DePaul hasn’t done anything since the Meyers duo.
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Mark Aguirre was long time ago!
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Kellen has done well for UH. If he wants to prove himself apart from his father, we should be good with that.
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I am normally in the camp that says Kellen needs to learn how to be a head coach at a smaller school before he takes over at UH. Posted that somewhere… I just think it’s better for the development. Having said that, if HCIW is what is necessary to sign CKS to a long term deal, so be it. If HCIW actually happens, the powers need to play close attention for signs that he is not his Dad and the leash should be short. Can’t let being sentimental about the contributions of old retired CKS blind us to the demonstrated lesser performance of new CKS. Who knows though. New CKS might be the next Coach K. Just do what has to be done to sign the old CKS and deal with the rest when it comes.
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Prior to CKS, our most successful coaches were not head coaches before coaching at UH. Guy Lewis, Bill Yeoman, LTH, and Dave Williams did real well without HC experience. On the other hand Dimmel, MacCallum, and Dickey all had HC experience. To me, that isn’t an issue.
I don’t know what Kellen’s salary is and what he may get offered elsewhere. Were he offered a deal significantly better to bean HC elsewhere than he gets here as an assistant, then he may take it as a guy looking out for his wife and kids. On the other hand, if he and his family are perfectly happy here, and are doing well financially, he may take his dad’s words to heart, “Don’t mess with happy.”
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Kellen’s success will depend on the assistants he hires. If he can get the same quality of assistants and keep the same culture, we’ll be fine.
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Well, there you have it.
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Recruits won’t have to worry about coaching change for a decade or so at least. Thats a bonus.
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Makes sense and let’s be honest, Kellen is a very good coach and an important pillar in the program.
Nothing not to like here.
GO COOGS
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Bingo…this IS what Power5 schools that are the Top Brass do.
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Totally disagree with this. Joey coached 12 years and had 7 NCAA appearances, including two Sweet Sixteens. He did fizzle badly at the end, but that’s a good long run.
I’ll take UH making the tournament 7 out of 12 years.
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He needs to work on his tie removal ability. I never saw him on the sidelines without a tie on. Heck he never took off his jacket. These are the things he will need to practice the next 5-6 years.
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Kellen already has 9 years as an assistant. If we continue to win, by the time Kelvin is ready to go, Kellen will be most sought after young coach in basketball. Locking down one of the top 10 active coaches in basketball with his top assistant for 6 more years with the understanding that we keep winning, we get to hire the top assistant in the country as our head coach, yeah that is what I call major risk taking. haha
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So we make the Tournament for 2 years in a row after making it 1 time in the last 33 years prior. We lock up the coach (A coach that if it was not for NCAA sanctions would never have sniffed an offer from us) for 6 more years. He has recruits waiting and a core nucleus of a team returning…
And Coog Fans is moaning about a scenario that might happen in 6 years…
Good job fellas! I am a pessimist when it comes to our administration, but this takes the cake.
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From the Duarte article: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/cougars/article/Source-UH-Kellen-Sampson-head-coach-in-waiting-13741616.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral
Sampson said there are no guarantees that Kellen succeeds him. In recent years, Kellen Sampson has interviewed for a handful of head coaching jobs.
“That’s no guarantee,” Sampson said. “He may get a call next year. I would be the first in line to tell him to take it. If he can get a great opportunity and I’m still here, he’ll do what’s best for him.”
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I’m glad the sampson family will be here for some time.
Go Coogs!!
At this point, I like the father/ son dynamic at UH. Its working well. I’m pretty sure Kellen is carrying the load of a HC with recruiting, coaching, encouraging, discipline, and possibly scheduling.
When it’s time to become HC, he’ll know the business and recruits will have the stability of a Sampson being around for a long time. Also, let’s not underestimate that when Kelvin does retire, he’s going to be around the team, the program, or in the stands, but he’ll have plenty of advice for Kellen when they sitting around the dinner table (ie. Blue Bloods).
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What we’re doing is working. I’m glad this will (hopefully) keep Kellen around to help his dad out until he retires. Recruiting continuity will be a nice selling point in a few years once it looks like CKS is getting closer to retirement. When the time comes for Kellen to take over, hopefully he’s ready, does great, and we have our next coach for 20 years like Wazzu probably could have done with Bennett if they’d been more proactive in keeping him. If Kellen is Pat Knight, hopefully we move on after a couple of seasons.
Yes!!! 