Kelvin Sampson entered his 12th year as the Houston Cougars head coach. Having been in the collegiate basketball circuit for so long, one of Sampson’s pre-retirement wishes came true after the Cougars decided to retire Dwight Davis’ jersey in their match against Arizona in January.
Kelvin Sampson names two more players whose jerseys should be retired
In an exclusive interview with PaperCity, Sampson talked about his former players’ jersey retirements. He also named Marcus Sasser and Jamal Shead as two players who should be honored by the program.
“We got Don Chaney’s number retired,” Sampson said. “We got Dwight Davis’ number retired. I don’t know if I’ll be around to see it, but Marcus Sasser needs his jersey retired. Jamal Shead he’s going to have his jersey retired. And it should be done sooner rather than later.”
He also wishes that he were present in the arena when their jerseys are honored, due to their contributions to the success of Houston.
“I realize that these guys are still playing (in the NBA),” Sampson continued. “But I hope I’m here the day they get their jersey retired. Because those guys, like many others, have been here in the last 11 years, are a huge reason why this program is where it is.
Sasser played 107 games for the Cougars, averaging 13.6 points on 40.6% shooting, including 36.9% from behind the arc. He also grabbed 2.7 rebounds, dished out 2.4 assists, stole the ball 1.3 times, and recorded 0.1 blocks per game.
His performances earned him the title of the 2022-23 AAC Player of the Year and Consensus All-American. The 6-foot-1 guard was also named to the All-AAC twice in his collegiate career.
On the other hand, Shead, who is currently playing for the Toronto Raptors, graduated from the Cougars last year. In 138 games, the guard recorded 9.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.3 blocks per contest.
He was named the Big 12 Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Consensus All-American in his senior year.
Houston assistant coach backs Kelvin Sampson’s thoughts
Kellen Sampson, the assistant coach of the Cougars, backed his father’s wishes to see Spears’ and Shead’s jerseys retire on the wall of the Fertitta Center.
It’d be really cool,” Sampson said. “I’ve had so many talks with both of those guys and Quentin. This is their school and program. And I hope that wherever life takes them in their professional journeys, it doesn’t matter if it’s Houston basketball, or if it’s UH football, or UH softball, soccer, baseball, whatever, if they’re somewhere in a bar and UH is playing, they stop and have an immediate cheering interest.”
Recently, UNCP also announced that it would retire the late John “Ned” Sampson’s (Kelvin Sampson’s father) jersey. The 70-year-old shared a nostalgic and heartfelt reaction to the UNCP retiring his father’s jersey.
It will be seen whether their jerseys are retired. For now, we know that Sampson would want to be there. The Cougars will look to continue their winning streak as they take on Oakland on Wednesday.
