Houston Cougars basketball coach Kelvin Sampson has been down this road before as he takes another team to the Final Four.
After Houston dismantled the Tennessee Volunteers on Sunday, he clinched his third trip to the Final Four as a head coach. He led the Cougars to the Final Four in 2021, and before that he did the same with the Oklahoma Sooners in 2002.
He’s won nearly 800 games and a spot in basketball’s hall of fame awaits him when he’s done coaching. A national championship next Monday would be the pinnacle for his long career.
If the Cougars get past Duke in the semifinals, they’ll play in the national championship game on the same day that the House vs. NCAA settlement case is expected to be formally approved.
That’s a day that could change Sampson’s career, both on the court and off. During the ramp-up to the Tennessee game, he talked about the changes his game is experiencing, one in which he’s been a head coach since he took over at Montana Tech in 1981.
“We used to be in control of this game,” Sampson said to On3.com. “No. Nobody controls college basketball. We just sit and figure out what to do next. So right now, here’s what we’re dealing with. Next year, who knows where it’s going to take us. So, you never know.”
Where next year could take the Cougars, along with every other Division I college basketball team, is revenue sharing. The House vs. NCAA settlement is set to allow participating schools to share up to an estimated $20.5 million in revenue with student-athletes, the lion’s share is expected to go to football.
That wouldn’t eliminate name, image and likeness money. But any NIL deals over $600 would need to be approved by a third-party entity, where that entity would ensure that the deals are for fair market value. That process is still ongoing.
Sampson spent some time coaching in the NBA in between a hasty exit at Indiana and taking the Houston job nearly a decade ago. He’s used to dealing with professional players — or at least players that make money. The NIL aspect of the college game, only a few years old, was less of a transition for him than it was for other coaches that didn’t have his experience.
He said that he and this athletic director have already started having conversations about how much of a share of the revenue the basketball program would get. Give the Cougars’ resurrection as a program under Sampson, one would think they’re entitled to more than other programs.
He’s only focused on this year, he said. As for next year, he’ll take it as it comes.
“This game is going to tell us what they’re going to do,” he said. “Here’s your (revenue share) number next year. That didn’t come from a president or an athletic director or a coach. It came from the game. The game will tell you what we’re going to do, and all we’re doing is reacting to it.”
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