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:54:28
Kellen Sampson
Support them right now. they've've They've earned it right.
00:54:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Well said coach. Thanks so much.
00:54:33
Kellen Sampson
Absolutely. You guys have an awesome day.
00:54:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. So that's it for.
00:54:36
Tom Lidiak
Thanks, coach.
00:54:37
Kellen Sampson
That's it. That's it.
00:54:38
@NoConfForOldMen
All right.
00:54:39
Kellen Sampson
I got bath time awaits.
00:54:39
@NoConfForOldMen
So that's, Okay, well, I need you to hold on before you you yeah hang up here. So that's it for this episode No Conference for Old Men podcast. Hope you all enjoyed it. And again, we'd really appreciate it if folks would follow, subscribe, or collect our podcast, depending on your podcast platform of choice. And we're also available via the Republican Football Podcast feed from the folks at Dave Campbell's Texas Football as the only basketball-centric podcast.
00:55:04
@NoConfForOldMen
We're at the gocooks.com website for those that prefer to digest the content that way. We appreciate the continued support from all, and please give us follow on our Twitter account, No Conference for Old Men. And again, we are in our off-season cadence now, but please stay tuned as we complete our final episode in our coaches series.
00:55:20
@NoConfForOldMen
So please be on the lookout to download and listen as the next episode drops. Take care, everyone.