Senior Night.

The Hoosiers don't play again until Wednesday night at Northwestern. That lull in the schedule allowed Kelvin Sampson to travel to Norman, Okla. to walk with his son, Kellen, on Senior Night at Oklahoma.



According the the various wire reports and other articles, Sampson, who won a higher percentage of his games than any OU coach, was received warmly by Sooner fans. At this time last season, although he did face the threat of NCAA sanctions, Kelvin Sampson was entrenched at a school where he won over 70 percent of his games, won two Big XII tournament titles, qualified for the NCAA Tournament every season but one, and reached the 2002 Final Four. So, why would Kelvin walk away from that and come to IU? Daily Oklahoman columnist John Rohde gives us some insight on that:

OU fans did not embarrass themselves, other than there being 1,000 empty seats.
Not even free T-shirts on Senior Night on Big Monday with No. 3 Kansas in the
building can fill Lloyd Noble these days.)

The pressure of coaching at IU can be intense, but Kelvin will never again have to worry about 1,000 empty seats for a game against a top 5 opponent on Senior Night. Some coaches thrive on the pressure inherent in a program of IU's stature, while others shrink from it. We won't know for a while whether Sampson will become one of IU's all-time great coaches, but I think it's obvious that he has the personality for a place like IU. We haven't had that in a while.

Another interesting tidbit from the OU coverage that I don't recall seeing in the Indiana media: Kellen Sampson will join his dad's staff at IU next season.