17 years after he was fired by Indiana, Kelvin Sampson came up short in a grueling national championship game.
Sampson’s Houston Cougars lost 65-63 to Florida Monday evening in San Antonio after leading by 12 in the second half. Houston committed four straight turnovers to end the game.
It was Sampson’s fourth trip to the Final Four and first appearance in the national title game.
The 69-year-old Sampson remains at 799 career wins, but he’s come a long way since his time in Bloomington.
On Feb. 22, 2008 Indiana forced Sampson out after he was accused by the N.C.A.A. of recruiting violations. Later reports indicated drug abuse became a major problem with certain members of Sampson’s final IU team.
After a 25-4 start to a season that saw the Hoosiers ranked as high as No. 12 as late as March 2, 2008, everything imploded. Indiana lost four of its last five games, including first round exits in both the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.
Indiana was placed on probation by the NCAA for three years. The Hoosiers went 28-66 overall and 8-46 in the Big Ten for the three seasons following Sampson’s tenure.
Sampson took a job in the NBA and eventually returned to college coaching in 2014. He’s recorded four straight seasons of 32 or more wins at Houston, and won four straight conference titles.
Meanwhile, IU has not advanced past the Sweet 16 season Sampson resigned.
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