HOUSTON – University of Houston men’s basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson has been named a semifinalist for college basketball’s Naismith Coach of the Year award.
A year after helping UH to a berth in the Final Four and losing four starters from that team, Sampson has led the Cougars to another strong season, much of it while dealing with injuries to some of their best players - guards Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark suffered season-ending injuries in December.
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Even still, UH won the American Athletic Conference regular-season championship with a 26-5 record, 15-3 in conference play.
Sampson is coming off being named the AAC’s Coach of the Year on Wednesday.
Joining Sampson as semifinalists: Mark Adams (Texas Tech), John Calipari (Kentucky), Ed Cooley (Providence), Scott Drew (Baylor), Steve Forbes (Wake Forest), Greg Gard (Wisconsin), Tommy Lloyd (Arizona), Matt McMahon (Murray State), and Bruce Pearl (Auburn).
Four finalists will be named on March 23, followed by the announcing of the winner on April 3.