When Indiana picks its new coach next month, it will mark the sixth hiring since the firing of Bob Knight in 2000. Every one of them, Knight included, has been forced out over the past quarter-century.
In an alternate universe, Indiana’s stature from the mid-2000s on could be much different. It’s not that hard to envision, really. On that alt-Earth, the second coach after Knight could have thrived for a decade-plus in Bloomington and spared one of the proudest programs in college basketball from underperforming so frequently over the better part of two decades that its blue blood status has all but dissolved at this point. (If you can win enough to gain blue blood prestige, a la UConn, why can’t you lose enough to be stripped of it?)
Kelvin Sampson and Indiana divorced less than two years into his tenure, on Feb. 22, 2008. It happened because of repeated rule-breaking tied to restrictions on cellphone usage, a flagrant abuse of a rule from an era of college sports that resembles almost nothing to the one we’re in now. No one could have known it then, but the sever would prove crucial to the fates of both parties, veering them in vastly different directions.
Almost 17 years to the day since Sampson last stepped foot on Indiana’s campus, IU has been a pedestrian 311-248 (.556) with two Big Ten titles. The Hoosiers have missed more NCAA Tournaments (nine, the 10th whiff possible next month) than they’ve made (eight), with three Sweet 16s appearances over 16 seasons.
Sampson was 43-15 at Indiana (with 499 career wins) at the time of the split. He was long established as a really good coach.
In the years since, he’s upgraded to a great one.
His Houston squad easily won again on Tuesday night, extending the nation’s longest road winning streak to 12. Sampson’s 286-83 (.775) in almost 11 seasons with the Cougars. He overhauled a moribund program with a terrible home environment/arena, nevertheless pushing to five Sweet 16 runs (or better) since getting the job, including the 2021 Final Four. The Cougars have rated as the best team in their conference six years running and 2025 will probably make it a seventh, making the AAC-to-Big-12 upgrade look like child’s play.
In less than a month, when Houston is revealed as a No. 1 or 2 seed, it will mark Sampson’s eight straight NCAA Tournament-worthy season, with six of those being a 3-seed or better. Absurd.
You might be thinking: What could have been if he’d never left Indiana? That’s just it, though: Leaving is what enabled Sampson to become one of the best college coaches of the past 30 years, even if he had to skip college for seven years to do it. His ending in Bloomington stained his reputation, but it turned out to be the best thing that happened to his career. He was immediately put on a path that will one day lead to his induction into the Hall of Fame, a path he began walking mere hours after cleaning out his office.
Here’s how.
In 2002, he was plucked to be an assistant coach under George Karl for the United States national team that won gold at that year’s FIBA World Championship. Sampson served alongside then-Stanford coach Mike Montgomery and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
“That started a friendship that is strong to this day with Pop,” Sampson told CBS Sports.
That team trained at the University of San Francisco. The coaches stayed downtown, at the W. Almost every day Sampson and Popovich would take marathon walks, sometimes as long as seven or eight miles, and talk themselves tired. After the ’02 championships, Sampson returned to coaching at Oklahoma, then went to Indiana in 2006.
“I got fired on a Friday morning,” Sampson said. “At 2 that afternoon, Pop called me and said the Spurs want to hire you and you can pick your title. I was unemployed from 11:30 until about 3 o’clock.”
A couple weeks later he flew to San Antonio. Popovich was waiting for him at baggage claim; the Spurs had a game that night. Sampson was whisked to the team facility, where then-assistant Mike Budenholzer had the scout.
“My head’s just spinning,” Sampson said, recalling that day.
It was the first time he’d ever seen an NBA scouting report. He heard everyone from Tim Duncan to Manu Ginóbli to Tony Parker to Bruce Bowen chiming in, chirping with feedback.
“My eyebrows shot up,” Sampson said, laughing. “Wow, you mean there’s another way to guard a pick-and-roll? You don’t just hedge it?”
He grabbed a notepad, jotted until his hand cramped and organized his notes every night. He was in basketball grad school as Indiana finished 3-4 that season without him, losing immediately in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.
“I absorbed the learning, I learned so much,” Sampson said. “It was almost like a reboot.”
That summer, then-Bucks coach Scott Skiles hired him.
“That dude was a basketball savant. I learned so much from him,” Sampson said. “It’s like, where have I been my whole life? I’ve been sheltered.”
Sampson was revered enough to eventually get multiple interviews for head jobs in the NBA. He thought he was going to be hired in Houston — to coach the Rockets. It was 2011 and then-GM Daryl Morey even called him and signaled it was likely, Sampson said. He wound up coming in second to Kevin McHale, who then convinced Sampson to be his top assistant from 2011-14. With the Rockets he’d pore over the sets from opposing coaches like Terry Stotts, Stan Van Gundy and Doc Rivers, doing this while not even knowing initially how to operate the video equipment.
“I was addicted to the new stuff, to the learning,” Sampson told me.
In February of 2014, a major life event happened to Kelvin, but he didn’t realize it in the moment.
He spoke to his father for the last time.
It was a phone call. Among other things, they talked about Kelvin not getting an NBA job. He saw himself as an NBA head coach, while NBA owners hadn’t totally shed their viewpoint that he was just a college coach on sabbatical in the NBA.
“I thought that would be the way I would finish my career,” Sampson said.
Sampson told his father, Ned, that he couldn’t see himself getting back to college basketball, not with how badly it had all crashed at Indiana.
“Fella,” Ned said to his son in that plain, all-knowing tone he’d heard his whole life, “you’re a college coach. Don’t forget that.”
John “Ned” Sampson died 36 hours after that conversation. Less than two months later, Sampson got three calls from three schools. One wanted to interview him, a second wanted to hire him, the third wanted the press conference within 24 hours.
The Houston Cougars were the second one.
His dad’s words kept echoing in his head. You’re a college coach.
He took the job. It was a bad job. A really bad job.
But he’s made it a great one.
What might have been if not for what transpired in 2007 and 2008? Sampson is quick to admit he wouldn’t be so revered. He told me he thinks he would’ve been fired even if he got to coach in the NBA. But that six-year journey changed so much about how he approaches coaching; he couldn’t have done all this without going through all that. As he prepares for yet another NCAA Tournament with yet another elite seed and another chance to make another Final Four, it’s only natural to think about what is and what could never be.
He’s a college coach, and a Hall of Fame-level one at that.
A few weeks back, the Court Report led on a welcomed development: freshmen matter again. After a half-decade with just a few newbies each year who made big-picture impact, this season is seeing a widespread jolt of first-year players making their mark.
One guy who ranks high on that list is malleable Maryland big Derik Queen. He’s listed as a center but is as flexible on offense as nearly any college player 6-10 or taller. The East Baltimore native averages 16.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists, with those numbers even better against tougher competition. Over the past three games he’s at 23.7 points and 13.0 rebounds while pushing Maryland to a ranking that matches its win total: 20.
The last time the Terrapins had a first-year player win at least five Freshman of the Week honors in league play, as Queen has, the year was 1994 and that player was Joe Smith, who stuck around College Park for two years before going No. 1 in the 1995 NBA Draft.
Even if Queen won’t wind up being top-end pick material like Smith, he almost definitely won’t be on campus two years. Through 20 games, it’s pretty obvious he’s a lottery-level talent. Maryland coach Kevin Willard thinks he won’t drop out of the top 10, and told me he thinks Queen’s being discriminated by scouts — even as his stock continues to rise. Part of it is because Queen turned 20 in late December, which is abnormally old for a first-year college player. Listed most recently at 244 pounds, he’s down almost 20 since last summer. A little more conditioning, a lot less bad food and constantly drinking water. He seems to transform for the better by the week.
“If he was European and white he’d be the first pick in the draft,” Willard told CBS Sports. “He gets a little penalized because he doesn’t have the greatest athleticism. He has better ballhandling skills than most guards, he’s like a 15-year-vet in the fact he knows and understands the game.”
Only two frosh rank top-two on their team in the five major statistical categories. One of them, Cooper Flagg, seems destined to be the No. 1 pick. The other is Queen.
“I’m never gonna be the fastest person on the court, I just try to run my speed,” Queen told CBS Sports. “I’m getting better at it, but I’m not athletic like everyone, fast like everyone. So, I just try to play my speed, and it looks like I don’t play hard, but I feel like I do.”
Queen is an irresistible watch, aided by something of a signature sartorial look. He told me he doesn’t enjoy the feel of compression sleeves on his arms, so he’s worn baggy workout shirts for years.
“I don’t think I missed a day wearing it in practice,” he said. “I think it’s drip swag.”
Adding to said swag, Queen’s shorts are hiked to levels last seen prominently circa 1988, and his ever-visible mouthpiece chewing makes Steph Curry’s compulsion seem tame by comparison.
But there’s reason for that.
“When I don’t chew my mouthpiece it’s hard to hear me on defense,” he said. “If it’s in, my teammates and coaches don’t know what I’m saying.”
Queen began playing basketball shortly before he was 7, he says. By the time he was in seventh grade, it was clear he was the best kid in school after playing in a D.C.-area tournament wherein he and his team just blasted the competition. Everyone knew he was the best player there, and that’s effectively where his reputation in greater D.C. and Baltimore began.
Queen improved at a progressive rate by constantly playing pickup at the playground less than 200 yards from his house on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, typically going against kids two or three years older. His neighborhood court had a triple rim on one side Queen hated, but it helped hone his mid-range shot. The surface “was concrete with cracks and messed up cement.”
Queen was pegged as a five-star prospect by his freshman year, and he was soon recruited to play at prestigious Montverde Academy (Florida), but his mother Lisa wouldn’t let him leave home that young. She was comfortable with it by the time Queen was a junior.
Future NBA picks Flagg, Liam McNeeley, Asa Newell and others were his teammates on one of the best high school teams in recent history, which included two national championships. (Queen and McNeeley talk multiple times per week and give the other feedback on their team’s games.)
That winning helped Queen ramp up for what’s been an especially smooth transition to college basketball. Being a bit older has helped him adapt and made Maryland a factor as a result. But despite his success, he’s practically humble to a fault. You can look for a quote of him speaking up on his game in this story but you won’t find it. He knows he’s been playing well, but still isn’t at the level he wants. When we sat and talked in January, he reflected more about the bad West Coast trip to Washington and Oregon than most anything else.
“I think I’m just a little bit behind, because I still kind of make elementary school mistakes,” Queen said.
His gift of vision and anticipatory passing can sometimes backfire. He told me he sometimes will fight off his instincts because he’s ahead of the play, ahead of his teammates. What might be there for a 27-year-old NBA player isn’t translate at all times on a college court.
“He’s by far the best player I’ve ever coached,” Willard said. “What makes him so unique is he’s such a good kid. There’s no bullshit. He just loves to hoop, he comes in the gym every day smiling, joking, works hard. He’s so fun to coach because he’s so talented on the court and so fun off the court. It’s been a blast.”
The 49-year-old Willard has coached Iona, Seton Hall and Maryland for 18 seasons. He’s never had an offense as efficient as this one (120.9 points per 100 possessions), and although his starting five is among the most balanced and reliable in the country, Queen is the center of the operation because no one is used in more ways in Willard’s system.
“It’s like having a 6-11 point guard,” Willard said. “We can ISO, we can post, we can run offense through him. He knows every play from every possession. Tell me the last 6-11 guy in college who could do that?”
It’s all coming together, which could lead to Maryland being one of the trendy teams when March hits. The Terrapins are checking off achievements practically by the week that they haven’t done in a long time.
Best start to a season in five years ✔️
Largest halftime come-from-behind win since 2010 ✔️
Most points scored in a Big Ten game since joining the league ✔️
Against Rutgers on Feb. 9, Queen had a career-high 29 points along with 15 rebounds and five assists. He’s the only freshman in the sport in 15 years with a 25/15/5 game. And with five 20-and-10 games, Queen is the only frosh with that many this season.
The one thing Queen doesn’t do: shoot the 3. He’s 2-of-22 this season. He’s confident that will come with his game, he’s just on a different schedule.
“Just gotta see the next one go in,” he says with the cool confidence of a grizzled NBA veteran. And there’s that natural charisma again. It’s just like how he plays on the court. It’s why the Terps are who they are.
“There’s no negativity around him and that’s what people are drawn to,” Willard said. “He busts my balls unmercifully during games and it’s so fun because a 50-year-old doesn’t even know how to bust my balls, but this 20-year old knows how to zing me at the right time in the right tone.”
Like against Syracuse earlier this year, when Queen threw a no-lob pass to a teammate, only the pass failed and Willard took him out of the game instantly, which led to this buddy-comedy exchange.
“What kind of f—— pass what that?”
“You would’ve thought it was a GREAT f—— pass if he caught it and dunked it.”
“You’re right. Now sit down.”
Willard remembers people within earshot in the front row laughing.
“He gets my tone, my humor, my sarcasm, uses my language almost verbatim and came right back at me within two seconds,” he said. “Every player has his issues. This kid doesn’t. It’s so hard to explain if you don’t really know him. He’s just really happy. I’m playing hoops today, I’m in college.”
Queen’s enjoying it, so let’s enjoy him, because in a season dotted with must-see freshmen he still finds a way to stand out. I’d tag the Terps as a Final Four sleeper right now, but if their trend line keeps rising, Queen and company will shed that label by the the first week of March.
Searching for Cinderella
Time for a scan of the mid-majors dotting the radar that could be bracket-busting darlings in a month. All schools below are: in traditional one-bid leagues; have six losses or fewer; and ranked in the top 100 at KenPom.com. That means A-10, AAC, Mountain West and WCC suspects (i.e. multi-bid leagues) don’t apply here. I’m including each team’s KenPom ranking and the composite of the three résumé metrics on NCAA team sheets, which are conveniently auto-averaged at BartTorvik.com.
UC San Diego (22-4) | KenPom: 40; résumé avg: 53
Formerly of D-II until 2020, the Tritons are wasting no time in their first year of tournament eligibility. They’re ranked higher than all others from one-bid territory. Eric Olen’s group is 9-2 on the road, including a win at 22-4 Utah State. They rank top-10 on both sides of the turnover battle, only giving it away on 7.4% of possessions while forcing teams to cough it up at more than double that rate (14.5%).
Drake (23-3) | KenPom: 62; résumé avg: 41
No mid-major in this group has a better at-large case as of today than the Bulldogs, who’ve done the near-unthinkable. After losing Darian (coach) and Tucker (player) DeVries to West Virginia — in addition to most of the roster — Ben McCollum immediately steps into Division I and oversees a mid-major power. McCollum won multiple titles at the D-II level and was a well-known commodity before he finally made the jump. This team features Bennett Stirtz, who followed McCollum from Northwest Missouri State and is averaging 18.5 points, 6.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals.
Yale (16-6) | KenPom: 65; résumé avg: 82
The Elis upset Auburn in a 4/13 matchup last year and are still pretty dang good despite losing Danny Wolf to Yale and Matt Knowling to USC. Bez Mbeng and James Poulakidas are still there as key shooters behind an offensive attack that ranks eighth nationally in 3-point accuracy (39.3%). Yale has yet to lose in 2025 and may well run the Ivy League table.
UC Irvine (22-4) | KenPom: 67; résumé avg: 45
This is the most consistently good Big West program over the past 12 seasons yet, surprisingly, UC Irvine hasn’t been in an NCAA Tournament since 2019. The Anteaters couldn’t get a single high-major to play them, but no matter: Russell Turner’s group has built a top-50 tournament dossier to go alongside the No. 11 defense in the sport.
Liberty (21-5) | KenPom: 68; résumé avg: 66
You’ll notice we’re in a run here of a lot of mids clotted together in the 60s. Ritchie McKay has a tournament-worthy group that’s atop CUSA, plus owning wins against Kansas State and the team detailed in the next capsule. The Flames do a better job flustering opponents beyond the 3-point arc than 363 other teams. At 27.2%, it’s the top-ranked 3-point defense in college hoops.
McNeese (21-6) | KenPom: 70; résumé avg: 81
Here’s Liberty’s other noteworthy victim. But the Cowboys play everybody tough. Will Wade’s team lost to No. 4 Alabama and No. 21 Mississippi State by a combined 11 points. It has one loss since Dec. 14. Four players are back from last season’s team that won 30 games and earned a No. 12 seed. McNeese lacks a top-60 win but has a bunch of former high-major players, which makes them a dangerous out.
Bradley (21-6) | KenPom: 91; résumé avg: 64
The Braves won at Drake on Sunday to split the season series and validate their inclusion on this list. BU won’t win enough to seriously be considered as an at-large, but they will be terrifying if they make it in. This is the No. 1 3-point team in college basketball (40.7%).
High Point (23-5)
| KenPom: 93; résumé avg: 79
Alan Huss’ team won 25 games before being upset in OT of the Big South tournament last year. He brought back a big chunk of that roster and has a squad that ranks top-30 in offensive efficiency and has scored 76-plus points in every game in 2025. One of two mid-majors that ranks top-50 in 2-point shooting, 3-point shooting and foul shooting (the other being 19-9 North Dakota State).
Akron (21-5/20-6) | KenPom: 95; résumé avg: 74
The keepers of the nation’s longest winning streak (14 games). John Groce’s team takes after its moniker: the Zips are one of the fastest offenses around, ranking 12th in adjusted tempo. As a result, this is one of the deepest teams as well, and they’re five games away from running the MAC table. The MAC hasn’t had an undefeated team since — get this — 1957-58, when Miami University went 12-0 in a seven-team conference.
Grand Canyon (19-6) | KenPom: 99; résumé avg: 91
Made the tourney last year and upset Saint Mary’s in the first round. Bryce Drew is still the coach of the WAC’s best team, led by Tyon Grant-Foster. The Antelopes have a notable win over Stanford and boast among the oldest and most familiar teams in the country. Five of the team’s top seven minutes-getters were on last year’s 30-win club.
@ me
Find me on Bluesky or X/Twitter and drop a Q anytime!
Dick and Tony Bennett were never head coaches at the same time. Same goes for John Thompson Jr. and John Thompson III. Homer Drew and Scott Drew were both coaches from 2003-11, with their best year happening 2007-08: Valparaiso finished 118th at KenPom and made the Horizon League title game the same season Scott took Baylor to the NCAA Tournament (as a No. 11) for the first time.
But no. No father/son pair have ever matched what Rick and Richard Pitino are doing this season. St. John’s and New Mexico have 22-4 records, both teams are two games up in their conference ledgers, both fast-tracking to good NCAA seeds. Rick has St. John’s on the precipice of its first regular-season championship in 33 years. Richard has New Mexico off to its best conference record (14-1) in school history. Even cooler: these two scheduled each other three months ago. It will be an even bigger story three weeks from now.
Memphis lost at Wichita State on Sunday, the Tigers’ third Quad 3 loss in the American this season. Memphis had a chance to leave for the Pac-12 in 2024, decided against it, and were promptly critiqued by many. There’s still time, though. The new Pac-12 sure needs at least one more football-playing member to join. The conference will definitely to be a notch above the current AAC and Memphis should be lobbying to reverse course.
