Sampson to Lead USA 20-and-Under Squad This Summer

NORMAN, Okla. Back for his fifth tour of duty with USA Basketball, University of Oklahoma mentor Kelvin Sampson returns this summer to guide the 2004 USA World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Team.

Assisting Sampson on the sidelines will be Marquette University head coach Tom Crean and University of Minnesota head coach Dan Monson. Chaired by former University of Virginia Athletics Director and collegiate head coach Terry Holland, the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee selected the coaching staff and is charged with the player selection of the 2004 squad as well.

The 2004 USA Young Men's Team will compete July 28 -Aug. 1 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in the FIBA Americas World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Tournament. Finalists for the USA Team, which will compete against seven other teams from the Americas for one of the three Americas Zone qualifying berths for the 2005 FIBA World Championships For Young Men, will be selected following trials July 16-18 at the New Jersey Nets practice facility in East Rutherford, N.J. Any male athlete who is a U.S. citizen and is 20-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1984) is eligible for the 2004 USA Basketball World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Team.

The World Championship For Young Men and its zone qualifying tournaments are held every four years. Originally held in 1993 and known as the FIBA 22 And Under World Championship, it was designed for men 22-years-old or younger. FIBA lowered the age eligibility to 21-years-old or younger in December 1998 and changed the competition name to the World Championship For Young Men. The USA has qualified for all three previous World Championship For Young Men tournaments and has compiled a 22-2 overall record while winning gold medals in 1993 and 2001. The American squads have also compiled a 15-2 win-loss record in the three World Championship For Young Men Qualifying tournaments, winning gold in 1996 and silver in 2000 and 1993.

"It's an honor, really, just to be considered by USA Basketball for this position and to be named coach is extremely flattering," noted Sampson. "This is going to be an exciting event. The United States is in the process of restoring itself as the dominant basketball power in the world and this will be a great opportunity to accomplish that. The coaching staff is eager to make the trip home from Canada with a gold medal in hand."

In 10 seasons at Oklahoma, Sampson has led his teams to nine NCAA Tournament berths, including the Final Four in 2002. His overall head coaching record stands at 410-240 (.631 winning percentage) and his 234-92 mark at OU gives him the highest winning percentage of any coach in the school's history at .718.

After piecing together seven straight 20-win seasons, during which the Sooners averaged over 25 wins a year, last season Sampson guided a young and injury plagued team to a 20-11 record and an NIT appearance. In the three seasons prior to 2003-04, Sampson's Oklahoma teams won three consecutive Big 12 Tournament Championships and seven NCAA Tournament games.

In 2002-03, his Sooners finished 27-7 and were ranked No.3 in the final Associated Press regular season poll. In 2001-02, Sampson coached Oklahoma to a 31-5 record and to the school's fourth Final Four appearance. The 31 victories tied for the second most in single-season school history. That same season, Sampson took home National Coach of the Year honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and from Chevrolet.

In 1995, the AP, Basketball Weekly and United States Basketball Writers Association recognized Sampson as Coach of the Year after he led the Sooners to a 23-9 overall record. The solid season earned Sampson's squad a No. 4 seeding in the NCAA Tournament's southeast regional.

Sampson is also a nine-year member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches board and served as the organization's president in 2003-2004.

Quickly becoming a staple in the USA Basketball coaching circle, Sampson most recently served as an assistant coach under George Karl for the 2002 USA Men's World Championship Team that finished 6-3 and in sixth place in the 14th FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis, Ind. Prior to coaching at the World Championship, Sampson guided the 1995 USA Junior World Championship Team to a 4-4 record at the FIBA Junior World Championship in Athens, Greece.

In the summer of 1994, Sampson was selected to serve as an assistant to then-USC head coach George Raveling at the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia. The USA team earned a bronze medal, then following the Goodwill Games, competed in an exhibition game against a USA Basketball Senior National Team made up of NBA standouts who were preparing for the 1994 FIBA World Championship.

In 1993, Sampson was selected head coach of the West team at the U.S. Olympic Festival in San Antonio, Texas, and his squad won the silver medal.

Sampson was a member of USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee from 1997-2000. The committee was responsible for the selection of coaches and players who represented USA Basketball at various collegiate level international competitions such as the Goodwill Games, FIBA 22 and Under World Championships, World University Games, FIBA Junior World Championships and others.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sampson to Lead USA 20-and-Under Squad This Summer

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