Kelvin Sampson’s response to college basketball’s FBI scandal is ironic and hilarious
Sampson is ready for college basketball’s latest rule breakers to get theirs.
“Guys that are making deals with outside entities to get players, when they’re doing stuff like that, I just hope they throw the book at them.”
These are the words of Kelvin Sampson, current Houston Cougars coach and former target of the NCAA’s ire. Anyone familiar with Sampson’s career path knows how amusing that quote is coming out of his mouth.
OK, so unlike the subjects of last week’s bombshell FBI report, Sampson has never been accused of working with agents and apparel brands to bribe players. But Sampson is essentially synonymous with breaking NCAA rules to get a leg up in recruiting. The “NCAA Violations” section of his Wikipedia page is literally 825 words long.
Sampson ran into trouble with the NCAA at both Oklahoma and Indiana for making hundreds of impermissible phone calls to recruits. The NCAA thought it was enough to more or less bar him from the sport for five years with a show-cause penalty.
It is worth noting the actions that got Sampson in trouble are no longer considered NCAA violations. Still: Sampson got a harsh punishment, and now he wants anyone else breaking rules to get theirs.
