At some point, Texas A&M is going to have to stop talking about our "resources" and actually use them. Every time a coaching search rolls around in any sport we puff our chests out and talk about the war chest, facilities, NIL potential, alumni base, blah blah blah. Yet somehow, when the dust settles, we end up with a "good fit" instead of a proven winner.
Kelvin Sampson is a proven winner.
He's taken Houston Houston to national relevance. Final Fours, Elite Eights, top-10 teams year after year. And he's doing it with a fraction of what A&M can offer. Imagine what he could build in College Station with access to the full Aggie arsenal real NIL money, a rabid fanbase ready to care again, and top-tier facilities that aren't buried in a warehouse behind a Costco.
The man knows how to recruit, develop talent, and instill toughness. His teams don't back down. They don't make excuses. And they win. Consistently.
So the real question isn't can we go get him it's do we have the guts to actually swing big for once? Or are we going to keep settling and pretending like mediocrity is some kind of strategic patience?
If we're going to flex "resources" every time a mic is in front of us, it's time we actually prove we know how to use them. Sampson should be the call.

He's on our list after Jay Wright, Dan Hurley and Brad Stevens.

Can we offer this?

delete thread

lol at hiring a guy who will be 70 to start next season

Everything but the banners.

Talking about resources is my favorite Aggie tradition.

Harry_Willie said:

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He's taken Houston Houston to national relevance. Final Fours, Elite Eights, top-10 teams year after year. And he's doing it with a fraction of what A&M can offer. Imagine what he could build in College Station with access to the full Aggie arsenal real NIL money, a rabid fanbase ready to care again, and top-tier facilities that aren't buried in a warehouse behind a Costco.

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This shows how detached from reality of college basketball you must be. Sampson makes the same salary as Buzz did, $4.6M, and Houston has a better basketball NIL situation and has put serious money into facilities upgrades in recent years. By any objective measure, Houston is a better basketball program than we are.

Also, I think Sampson just likes being in Houston. He could have taken a lot of jobs the last few years, but has never even come up as a serious candidate.

It's actually incredible how ignorant the football only fans in our fanbase are. Embarrassing.

I think the rabid fan base was at Breakaway

Hire his son... If Beard says no first.

The assumption is that Sampson would leave Houston.

I'd be content with hiring the assistant coach at Duke. I know many will object to hiring an assistant coach, but I'd be content with an assistant from a program such as Duke. Regardless, I think Maryland did us a favor.

Gig 'em!

bobinator said:

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Harry_Willie said:

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He's taken Houston Houston to national relevance. Final Fours, Elite Eights, top-10 teams year after year. And he's doing it with a fraction of what A&M can offer. Imagine what he could build in College Station with access to the full Aggie arsenal real NIL money, a rabid fanbase ready to care again, and top-tier facilities that aren't buried in a warehouse behind a Costco.

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This shows how detached from reality of college basketball you must be. Sampson makes the same salary as Buzz did, $4.6M, and Houston has a better basketball NIL situation and has put serious money into facilities upgrades in recent years. By any objective measure, Houston is a better basketball program than we are.

Also, I think Sampson just likes being in Houston. He could have taken a lot of jobs the last few years, but has never even come up as a serious candidate.

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I know Houston has a better program than we do, which why we need to invest and get a big name. If we want to remain mediocre, find the next potential assistant who could be great. We get Buzz's buyout, and we need to invest that money and get a big-name coach. Revenue sharing will help with NIL as well. It doesn't have to be Sampson, but I am sick of being in the middle of the pack. Arkansas took the leap on Calipari, who was on the hot seat in Kentucky, but it paid off in the first year. Basketball is by far more exciting to watch than baseball and we were ready to drop a bag on their facilities. Take that money and put it into Basketball. We have no problems recruiting in baseball and football. Fix the mediocrity of our basketball program.

Harry_Willie said:

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bobinator said:

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Harry_Willie said:

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He's taken Houston Houston to national relevance. Final Fours, Elite Eights, top-10 teams year after year. And he's doing it with a fraction of what A&M can offer. Imagine what he could build in College Station with access to the full Aggie arsenal real NIL money, a rabid fanbase ready to care again, and top-tier facilities that aren't buried in a warehouse behind a Costco.

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This shows how detached from reality of college basketball you must be. Sampson makes the same salary as Buzz did, $4.6M, and Houston has a better basketball NIL situation and has put serious money into facilities upgrades in recent years. By any objective measure, Houston is a better basketball program than we are.

Also, I think Sampson just likes being in Houston. He could have taken a lot of jobs the last few years, but has never even come up as a serious candidate.

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I know Houston has a better program than we do, which why we need to invest and get a big name. If we want to remain mediocre, find the next potential assistant who could be great. We get Buzz's buyout, and we need to invest that money and get a big-name coach. Revenue sharing will help with NIL as well. It doesn't have to be Sampson, but I am sick of being in the middle of the pack. Arkansas took the leap on Calipari, who was on the hot seat in Kentucky, but it paid off in the first year. Basketball is by far more exciting to watch than baseball and we were ready to drop a bag on their facilities. Take that money and put it into Basketball. We have no problems recruiting in baseball and football. Fix the mediocrity of our basketball program.

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Wait, did Calipari payoff? It is too early to say so far but I don't think he exactly knocked it out the park this season given how much they are paying him and investing in NIL

so paying off means getting a 10 seed in the tourney but going to the Sweet 16 vs getting a 4 seed and losing in the second round?

Just making sure that is what matters...not the overall season

If that is where the goal post is that is fine

then that means the 2019 baseball team was tons better than the 1989 team....which i disagree with complately but if that is the standard we measure then we go with that

That should be the post then:

"Basketball is a sport that can obviously make money and it makes sense to put money into it and hire a great coach and finally make a real commitment to being great at it."

