NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 27, 2002

Kelvin Sampson

COACH SAMPSON: Our campus is excited. (Inaudible) We have two teams in the Final Four. Everybody is just ecstatic. (Inaudible) This moment -- it is just a great sports town, especially college athletics (inaudible). We don't have any professional sports in our state so the college (inaudible). This Final Four has really taken everybody by storm. If you ride around and look at the street corners see the vendors selling Final Four tee shirts and all the people outside the businesses wishing you congratulations, wishing you well, and it is nice to see. I think it really gets our kids excited, a lot of people are proud of them and that's one of the great things about being in college , really captivate -- (inaudible) --

COACH SAMPSON: I think if Tubby had taken the Oklahoma job I think Washington state would have been in the PAC-10 the next year. I had a lot of really good players coming back and we felt like we could challenge for a PAC-10 Championship. So life is full of what-ifs, and should-bes, and I don't really like to play that game. He would have done a great job here. If Tubby had taken this job they would have not only gotten a great coach but a great person. In terms of Hollis Price, I think Hollis (inaudible) gets a lot of attention recently, I don't know, I mean, (inaudible) I think it's not in the tradition --(inaudible) programs tend to get a lot of attention traditionally basketball schools, and there's so many people that follow. When we played Connecticut back in Hartford Tims Calhoun was telling me how many beat writers we had, and I thought that was just phenomenal to -- he was telling me like he had 70 some people that covered them on a daily basis. That's a lot of columns. That's a lot of -- I am not sure if I want that much attention, but Hollis Price is getting his just rewards. It is great to see because, he does it the right way on and off the court. They work hard and keep their mouths shut. They go about their business. Their recognition will come. He's an outstanding player but I have said this many times, he's a much better person.

COACH SAMPSON: Great question. I am actually glad you are bringing that up because here's a kid that -- I've never had a scholarship walkon, I have never had one being voted unanimous. He got everybody's vote. Our program is a little bit unique in that we put a lot of emphasis on the off-season. Basketball players are made from April through October. Teams are made from October through April. That's the way that we look at it. Michael is just a huge part of our off-season. We count on our leaders to set a tone in the weight room, conditioning, and pick up games, individual workouts, they have to be leaders. I think it is important to understand that there's a huge responsibility that goes along with that, and Michael had no idea that he would be voted Captain, but it is a by-product of his work, his attitude, and -- he is multi-faceted. At our my Midnight Madness for our opening night practice this year -- Daryan Selvy is one of the best singers that I have ever been around, but Michael has never taken a piano lesson yet he can sit down at a piano and play anything. Right after the bombings in September(inaudible) the one song that people heard a lot that just meant a lot to me was God Bless America and Michael played the piano while Daryan sang God Bless America at our opening night practice. He's a multi-skilled kid. He came here on an engineering scholarship and just got (inaudible) even though he doesn't do a lot on the court once the game starts, he's the Captain of our bench, and we appointed him that. He's responsible for our spirit, doing things to help promote our teamwork and our chemistry. It's a big part of our chemistry is Michael Cano. I can't say enough about him.

COACH SAMPSON: I think we're a great athletic program. I think that's the way that Joe Castiglione wants people to look at it. We have seven National Championships in football. There's a reason why -- people think of Oklahoma, they think of football and here you look at the coaches we have had here, Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer and we have one of those guys in the making right now in Bob Stoops. What he's accomplished and what he's accomplishing. We're very proud of our football tradition here. Basketball is something that has always been important. Look at the coaches we have had in that sport, Bruce Drake, John MacLeod, Dave Bliss. We have had some great, great college basketball coaches here. I am anxious to see next year to see how our fans react to our program. I think we have always -- I think they have always respected us and we have always been good, but we take -- we have taken another step up, and I am anxious to see how our fans react to this one (inaudible) in terms of support (inaudible) things like that, but I have always felt that basketball is important but I just think that, you know, being at a football school it is going to get most of the headlines, especially when you have a football team that's always going to be in a major Bowl game.

COACH SAMPSON: No. I mean, I hear from all kinds of great people all the time, sometimes I wish they never invented that e-mail thing. It's amazing how many people can reach you via e-mail. You hear that all the time and my responses have always been 100% positive but when you ride around town now people recognize me, and they are honking their horn, waiving, and people -- you see more OU flags, you see more people wearing the OU shirts and hats. They take pride in that. It's a phenomenon when your team reaches the Final Four. I just think that people look at you a little bit different now. They react to you a little bit different. It has been real positive.

COACH SAMPSON: I didn't know him as a high school player. I knew Boo Williams. Boo had talked to me about Jason, but I didn't -- at the time we weren't recruiting his position; didn't have a need there. But in the fall, my assistant coach Jim Shaw saw him at a junior college jamboree in St. Louis. They are bring the top 40 junior college kids in the nation to play for two and a half days in St. Louis. Jason was just outstanding. Coach Shaw came back and said this is a kid that we need to get serious about. They got the tape for me to see. I went to see him during the season and I was just impressed. He comes from a great program. His junior college coach's name was Tom Barr. When you talk about intense, organized, disciplined, I think that also helps him too, because our program -- our practices are very similar to that. Jason would adjust really well. It took him a little bit longer than I anticipated but he's played great for us. I remember when Ebi was going through a slump earlier in the year, a little bit of down period Jason had 21 in a game against Kansas State. He kept us in the game. He and Aaron McGhee kept us in the game with Oklahoma State, a game we ended up losing. He just had a good year. I think he's going to get a lot better over the summer and for next year. But he has been a pleasant surprise, been a big part of our success.

COACH SAMPSON: I got up this morning (laughs) about 4 o'clock, and I couldn't go back to sleep. You know why? I said: "We're going to the Final Four." I was so excited about that and it hit me during my private time. I mean when I am by myself. It's exciting. I am like a kid in a candy shop. It's something that I have always, always dreamed about bringing our team to the Final Four and for a head coach it is a special feeling and for some reason I felt so much of Gene Keady because I looked up so much to him and know how close he has been and all the Big 10 Championships he has won and you realize how difficult it is and how lucky and fortunate you are to coach in one of these things. But I have had butterflies and my heart has been going 100 miles an hour since last Saturday in San Jose. It is just an unbelievable feeling. I can't wait to get to Atlanta. I want our kids to enjoy the atmosphere, but we have a really good way of keeping our kids focused on the game because we always talk about our identity and (inaudible) basketball and what it means, but I want them to remember this as a positive experience, but yet go win games.

COACH SAMPSON: Thanks.