Did Kelvin Sampson coach in the NBA? Exploring Houston head coach's coaching career

Kelvin Sampson happens to have one of the most impressive coaching profiles in college basketball. In a coaching career that has spanned more than four decades, Sampson has coached in multiple athletic conferences and divisions.

While his bona fides as a college basketball coach are never in doubt, what is his experience in the professional leagues?

Did Kelvin Sampson coach in the NBA?

Kelvin Sampson has coached in the NBA. He worked as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks between 2008 and 2009.

He took up a similar role with the Houston Rockets from 2011 to 2014. An NCAA scandal precipitated Sampson’s journey to the NBA, where he was at the center as the coach of the Indiana Hoosiers.

Sampson was hired as the head coach for the Hoosiers in 2006 after years of steering the wheels of the Oklahoma Sooners. His tenure at Indiana got off to a good start, leading the team to a 21-11 record overall and securing an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Houston v Baylor

After winning the team’s first-round game against Gonzaga, the Hoosiers lost to UCLA in the second round.

However, he was forced to tender his resignation on Feb. 22, 2008, as a result of allegations that he’d run foul of certain NCAA rules. Among the rules Sampson was alleged to have broken is the one against sending text messages to recruits. He was handed a five-year show-cause penalty for the allegations.

At the expiration of his show-cause penalty, Sampson returned to coaching in college. He was hired by the University of Houston to coach the Cougars men’s basketball team in Apr. 2014. Under his watch, the Houston Cougars men’s basketball program has undergone a series of transformations and improvements.

First, he was instrumental in the university’s efforts to raise the $25 million needed to build the program’s training facility in 2016.

Similarly, he helped in the fundraising for a $60 million renovation of the Fertitta Center in 2018. Outside the push for infrastructural improvement, Sampson has also significantly improved the Cougars’ performance on the court.

Notably, he has won the AAC regular-season championship with the Cougars four times, winning the AAC tournament twice.