Daryl Morey and James Harden have close ties to Kelvin Sampson — and aren’t surprised by his Houston success

Three prominent 76ers have a rooting interest in Thursday night’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game between Houston and Arizona.

And they’re not surprised the Cougars are making their third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance under coach Kelvin Sampson.

Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, star guard James Harden, and team CEO Tad Brown all worked with Sampson during their time with the Houston Rockets.

In July 2011, Sampson was hired as the Rockets lead assistant coach and to run the defense under coach Kevin McHale.

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This came after Sampson was fired by Indiana in February 2008 after being charged with five NCAA rules violations for excessive phone calls and text messages to recruits and failure to be forthcoming about the violations. At the time, he received a five-year show-cause order from the NCAA, which effectively barred him from coaching in college. That order expired in 2013.

He spent the rest of 2008 as a special assistant with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs before spending three seasons as a Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach.

“Frankly, we just felt blessed that he was available,” said Morey, who was the Rockets general manager at the time. “He should never have been kicked out of the NCAA. That was in my mind ridiculous. And for the time we had him, man, we were just blessed because I mean, look he’s a head coach. He is an unbelievable coach. I’m so happy for what he’s done for the U of H program and will continue to do.”

Sampson left the Rockets in April 2014 to take over the Cougars program.

Now, his fifth-seeded Cougars (31-5) will play No. 1 seed Arizona (33-3) in the South Regional in San Antonio.

Facing a team favored to reach the Final Four isn’t as big of an obstacle as one would think for the Cougars.

Under Sampson, Houston continues to show that it’s a force to reckon with in March. Last season’s squad reached the Final Four for the first time since 1983, which was the sixth appearance in program history.

The faces of this season’s squad are much different than his 2021 team. However, they possess the same intangible qualities: wild sprints for loose balls, nasty defense, and bloodthirsty rebounding.

“He gets the most out of his players,” Morey said. “I’ve never seen a guy that gets more out of his players than coach Sampson. He is going to be successful at whatever he does.”

Harden agrees.

The perennial All-NBA selection spent eight seasons in Houston before forcing a trade to the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 13, 2021. He reunited with Morey and Brown when he joined the Sixers via a trade from the Nets on Feb. 10.

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Harden is a huge fan of Sampson.

“I just know as a mentor and a leader, he’s one of the best that I’ve come across in my lifetime,” Harden said. “Motivational [and] he knows basketball to a T. He gets it. Every single day, he puts the work in to be able to teach guys that come through his university to improve and then for the next level.

“I’m just appreciative that I had him in Houston those first couple of years. He’s just one of those dudes, man. He’s a great dude.”

Sampson has compiled a 198-69 record in eight seasons at Houston. The Cougars swept the American Athletic Conference’s regular season and tournament championships. He’s also the conference’s coach of the year for 2021-22, marking the third time he’s won the award at Houston.

“Kelvin’s a leader,” Brown said. “He’s an incredible coach and he also has a great rapport with his players and within an organization.

“So seeing what he’s done at U of H is not surprising. He’s got the resources there. He’s got the players. He’s an amazing guy. He’s an amazing coach.”

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