The University of Houston men's basketball team has advanced to at least the Sweet 16 in each NCAA Tournament played since 2019. For head coach Kelvin Sampson, it was a Sweet Sixth that helped him get into coaching.
Sampson was born in Laurinburg, North Carolina and played both basketball and baseball at UNC Pembroke. As a point guard, he led the Braves as team captain during his senior season and finished his collegiate career with four letters in basketball and three in baseball. "My senior year, I had no money - so Saturday mornings I could make $1.65/hour to coach. They needed coaches for these little kids in the league. I coached the sixth grade girls team and, my team won the championship. That was all she wrote. I'll, I'll check you later Thurgood."
This year, he's guided UH to the program's first number one seed since 1983. The Cougars open play in the NCAA Tournament Thursday.