During my tenure at Oklahoma State University, the only sport that both Bedlam schools played at a high level during the same year was Men's basketball. Every Spring, my beloved Eddie Sutton-led Defense/Discipline/Determination teams would battle the Kelvin Sampson-led Heart/Hustle/Hardwood teams for bragging rights, and as a result, I intensly disliked the OU basketball coach.
I was reminded of this recently when Coach Sampson suddenly became one of the hottest names in NBA coaching circles. Three teams, all teams hoping to sign LeBron James this Summer, are supposedly targeting the former Sooner coach as the new head coach of their franchise.
Each time I read one of these rumors, I was baffled. Most of the Sooner fans who realize the school has a basketball program were excited when Sampson left his post to take the Indiana University job...even knowing it would ruin a recruiting class that featured Scottie Reynolds (who ended up leading Villanova to the Final 4), Damion James (who has starred for Texas), and fearing a new coach wouldn't be able to close the deal with Blake Griffin. Then, his tenure with the Hoosiers lasted only one season before he was fired in disgrace. Recruiting scandals in both locations put Sampson on a black list making it impossible for him to coach in the NCAA again.
Of course, lost in my hatred of the man and his inappropriate contact (by phone) with underage boys, I forgot that he is a really good basketball coach.
As much as I hate to admit it, Sampson went tit for tat with Eddie Sutton, who I place on my pantheon of college coaches. It wasn't because of superior talent, either. Both Oklahoma schools, despite their success, always struggled to woo the elite talent. While I was in college, only one Mickey D's all-american played for either school, and that was Glendon Alexander who left Arkansas after blowing out his knee (and probably alienating teammates with kleptomaniacal ways). Despite the middle of the road recruits, Sutton and Sampson each turned their teams into Big 12 contenders year-in and year-out.