What Kelvin Sampson said about Gonzaga, Mark Few: ‘He's a Hall of Fame everything’
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson held a press conference Friday prior to the Cougars’ second-round NCAA Tournament game against Gonzaga.
The Cougars, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, take on the No. 8-seeded Bulldogs Saturday night in Wichita.
Tip time, TV network announced for Houston's NCAA Tournament second-round game
Kelvin Sampson has known Gonzaga coach Mark Few for years, which goes back to when Sampson was the coach at nearby Washington State and Few was an assistant with the Bulldogs. Sampson talked about the relationship he has with Few, as well as Few’s Bulldogs, in his media conference.
Here’s a sampling of some of Sampson’s thoughts:
On the consistency and winning culture of both Houston and Gonzaga’s programs
“Yeah, well, we've only been doing this for about seven or eight, eight or nine years, whatever it is. Mark has been doing this a lot longer, so don’t compare us to Gonzaga. You know, we've been to - if the (Michigan’s Jordan) Poole kid doesn't hit that shot (to beat Houston in a 2018 second-round NCAA game), that's six straight Sweet 16s, right? They're 16, so we don't really compare to them. They're what every program aspires to be, have that consistency year to year.
“We've been good in our little bubble, but what Mark has done - when you do this for a living like we do, you look at Gonzaga. Of course, I remember when Dan Fitzgerald was the coach. I remember when Dan Monson, one of my really good friends (coached at Gonzaga before leaving to become the coach at Minnesota, with the Bulldogs promoting Few from an assistant to head coach). Mark is one of my really good friends. I've been knowing those guys forever.
“From afar, I've always admired them, always respected them, but also I've been proud of them too because they’re good friends and people that I have tremendous respect for. When you are playing Gonzaga, you are playing one of the elite programs in the history of this game, and I really mean that. That's true.”
Kelvin Sampson offers analogy when giving the correct pronounciation of Gonzaga
On knowing Few when Sampson was the coach at Washington State:
“We were all so young. I mean, Washington State was obviously the hardest, toughest job in the Pac-10. If it would have been a good job, they never would have hired me. They would have hired a real coach, somebody that was really good.
“I was 31 years old. You know, my first contract was a two-year deal for $82,000. For you guys that are challenged by math, that's $41,000 a year. I assume they were doing that and then sort of could go find another guy. … My third year, we lost 18 straight games. Jim Livengood was the AD. We didn't have social media then. This was in 1989 maybe. '89, '90. Gonzaga wasn’t as bad as we were at Washington State, but they were struggling, too.
“That next year, we got it turned around and did pretty good over the course of the next seven years, six or seven years. … Gonzaga was somebody we've always looked up to. When they start rolling with (Monson) and Mons left and took the Minnesota job, right? Then Mark came in. Now all these years later, it's one of the - he is not one of the best coaches in our game, he's one of the best coaches our game has ever seen.
“Mark is a Hall of Famer. Not just Hall of Fame coach. He's a Hall of Fame everything: Father, husband, friend. He's one of those guys that makes our profession look good. Mark is a great guy.”
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On comparing Gonzaga to Arizona
(Arizona’s coach, Tommy Lloyd, was a longtime assistant to Few at Gonzaga, and Sampson’s Cougars beat Arizona twice this season, the latter in the finals of the Big 12 Conference tournament.)
“Yeah, not many similarities because their personnel is so different. Both teams are really talented. Both teams really have great size. … Arizona is big, and they started two fives against us, I think the second half in the tournament, which was a good move because we didn't have (J’Wan) Roberts. Roberts didn't dress for that game (sitting out the game with a sprained ankle). We just figured a way to win the game.
“I think the difference in the two teams is (Gonzaga point guard Ryan) Nembhard. It’s hard to duplicate him. You have a point guard. They have a point guard, but your point guard is not like Nembhard. He has an uncanny ability to get the ball to their bigs when they're open. A lot of guys see that they're open, but by the time the synapses are firing and the ball is delivered, they're not. He gives them - as soon as they turn, they have it. You can't teach that.
“So if I was going to say the difference, I would say they both have great size, they're both really talented shooters, good guards, but they don't have Nembhard. He's a very special point guard."
