It is amazing what Sampson has done with this team. Whether its graduation, NBA draft, transfers, or injuries, the University of Houston basketball team has new faces all the time. But it keeps on winning, game after game, month after month, year after year. He built a culture based on hard work, rebounding and defense. No matter the name on the back of the jersey, if you do those three things, the team will win. It sounds simple enough, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the Coogs are going to do BUT getting 12 guys every year to do it, is fairly difficult.
Sampson deserves coach of the year (at this point) and in my opinion he is the very best in the business. No team plays as hard as this team does. Based on Carlton’s performance this year, Houston has to be the preferred destination for transfers. He is not even the same player as he was, heck he isn’t in the same universe as he was. He is gone from a bunch of DNPs to being a legitimate NBA draft pick. All based on Sampson’s culture.
Sampson’s philosophy is being adopted by the football team and hopefully by the baseball team. Pitching, defense and hustle would be a nice addition to the baseball team, but I digress, back to Sampson.
This is the golden age.