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Kelvin Sampson Named American Coach of the Year

University of Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson, seniors Fabian White Jr.Josh Carlton and Kyler Edwards and sophomore point guard Jamal Shead received postseason honors from the American Athletic Conference, the league announced Wednesday morning.

For the third time in his Houston career, Sampson was named The American Coach of the Year, while White and Carlton earned places on the All-American Athletic Conference First Team. Edwards was named to the league's Second Team, and Shead collected the first postseason award of his career as a member of the Third Team.

Entering this week's American Athletic Conference Championship, Houston has posted a 26-5 overall record with a 15-3 mark in league play for the program third regular-season title in the last four years. The Cougars – who are ranked at No. 18 in both national polls – are poised for their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance with Selection Sunday coming this weekend.

Wisconsin v Houston

Photo: Getty Images

In his eighth season at Houston, Sampson has led the 18th-ranked Cougars to the top of the league standings. It was the program's third regular-season championship in the last four years, a first in program history.

After losing four starters from last year's NCAA Final Four squad, his 2021-22 team's impressive accomplishments came after losing Preseason All-American Athletic Conference First-Team guard Marcus Sasser and sophomore guard Tramon Mark to season-ending injuries in December 2021.

Sampson became the first coach in program history to receive three conference Coach of the Year honors. Hall of Fame Coach Guy V. Lewis received two awards from the Southwest Conference in 1984 and 1983.

This is the is the seventh conference Coach of the Year honor for Sampson from his fourth different league during his award-winning career. He previously received the American award in 2018 and 2019.

Now in his 33rd season as a collegiate head coach, Sampson has compiled a 693-339 overall record with a 193-69 mark at Houston. He is one of only 16 coaches to lead multiple schools to the NCAA Final Four and ranks as the winningest coach in Houston career history with a .737 career winning percentage.

Sampson is the only coach in Houston history to lead the Cougars to seven consecutive 20-win seasons and has guided UH to the nation's second-best record (137-29) since 2017-18, trailing only No. 1/1 Gonzaga.


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