Sampson Rises From Butte To Top Of Mountain Former WSU Coach Earns Ap Award; Smith, Uconn Principles Also Honored
Oklahoma’s Kelvin Sampson, this season’s college basketball coach of the year, remembers his humble beginnings.
“The thing that prepared me for being a head coach was Montana Tech,” Sampson said. “I was the interim coach one year and we were 5-22. Then my next year, I was the head coach and we went 4-23.
“The morning after my last game, I got a call from Jud Heathcote, who I worked for at Michigan State. He said very simply, ‘Kelvin, you’re the only coach in America that can take Montana Tech from obscurity to oblivion.”’
Oklahoma’s 39-year-old first-year coach became a little better known Friday when he was honored by The Associated Press. Maryland sophomore Joe Smith was presented the Adolph Rupp Trophy as the national college player of the year.
Hired by Oklahoma after Billy Tubbs surprisingly resigned to go to Texas Christian, Sampson took over a program that went from 15-13 in 1994 to 23-9 and a berth in the NCAA tournament.
Oklahoma had been picked to finish sixth in the Big Eight this season. Under Sampson, the Sooners finished third.
Sampson went to Oklahoma from Washington State, where he had coached the Cougars to a 103-103 record and into the 1994 NCAA tournament, their first berth in 11 years.
Last season was the first time in 12 years that Oklahoma didn’t win at least 20 games. Sampson took over a Sooners team that lost senior Jeff Webster, the Big Eight’s leading scorer.
Following Sampson in the voting were Jim Harrick of UCLA, Richard Williams of Mississippi State, Jim Calhoun of Connecticut, Gary Williams of Maryland and Steve Lappas of Villanova.
“I feel very fortunate,” Sampson said. “There are a lot of great coaches out there who I look up to and admire. Some of the coaches in this game today are my heroes. For me to win this award, there’s a little twinge of guilt.”Oklahoma was seeded fourth in its region in the tournament, but was upset by Manhattan in the opening round.”That day was very disappointing,” Sampson said. “The next day the disappointment started to fade. Then I started realizing where we were in October.”
Smith is the sixth sophomore to be honored in the 35 years of the player award and the first since Shaquille O’Neal of Louisiana State in 1991.
The 6-foot-10 Smith was selected Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year after averaging 20.8 points and 10.4 rebounds while shooting 58 percent from the field.
In another vote, Rebecca Lobo of Connecticut and her coach, Geno Auriemma, were elected AP’s first women’s player and coach of the year.
The 6-4 Lobo averaged a team-high 17.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.6 blocked shots per game.
Auriemma has taken Connecticut to national prominence after a humbling start. UConn was 12-15 in his first year, 1985-86, but hasn’t had a losing season since.
Top-ranked UConn is 33-0.