Kelvin Sampson watched his Houston team come within seconds of the first NCAA title for both himself and the program.

Houston, in its seventh Final Four, is a program with a rich history and a proud lineage that features Phi Slama Jama, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Elvin Hayes. It's a history that does not include an NCAA championship.

When Kelvin Sampson took Houston to its last Final Four, it was a much different experience. That was in 2021, the year after COVID wiped out the entire NCAA To