Houston Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson has agreed to return to college hoops as the Cougars’ coach, according to CBSSports.com.
Sampson had worked in the NBA with the Rockets and Milwaukee Bucks over the past six years.
Sampson, 58, was fired from Indiana in 2008 after an NCAA investigation into improper and excessive contact with recruits regarding phone calls and text messages.
The violations were repeat offenses from when he was head coach at Oklahoma. This led to a five-year show-cause on Sampson, one of the harshest in NCAA history against a D-I college basketball coach.
The NCAA no longer puts such restrictions on text messages with recruits.
Sampson compiled a 496-271 career record at Indiana, Oklahoma, Washington State and Montana Tech. However, he received a five-year show-cause order in 2008, which meant that if a team wanted to hire him, it would need to impose sanctions on Sampson or “show cause” that Sampson properly served his punishment. The show-cause recently expired, so Sampson will be able to coach without any sanctions levied upon him.
Say what you want about Sampson but he will have the Cougars playing at a different level than in years past. Call him a cheater or a dirtbag but Sampson has the potential to make Houston a nationally relevant program once again.
