Houston’s Kelvin Sampson gets honest on coaching future after Illinois loss

The NCAA Tournament is providing all the ups and downs that one might expect from a March Madness, with a win in the final seconds and several upsets taking the spotlight on Thursday night.

The No. 2 seed Houston‘s surge to return to the championship game was shut down by the No. 3 seed Illinois Fighting Illini, 65-55. In a low-scoring matchup, Illinois received double-doubles from David Mirkovic and Keaton Wagler, who combined for 27 points and 22 rebounds.

The Cougars’ poor shooting and inability to grab rebounds likely cost them the win, despite a valiant effort to fight back from a second-half deficit. Emanuel Sharp finished with 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting, for a Houston team that shot 34 percent from the floor.

Following the game, Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson was asked at a press conference what keeps him coaching college basketball for so long, amid the new NIL landscape, when others have left the sport.

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“I mean, I still like it, but we all have our time, you know? But I think coaches have to understand when their time is. I mean, we all know this is a young man’s game. I mean, I still like, but we’re all gonna step away eventually. I haven’t really thought about that to the point where I can share anything,” he said.

“But I’m not gonna get in anybody’s way, though. If I’m in somebody’s way or I’m overstaying my welcome, I’ll be the first one to leave,” Sampson said. 

Sampson, 70, has been involved in college basketball coaching since the early 1980’s at Michigan State and Montana Tech. He’s previously coached Oklahoma and Indiana, then worked for six years as an assistant in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets.