Sampson Quotes

It sure is nice to have a coach I can understand again.

Head Coach Kelvin Sampson's Press Conference - IUHoosiers.com

On what the team has worked on since the IUPUI game:
"I think it's important that you know who you are. Being able to define some roles. Xavier came off the bench and helped us in the Southern Illinois game, and he was nowhere to be found in the Western Michigan game. Against IUPUI, he was a little better. Everyone on your team is a role player. Sometimes we get misinformed about the term `role player.' We tend to stereotype that phrase. Everybody is a role player. D.J. is a role player. His role is just a little bit different than some of the other ones. A.J. is a role player. Earl is a role player. Errek Suhr is a role player. Sometimes you need to revisit what their role is for them, and that is really what this time has been about. You still get upset about turnovers, about missing a block-out assignment, not going hard on a cut. Not having a game to prepare for right away is good for us. We have 11 games the next 35 days starting Saturday. Once you start playing a lot of games, you really don't have a lot of time to work on yourself. You are preparing for your next opponent. Today we'll really get into Ball State. The last three days we really worked hard on the Hoosiers, today we'll start working on Ball State."

And he even mentions Coach Knight... a name that has been Taboo on the IU campus since 2000.

On Coach Knight:
"When Coach Knight first came into the Big 12, I think there was a huge curiosity factor with the fans at all the schools. Texas Tech was always in the league, but when he showed up it was a different Texas Tech. ... I think he sold out every arena when he first got to the Big 12 because of his persona. It's Coach Knight. Everybody remembers him from his national championships at Indiana. He just has that presence about him. ... I remember the first time I saw him was 1979. ... Even then he just had an incredible presence. Most coaches won't admit this, but when you coach a game, sometimes you can feel a guy at the other end and sometimes you can't. I think all coaches are good, but there are some that have a presence about them. You always know when you are coaching against a guy like Coach Knight because of his presence. I think, for our sport that I've been incredibly fortunate to be a part of for these years, I think it's perfect the two winningest coaches in the history of the game are Coach Knight and Coach Smith. They're absolutely the best. Coach Knight will win as many as he wants to win. He's got it going at Texas Tech now, and I don't know how much longer he wants to coach, but he'll put that mark to wherever he wants it. It was an honor to coach against him, and it's an honor to be a coach. ... The fact you get to live in this era to see a living legend do his business and do something like that, we're all fortunate to be able to see it."