Kelvin Sampson’s Indiana exit and Houston rise, explained for national championship

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How Kelvin Sampson turned around his reputation after being deemed a cheater at Oklahoma and Indiana.

Kelvin Sampson will lead his Houston Cougars into the national championship game on Monday night in the culmination of a legendary head coaching career. The 69-year-old Sampson is also one of college basketball’s greatest comeback stories, and not just because the Cougars wiped away a 14-point second-half deficit to stun Duke in the 2025 men’s Final Four.