Houston’s spirited leader Head Coach Kelvin Sampson earns fifth national coaching honor for the 23-24 season. | Anh Le/ The Cougar
After leading the Cougars to the fifth consecutive Sweet 16 and third straight 30-win season, UH Men’s Basketball Head Coach Kelvin Sampson was named Associated Press National Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
Sampson became the 10th coach in history to obtain the honor multiple times joining the 1983 and 1968 recipient former Houston Head Coach Guy V. Lewis.
He last received the honor after the 1994-95 season when he was the head coach at Oklahoma State, becoming the third to achieve the feat with multiple programs.
The award marked Sampson’s fifth national honor for the 23-24 season. He was named the John McLendon Award recipient for the second time in his Houston career. Additionally, he earned the Henry Iba Award, presented annually by the United States Basketball Writers Association, and the National Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Field of 68. Sampson is one of four finalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year, which will be presented at the NCAA Final Four in Phoenix.
In their first season in the Big 12 Conference, Sampson’s Cougars finished the season 32-5 overall and secured the regular-season championship. They competed as the No.1 seed in the South region and finished No. 2 overall in the NCAA rankings, spending the last 39 weeks in the Top 10. Houston leads the nation in scoring defense, turnover margin and field goal percentage defense. The league office recognized the Cougars leader with the Big 12 Coach of the Year, his fifth league award during his 10-year tenure in Houston.
