Indiana basketball has seen a lot of coaches throughout its program history, some that have been legends in the sport, like Bob Knight, and others that fans would love to forget, like Archie Miller, but there is one coach fans are wondering what could have been.
Current Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson was once thought to be the future of Indiana basketball until he was forced to resign due to allegations of serious NCAA violations. Those allegations were proven true, and because of them, Sampson had a five-year show-cause penalty.
Sampson served his time while in the NBA and, in 2024, came back to college basketball, taking the job with the Houston Cougars. In his 11 seasons has made the program and premiere place for highly-ranked basketball recruits.
Kelvin Sampson's success at Houston shows Indiana fans what could have been
Sampson only spent two seasons at Indiana before resigning due to the NCAA violations. Before even coming to Indiana, Sampson was already punished for making impermissible calls to recruits when he was with Oklahoma. He was banned for a year from any off-campus recruiting and making phone calls to recruits.
Then, at Indiana, Sampson found himself again at the center of an investigation due to the same type of allegations at Indiana. There was no way Sampson was going to be able to keep his job at IU after more and more came out about the violations, ending his time with the Hoosiers. Sampson, in his two years at Indiana, complied with a 43-15 record and one NCAA Tournament appearance in his first season.
Now, at Houston, Sampson seems to have cleaned up the violations and turned a new page. He started in the American Athletic Conference with the Cougars, and while his couple of seasons were a little rough, it didn't take long for success to follow Sampson yet again.
In 2018, Sampson made it back to the NCAA Tournament with a team for the first time since 2007 with Indiana. The Cougars pulled off the win over 11-seed San Diego State but were unable to upset 7-seed Michigan in a close game. That season, Sampson also won the first of many regular season titles.
In 2021, a season after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NCAA to cancel the tournament, Houston made it to the Final Four, the first for Sampson since 2002 when he made it with the Oklahoma Sooners. The following season, Houston made it to the Elite Eight and the Sweet 16 the two seasons after that.
That brings us to this season in which Houston is now a part of the Big 12 and won the conference championship, its region, and just knocked off 1-seed Duke in a great comeback win to advance to the National Championship. Sampson's words after their Final Four win are ones each athlete in the country needs to hear, but it is clear he has put all the violations behind him and is focused on teaching his players life lessons.
Indiana fans can't help but wonder what Indiana basketball could have been under Sampson, especially with the history the school has when it comes to the sport. Hoosier fans will never know, but all the luck goes to Sampson as his team takes on the Florida Gators in the National Championship tonight at 8:50 p.m. EST on CBS.