With future lottery pick Egor Demin running the point? I think “Sweet 16 sleeper” is an apt way to label BYU right now. Kevin Young’s team has figured a lot out; they’re 8-3 in their last 11 and are definitely in the field as of today. On the other side, here’s a jarring trend with Kansas, which suffered its worst loss ever (91-57) to an unranked opponent in losing at BYU Tuesday night. The Jayhawks are 4-13 in their last 17 on the road. KU was a No. 4 seed in last Saturday’s bracket reveal. The worst drop in the previous eight years of this was when Oklahoma went from a No. 4 to 8 in the COVID-shortened 2021 season. Kansas could join ’em.
I want you to know the hot streak Belmont’s Tyler Lundblade is on is also important to me. Making 65.2% of your triples over a four-game span while averaging 11.5 attempts per game is downright lava-level and maybe unmatched in the past decade? The TCU transfer is shooting 47.4% from deep this season. Hot streak can continue tonight vs. Northern Iowa.
Norlander’s news + nuggets
• No shame at losing at home to Auburn, but Alabama’s probably going to wish it had gotten the job done. The Tide’s next six are against teams with a combined 122-31 record, three of them on the road, making this slate the hardest of any in D-I from now to the end of the regular season: at No. 15 Mizzou, vs. No. 17 Kentucky, vs. No. 21 Mississippi State, at No. 6 Tennessee, vs. No. 2 Florida, at No. 1 Auburn.
• Elsewhere in the SEC, Georgia was fool’s gold early. The Bulldogs have played 12 games vs. ranked teams this season, tied with South Carolina for most in the country, but is 3-9 in those games and has gone 2-8 since Jan. 15. Making matters worse, here are the next two: at No. 1 Auburn, vs. No. 2 Florida. Going 1-1 is mandatory to get back into the bracket.
• I’m riveted by Michigan, which is most comfortable playing on a tight rope. The Big Ten-leading Wolverines have won their past six games by four points or fewer, which ties the all-time record. Here are the other three teams to win six straight by 1-4 points over the past 75 years: LSU (2020), Utah (1986), Murray State (1981). The Wolverines will try to break the streak (or will they?) on Friday at home against Michigan State. I’m looking forward to being there; it’ll be my first trip to Ann Arbor.
• Northern Arizona is set to do something really cool by temporarily switching its moniker and logo scheme from Lumberjacks to Astrojacks, due to Flagstaff’s history of studying the cosmos. I need this gear.
• Last week, Inside Carolina reported powers-that-be at North Carolina are considering building a new arena in a different spot, off campus, to eventually replace the Dean E. Smith Center. As historic as the Dean Dome is, UNC should do this. Ideally, UNC hires the firm responsible for Baylor’s new building. It shouldn’t be Baylor-sized, but there’s a great (and expensive) opportunity for one of the premier programs in the country to up its esteem by building a state-of-the-art spot.
• Seton Hall’s win over UConn was a stunner in many ways, including this one: It was the first time a reigning national champion lost a team at least 12 games below .500 entering the game since 7-19 USC beat Arizona 91-90 in OT on March 5, 1998.
• Here’s a did-you-know: Wisconsin has won 10-plus Big Ten games 21 times in the past 24 seasons, which is tops in the league. After rolling Illinois for their latest dominant W, do the Badgers finally have your attention yet?
• So many great mid-major players, but Oscar Cluff of South Dakota State really might be the best. His 18 double-doubles are tied for second-most in D-I, and his seven games of 15+ points and 15+ rebounds lead the country.
• Micah Shrewsberry’s rising rant Sunday night after Notre Dame’s loss to Louisville brought to mind Dan Hurley’s famous “You better get us now, because … it’s coming” presser from 2021. I’m not saying ND is a future national champion under Shrews, but I do think he’ll have a Top 25 team within 24 months of today.
• I interviewed Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill, the vice chair of the selection committee, Saturday on CBS Sports HQ. (Watch below.) In the nine seasons of the mid-February bracket reveal, Kansas (8) leads with the most appearances, followed by Duke (7), Tennessee (7), Arizona (6), Purdue (6), Houston (6), Baylor (6) and Gonzaga (6). The longest active streaks belong to Purdue, Tennessee and Kansas with four apiece.
