Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson is the 2023-24 Associated Press Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 32-5 record, the top spot in the national rankings and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s South Region.
Sampson narrowly defeated UConn’s Dan Hurley, collecting 23 of the 62 votes from the same national panel of voters that determines the season’s Top 25 rankings.
Hurley was named on 21 ballots, which were sent in prior to the NCAA tourney.
Houston, which won the Big 12 title in its first season after joining the conference, suffered a 54-51 loss in the Sweet 16 to Duke, due in no small part to the injury to its top star, Jamal Shead.
UConn, the defending NCAA Tournament champion, plays Alabama Saturday in the Final Four in Glendale, Ariz.
This season’s honor marks Sampson’s second AP coach of the year award. He won in 1995 while coaching Oklahoma.
The 69-year-old coach has a 264-79 record with Houston (2014-24) after stops at Washington State (1987-94), Oklahoma (1994-2006) and Indiana (2006-08). He worked as an NBA assistant coach from 2008-14.
–Field Level Media