Indianapolis – Rick Barnes and Kelvin Sampson are so old friends that they played against each other at the Northern Carolina University almost 50 years ago, when Barnes had long and sliding hair.
They were trained long enough for Sampson to remember that they made trips together sponsored by Converse. Their friendship has survived eight years of overlap in the rivalry of the Red River with Barnes in Texas and Sampson in Oklahoma.
And while the Houston n ° 1 team of Sampson clashes against team n ° 2 of the Tennessee de Barnes in the elite eight Sunday, it is clear that their relationship transcends the traditional trading of compliments which serves as an annual March rite.
“I love Kelvin Sampson,” said Barnes on Saturday.
“I love Rick Barnes,” said Sampson. “It’s my guy.” He then stopped and smiled: “Except for the two hours tomorrow.”
Increasingly in North Carolina in training in Big 12 at the adversity spent at the end of their career, there is enough connective tissue between old friends. Sampson teases that the Barnes Twang in North Carolina is strong because it is mountains – Little Ricky of Hickory – and Sampson is closer to the coast.
In addition to friendship and dialect, they are also active coaches with the most victories without national championship. This is a distinction that highlights their careers in the temple of fame and highlights the urgency of the opportunity on Sunday.
Barnes, 70, has 836 victories. He has the greatest number of victories in division I of any active active coach. He has 33 victories behind Bob Huggins, who has the most victories of all time without a national title. Sampson, 69, won 797 victories, which includes his stay in Montana Tech at the start of her career. This puts it in second position on the active list without title.
“If we don’t win it, I hope he will do it,” said Sampson. “It’s how much I respect it.”
Sampson made two last trips, in 2002 in Oklahoma and one to Houston in 2021, which was played here at Lucas Oil Stadium. Barnes reached the Final Four for the last time in 2003 in Texas, a team led by TJ Ford. He has Tennessee in the Elite Eight for the second consecutive year, because Tennessee is once again in a match in the first Final Four of the school.
The two project themselves as trainers of the renowned temple, but they were going to pass more quickly into the process by browning their impressive summaries with a national title.
Everyone has a distinct style, defined by a hard edge and an intensity that infiltrates the touch line on the ground. It is not surprising that Houston has defensive efficiency n ° 1 of the country on kenpom.com and Tennessee is n ° 3. The two teams have thrived this season due to stronger offenses than usual – Houston is n ° 12 and Tennessee is n ° 17 – but this game will be much more likely in the 1950s than in the 1990s.
The winner will be one of the stories of the Final Four, a veteran coach looking for this brilliant moment. A victory for Houston would mark his seventh trip to the Final Four; Its six appearances already mark the most by a program without national title. Flights, on the other hand, are impatient of a breakthrough.
“It would be a great honor for us to do so,” said Barnes.
Each coach did some of his best work in what is presumed to be their last judgment, because Sampson led Houston to six consecutive Sweet 16 after his Indiana shot led to a passage in the NBA from 2008 to 2014. Although it is the longest active sequence of Sweet 16, Sampson said that this issue would be seven if it was not for Michigan, Jordan Miracle-Bourdement-Bourdement against Michigan.
Barnes has Tennessee in a golden era because they reached seven consecutive NCAA tournaments and have never been classified worse than n ° 5.
The success of Sampson and Barnes occurs at a time when many of their peers are disabled by the transient nature of the transfer portal and zero. Sampson said he had tried to stay optimistic and see the positive points in sport.
“Tomorrow will be a big match between two very proud programs in Tennessee and Houston,” he said. “I hope that for two hours, people realize that it’s always a big match.”
We will leave the field a winner, but a friendship is sure to last.
“I warmed my heart last night to see him hold his grandson,” said Barnes about Sampson. “We grew up together and we get old together.”
