Calvin Sampson

[ousooners1baby]

If you can, be honest. How many of you wanted Kelvin Sampson gone? Of those who wanted him gone, how many of you wish that he was the Head Coach of the Oklahoma Sooners today? Right now, we all want a shiny new thing. Are there any who still would not want to have to watch Sampson's sometimes unbearable offense? We know that tough times create good things at times and Kelvin has went through a few. Brought on by himself, those times have created one of the greater coaches of all time. He was once ours. For me, I didn't want him to leave and I would take his folded arms and "awe shucks" attitude back in a heartbeat.

 

[steverocks35]

Who is Calvin Sampson?

 

[WaymanFan]

I definitely did not want him gone. I wasn't "obsessed" with him like some poster named "SoonerfanTU" who I believe was "WTSooner" on this board, but I knew we would always be a school that finished in the top third to top-half of our conference if he was still the coach. Kelvin's biggest weakness at OU was that he struggled to recruit high quality pure point guards, something he needed to get the most out of his teams. To put it another way, the second-best pure PG he had at OU was John Ontjes, and he inherited him. Also, Kelvin was not a great offensive coach until he spent time in the NBA (he all but admitted that himself). Finally, his teams had a tendency to struggle in the Dance. His 1st-round record seeded below the top-3 was an excruciating 1-6. All that said, he almost always got the most out of the talent he had in place...and he seldom got "out-coached". I'm happy for him and will root for Houston to cut down the nets this year.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I was bummed to see him go

 

[MJSooner]

If you can, be honest. How many of you wanted Kelvin Sampson gone? Of those who wanted him gone, how many of you wish that he was the Head Coach of the Oklahoma Sooners today? Right now, we all want a shiny new thing. Are there any who still would not want to have to watch Sampson's sometimes unbearable offense? We know that tough times create good things at times and Kelvin has went through a few. Brought on by himself, those times have created one of the greater coaches of all time. He was once ours. For me, I didn't want him to leave and I would take his folded arms and "awe shucks" attitude back in a heartbeat.

I think the fondness of Kelvin today is greater than it ever was while he was at OU. I was bummed when I heard he had resigned to leave for IU. It sucked.

But in addition to the complaints about his style of play, a lot of people didn't like his arrogance (including David Boren) and his lack of overall success competing on the recruiting front for higher level recruits. And as @WaymanFan posted, outside the FF run, he didn't have the greatest tournament success especially compared to where he was seeded. So when he left, those "haters" were ready to move on and take the program to greater heights. If they only knew...

With that said, Kelvin is a different coach today. He is more "laid-back", a term used loosely, and allows players to play more free in the flow of the game. His offensive mindset and sets are more like coach K and Bill Self than that of Judd Heathcoate and Bobby Knight. He's not as quick to pull a player for a mistake like he used to do, which allows more confidence and aggressiveness, especially on the offensive end. He still coaches hard, but you can see he is a lot different than he used to be.

Really, IMO, the main reason people want him back isn't to bring back denim shirts and heart, hustle, and hardwood, It's because he's is very successful and we are not.

If PM was having the success that Kelvin was having, or even the success he had outside the FF year at OU, he would be very well-liked, and probably loved more than Kelvin.

Unfortunately, that isn't happening. So the revisionist history you alluded to continues. For me, loved Kelvin, but love winning more. IDC who the coach is as long as they win.

 

[NorthCarolinaSooner]

I think his freedom on offense had a lot to do with his time in the NBA for sure.

 

[NYC-Fool]

I hated to see him leave. Especially with the final recruiting class he had put together.

 

[daqman]

i never understood the hate for kelvin......other than "he wasn't billy"
i would kill to have that home winning streak back that capel destroyed.

 

[cvangild]

I liked Kelvin but remember A LOT of people bitching about him for his boring style of play and having offenses that would go into some deep funks at times. Kelvin also got a lot of crap for having a lot of players who transferred out. We lost several players over the years…and that was back before the portal…where players had to sit out a year!!

 

[mict085]

Kelvin had many shortcomings at OU and could never get over the hump. I couldn’t see it at the time but that had as much to do with OUs lack of commitment to the program as anything else.

I hated to see him leave right as we were recruiting at an all time high level. That really pissed me off because it looked like he was bailing on us instead of seeing it through after he got us in trouble with the ncaa. However, again, that whole thing was utterly ridiculous (text messages) compared to what KU and everyone else was doing to cheat in recruiting. Also, the way Joe C crapped on the program and gave little support and then shamed him for getting into trouble…I would’ve left too and probably told JoeC to **** off on the way out.

