Coach Kelvin Sampson, left, and guard Jamal Shead led top-ranked UH to a Big 12 regular-season championship in its first year in the conference.
Three days into his college basketball career, long before he was the Big 12 Player of the Year, Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and a Sporting News first-team All-American, Jamal Shead was stunned by his coach’s description of him as a player.
Kelvin Sampson can be harsh. He is funny, hilarious actually, but he is direct.
Sampson told Shead that he was “as soft as puppy (poop) in the rain.”
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Shead said he learned to listen to the message and not how it’s delivered and describes Sampson as “the best coach in America.”
Only Sampson knows how soft Shead was at the time, but one has to be hard to play four years for Sampson.
“I think that's the worst one you can hear from me, because I don't like soft,” Sampson said. “I don't like kids that are non-competitive.
“There's a big difference in playing hard versus competing. Jamal didn't know how to compete.”
Q&A: ESPN's Fran Fraschilla on UH's Big 12 dominance, NCAA Tournament prospects and more
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Shead, who was named the Associated Press Big 12 Player of the Year on Tuesday, learned how to. He had to in order to play for Sampson, who told him over and over that athletic ability could not be his biggest strength as a player. To be his best, Shead had to become an “every-day John,” bringing the same energy and intensity to each practice.
“If I had to look back to when he got here to (his now) being the defensive player of the year, I'd say the three things Jamal learned to control was Jamal and then his attitude and then his effort,” Sampson said. “When those three things became his strength, he became the best defensive guard I've ever coached and the greatest leader I've ever coached.
“Jamal turned a corner when I didn’t have to take my key and stick in his ignition and turn him on. That is when Jamal took off.”
The ability to help transform Shead into a player of the year is what makes Sampson one of the best coaches in the country.
He has done it for countless others.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Sampson doesn’t just win games. He wins minds and hearts.
Sampson pushes the right buttons. As tough as he is, his players appreciate the consistency and the drive.
No player is under more of Sampson’s scrutiny than his point guard.
“That guy had trust in me since day one,” Shead said. “He's taught me so much. He might get on me the hardest, but it's out of love, you know? I know he loves me, so I never really take it personal.
“Just always listen to the message. Not the delivery.”
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Sampson had a 10-year Big 12 run at Oklahoma, leading the Sooners to top-three finishes eight times, yet was never named the conference coach of the year. (He was the Big Eight and Associated Press national coach of the year in his first season in Norman.)
With a team that finished the season ranked No. 1, he earned the long overdue Big 12 honor in UH’s inaugural campaign in the league and his first season back after 18 years.
But when I asked him about it, he said he thought someone else was more deserving.
“To be honest, I voted for (Iowa State’s) T.J. Otzelberger,” Sampson said. “And if I’m being really, really honest here, I think he should have won the award. I think he deserved it more than I did.”
MORE FROM JEROME SOLOMON: UH is the Big 12's new bully after routing Kansas for title
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Sampson bases that opinion in part on what his fellow coaches thought of Iowa State entering the season. The Cyclones, who were in the race for first place until the last game of conference play, were picked to finish seventh. UH was picked second.
Sampson wasn’t familiar with Otzelberger’s game.
“When we played Iowa State in Ames, I said, ‘Wow. This guy's a great coach. He’s a really good,’ ” Sampson said.
“The fact that they gave it to me was fine, and being the coach of the year is a great honor. Coaches will always, at least they should always, say it is a shared award.”
Sampson certainly doesn’t do it alone, but he is the Coach of the Year. He points to his basketball staff, everyone in the building, as being responsible for that recognition.
“My name will be on the award, and that’s great, but these awards don’t define me,” Sampson said. “And I guess maybe when you get older, you don't really care about that stuff that much.
“The fact that Jamal Shead became an every-day John. You know, that's my award.
“J’wan Roberts — stayed here for five years and became a fan favorite, and people that got to know him find out what kind of kid he is. That's my award. Ja’Vier (Francis) — invested in him, and see what he did. That's your awards.
“Seeing a guy like Terrence (Arceneaux) and JoJo (Tugler) and Ramon (Walker Jr.) go down and a kid like (Cedric Lath) get an opportunity. Seeing his joy in the locker room Saturday and seeing my team's joy, I'll take that joy over any award.”
UH (28-3) is headed to the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo., where the Cougars will play Thursday as the No. 1 seed.
Shorthanded with injuries to three rotation players, UH could use a break to rest up for what it hopes will be a long NCAA Tournament run.
But the Cougars won’t mail it in. They aren’t built that way.
The Coach of the Year won’t let 'em coast.
His best play and his team are the opposite of soft.
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Rami G Khouri
Mort Laitner
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
visit website