That's a good and logical take.

Wanting to hire an assistant coach is a bad take. In this league, we need someone who knows how to build a roster, built a high quality coaching staff, etc. We'll probably absolutely bury ourselves if we hire an assistant coach.

Who was the last SEC team to hire an assistant that wasn't an internal assistant being promoted?

Can we get Delilah instead???

Why not Jon Scheyer at Duke???!?

Or Mark Daigneault from the OKC thunder??

Harry_Willie said:

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He's taken Houston Houston to national relevance. Final Fours, Elite Eights, top-10 teams year after year.

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It may be ancient history, but I'd argue Houston has the best basketball pedigree of any program in Texas, despite not winning it all like Baylor did once. They had 2 big runs under Guy Lewis that got them to 5 final fours and 2 times runner up. Sampson has them on their 3rd nationally prominent run in their history.

Have we even called Red Auerbach yet? Seems about as likely as Sampson.

NE PA Ag said:

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Harry_Willie said:

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He's taken Houston Houston to national relevance. Final Fours, Elite Eights, top-10 teams year after year.

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It may be ancient history, but I'd argue Houston has the best basketball pedigree of any program in Texas, despite not winning it all like Baylor did once. They had 2 big runs under Guy Lewis that got them to 5 final fours and 2 times runner up. Sampson has them on their 3rd nationally prominent run in their history.

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Won the Game of the Century against UCLA in 1968. Produced 2 of the top 3 NBA players from the state schools (Olajuwon, Drexler, and Durant), yeah, it's not even close.

Baylor may be slightly ahead of UTEP.

94chem said:

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NE PA Ag said:

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Harry_Willie said:

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He's taken Houston Houston to national relevance. Final Fours, Elite Eights, top-10 teams year after year.

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It may be ancient history, but I'd argue Houston has the best basketball pedigree of any program in Texas, despite not winning it all like Baylor did once. They had 2 big runs under Guy Lewis that got them to 5 final fours and 2 times runner up. Sampson has them on their 3rd nationally prominent run in their history.

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Won the Game of the Century against UCLA in 1968. Produced 3 of the top 4 NBA players from the state schools (Olajuwon, Drexler, Elvin Hayes and Durant), yeah, it's not even close.

Baylor may be slightly ahead of UTEP.

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FIFY

Phil Jackson

The problem with "our" resources is that "we" spend them poorly. They also aren't unlimited.

People complained a lot about how loose Woodward was with the purse strings. Now we are complaining about how tight we are.

Spend it wisely and it doesn't matter. Hiring the most expensive guy isn't the solution.

The AD is not doing his job if he doesn't at least make a call to Sampson, Self, or Drew. Then if you have to settle for something less, okay. Go down fighting, don't be passive and leave it in the hands of a consulting firm.

These threads get dumber by the day. Everyone here knows exactly how to play AD and head coach.

AGDAD14 said:

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The AD is not doing his job if he doesn't at least make a call to Sampson, Self, or Drew. Then if you have to settle for something less, okay. Go down fighting, don't be passive and leave it in the hands of a consulting firm.

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So…what if making nonsensical claims on the internet were an actual crime???

NE PA Ag said:

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94chem said:

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NE PA Ag said:

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Harry_Willie said:

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He's taken Houston Houston to national relevance. Final Fours, Elite Eights, top-10 teams year after year.

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It may be ancient history, but I'd argue Houston has the best basketball pedigree of any program in Texas, despite not winning it all like Baylor did once. They had 2 big runs under Guy Lewis that got them to 5 final fours and 2 times runner up. Sampson has them on their 3rd nationally prominent run in their history.

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Won the Game of the Century against UCLA in 1968. Produced 3 of the top 4 NBA players from the state schools (Olajuwon, Drexler, Elvin Hayes and Durant), yeah, it's not even close.

Baylor may be slightly ahead of UTEP.

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FIFY

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Yes, Hays had 39 of Houston's 71 points in that 71-69 victory, and the center on the other team was Kareem. Hays could play a little.

Fertitta bankrolls that program. Good luck.

AGDAD14 said:

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The AD is not doing his job if he doesn't at least make a call to Sampson, Self, or Drew. Then if you have to settle for something less, okay. Go down fighting, don't be passive and leave it in the hands of a consulting firm.

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How would you know if he called him? How would any of us know?

Sampson is 70 years old. Too old. He'll be retiring soon.

OP acts like Houston is some downtrodden basketball program that he turned into a winner. Yes, he is a great coach, but he isn't leaving Houston to come here. We have zero basketball history. Houston has a long basketball history. Are you familiar with Hakeem Olajuwon? Clyde Drexler? Houston was playing for national titles 40+ years ago. There is simply no comparison between our programs.

94chem said:

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NE PA Ag said:

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94chem said:

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NE PA Ag said:

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Harry_Willie said:

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He's taken Houston Houston to national relevance. Final Fours, Elite Eights, top-10 teams year after year.

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It may be ancient history, but I'd argue Houston has the best basketball pedigree of any program in Texas, despite not winning it all like Baylor did once. They had 2 big runs under Guy Lewis that got them to 5 final fours and 2 times runner up. Sampson has them on their 3rd nationally prominent run in their history.

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Won the Game of the Century against UCLA in 1968. Produced 3 of the top 4 NBA players from the state schools (Olajuwon, Drexler, Elvin Hayes and Durant), yeah, it's not even close.

Baylor may be slightly ahead of UTEP.

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FIFY

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Yes, Hays had 39 of Houston's 71 points in that 71-69 victory, and the center on the other team was Kareem. Hays could play a little.

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Durant ?

frenchtoast said:

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Talking about resources is my favorite Aggie tradition.

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No sht. It's amazing, esp. in athletics. The talk has become a negative thru the years.