Kelvin Sampson
College: Pembroke State
Coaching career: Montana Tech (1981-1985); Washington State (1987-1994); Oklahoma (1994-1996); Indiana (2006-2008). Served as an assistant with Milwaukee (2008-2011) and Houston (2011-present) in the NBA.
Résumé: Sampson had winners at every stop during his coaching career in college. In 2002 he took Oklahoma to the Final Four and came one game away from taking the Sooners back in 2003. However, Sampson’s college career ended after recruiting violations while coaching at Oklahoma and Indiana. Both schools were placed on probation because of Sampson’s misdeeds.
Potential fit with Sixers
John Finger: According to a source, the Sixers have received permission to interview Sampson (see story). Though Sampson has been in the NBA for a few years, it’s tough to look at this as anything other than a courtesy call. New president and GM Sam Hinkie worked with Sampson in Houston, so there is a relationship. Nevertheless, if the Sixers are going to hire an assistant with no NBA head coaching experience, they can probably do much better.
John Gonzalez: Not surprising that Sampson has suddenly surfaced as a potential candidate to replace Doug Collins. Sampson has reportedly interviewed with the Bucks and Bobcats already, but the Sixers might have an advantage over those teams given Hinkie's history in Houston. Hinkie, from what the Houston basketball media has reported, thinks pretty highly of Sampson. Not sure whether Sampson thinks as highly of the Sixers and their current situation, but this is an interesting development.
NBA
Dei Lynam: Sampson’s greatest success as a coach was at the collegiate level, during his many years at Oklahoma. But because he has been an assistant at the pro level, the stigma that “college coaches don’t make for good NBA head coaches” does not apply to him. I would say Sampson is on the short list because he fits the bill of a guy Hinkie could grow with – and he already has the Houston connection. His name has come up repeatedly each of the past couple seasons as a candidate for vacant head coaching positions.