Kelvin isn’t the same coach he was when he was at OU. Had he stayed, maybe he never gets any better. His time in the nba made him a better coach. Now he has a billionaire buying players for him and he can just coach. He would never get that at OU but we’d be a scrappy team that makes the tourney, loses in the first round most years but makes a run every so often. So…I’d take that over what we currently have every day.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Kelvin had many shortcomings at OU and could never get over the hump. I couldn’t see it at the time but that had as much to do with OUs lack of commitment to the program as anything else.

I hated to see him leave right as we were recruiting at an all time high level. That really pissed me off because it looked like he was bailing on us instead of seeing it through after he got us in trouble with the ncaa. However, again, that whole thing was utterly ridiculous (text messages) compared to what KU and everyone else was doing to cheat in recruiting. Also, the way Joe C crapped on the program and gave little support and then shamed him for getting into trouble…I would’ve left too and probably told JoeC to **** off on the way out.

Kelvin isn’t the same coach he was when he was at OU. Had he stayed, maybe he never gets any better. His time in the nba made him a better coach. Now he has a billionaire buying players for him and he can just coach. He would never get that at OU but we’d be a scrappy team that makes the tourney, loses in the first round most years but makes a run every so often. So…I’d take that over what we currently have every day.

lol if you think Kelvin would barely make the tourney these days at OU. And no one was buying him high priced players when he arrived and led Houston to great success his first several years. He has had to win despite tons of turnover in their athletic department. He won when they played in a joke of an arena and had a fan base that even made ours look good by comparison.

Someone posted something today about him having stud big guys. His starting big is Roberts … take a look at his career arc. You think he was a highly priced player? He became a really good college player due to his own hard work and Kelvin’s coaching and development. The money started coming because Kelvin built them from scratch and made people care.

 

[jmizzy4ou]

I will only add that most of the current posters must have joined after KS was gone. During his last few years, this board was almost unbearable with the daily fights between the Cletus and Pumper-labelled crowds. 90% of those fights were because about 1/2 of the board wanted KS gone and the other 1/2 didn't. Every thread turned into a KS fight, win, lose, or draw....

 

[CoachTalk]

I will only add that most of the current posters must have joined after KS was gone. During his last few years, this board was almost unbearable with the daily fights between the Cletus and Pumper-labelled crowds. 90% of those fights were because about 1/2 of the board wanted KS gone and the other 1/2 didn't. Every thread turned into a KS fight, win, lose, or draw....

No way… hard to believe

 

[outest]

Kelvin Sampson does more with less, Porter Moser does less with more.

 

[ousooners1baby]

I will only add that most of the current posters must have joined after KS was gone. During his last few years, this board was almost unbearable with the daily fights between the Cletus and Pumper-labelled crowds. 90% of those fights were because about 1/2 of the board wanted KS gone and the other 1/2 didn't. Every thread turned into a KS fight, win, lose, or draw....

I recall this and it was why I said "be honest". I don't think I read one comment yet that stated they wanted him gone. I too think he is only who he is becuase of his road he had to take to get to where he is today.

 

[mict085]

I don’t think there’s any question Kelvin Sampson is a great coach. He’s also a better coach now than he was at OU and he has more support across the board than he ever had at OU. That’s not even debatable.

 

[daqman]

I don’t think there’s any question Kelvin Sampson is a great coach. He’s also a better coach now than he was at OU and he has more support across the board than he ever had at OU. That’s not even debatable.

i'm sure kelvin has gotten better as a coach he's aged...most people do get better professionally ..
but he's also getting better/more talented players now than he got at ou....

oh to dream about what he cold have done with that scottie reynolds class...

 

[daqman]

I will only add that most of the current posters must have joined after KS was gone. During his last few years, this board was almost unbearable with the daily fights between the Cletus and Pumper-labelled crowds. 90% of those fights were because about 1/2 of the board wanted KS gone and the other 1/2 didn't. Every thread turned into a KS fight, win, lose, or draw....

this board didn't exist when kelvin was in norman.
it was ouinsider....or maybe even the one before that.....i don't remember the name of the one before ouinsider
and back then...i was a kelvin fan...to the end.

 

[jmizzy4ou]

this board didn't exist when kelvin was in norman.
it was ouinsider....or maybe even the one before that.....i don't remember the name of the one before ouinsider
and back then...i was a kelvin fan...to the end.

For sure. The board has transitioned a couple of times. Most old timers knew I was referring to the board before the transitions. I've been around since the beginning of the first hoops board.

 

[ousooners1baby]

For sure. The board has transitioned a couple of times. Most old timers knew I was referring to the board before the transitions. I've been around since the beginning of the first hoops board.

Some of us know my brother!