Is college basketball broken? Kelvin Sampson doesn't think so
When 55-year-old Virginia men's basketball coach Tony Bennett abruptly retired last week, he cited NIL and the transfer portal as the primary reasons.
“The game and college athletics is not in a healthy spot,” Bennett said
When 69-year-old Houston men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson was asked about Bennett's retirement and the state of the game at Big 12 media day on Wednesday, he said something very different.
"I think all coaches have to evolve," Sampson said.
It wasn't a shot at Bennett. Rather, it was a window into Sampson's basketball soul.
He has been coaching for 45 years. He has seen it all. And as he articulated on Wednesday, he understands that's it's not about him.
"The game is way bigger than I am," Sampson said. "When my time is up and I walk away, the game's not gonna miss me. ... This game has given me far more than I could ever give it. I enjoy teaching. I enjoy coaching. I enjoy mentoring. I enjoy trying to make a difference in our kids lives. I enjoy that. I refuse to let NIL or transfer portal penetrate my joy."
Miami basketball coach Jim Larranaga, the third-oldest active Division I coach in the country at 75, had a similar response earlier this week.
"I got into coaching because my high school coach was my role model," Larranaga said during his press conference on Monday. "One of the things I learned from him in my observation of his career is to just make adjustments and deal with what the issues you are dealing with. My own personal philosophy is I'm here to just educate young men and using the game of basketball to do it with."
"I'm an educator, I'm a teacher. I like to work with the players during practice. I like to get to know them on the court and off the court and I like to prepare them for life when they are no longer bouncing the basketball."
In the twilight of his remarkable career, Sampson has one of the best teams in college basketball - again. He was won 125 games over the last four seasons and his 2024-25 Cougars are arguably his most talented team. They are one of the preseason favorites to win the national title and are ranked No. 4 in the nation in both preseason polls.
But Sampson remains grounded and humble - and focused on evolving.
"My best teacher was mistakes, and I made enough for everybody," Sampson said. "I think just being able to evolve, change ... I think when you live your life from a foundation of humility, that means that what you do is not always right. There might be a better way. Just being humble about those things. The way that I used to do it probably wouldn't work today. And I had to have enough humility to understand that."
"I don't spend my time worrying about NIL. I'm not thinking about it. We deal with it, obviously. I think guys recruit other coaches players probably more than their own sometimes. We're a living example of that, but all our kids came back. And I appreciate that. Our staff and our culture and our program have a lot to do with that. The NIL stuff is what it is. But my job has not changed because I will not let it change."
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Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.