11 Posts
Houston’s Kelvin Sampson knows his Cougars are carrying the Lone Star State on their shoulders this weekend in San Antonio.
That’s why neutrals should root for Houston in the Final Four, he told CNN’s Coy Wire.
“Well, we’re in the state of Texas. We’re the first team from this state to participate in the Final Four in the state of Texas,” he said. “We got a lot of great universities, whether it’s Baylor, (Texas) Tech, University of Texas, (Texas) A&M, TCU, Rice, Texas Southern. We got a lot of great schools in this state, and this is one week we can all come together. Go Cougs!”
The nature of the Final Four is that almost every college basketball fan is left with their school watching the games from home on TV. For the vast majority of us, our brackets busted weeks ago.
So, who should those fans at home without a dog in the fight root for? Here’s the pitch that Florida head coach Todd Golden gave to CNN’s Coy Wire for his Gators:
“I think we represent the common man and woman. You know, we have the underdogs. We have a chip on our shoulder,” he said. “None of our players were crazy, highly regarded recruits, none of our coaches were guys with these decorated, past or history, but we’re a group of underdogs that play, compete, with that chip on our shoulder. And you know, that’s who we embody, and that’s who we’ve been all year.”
A coach doesn’t get to this round of the tournament without being a strong leader. And strong leaders are always thinking about leadership itself.
So, CNN’s Coy Wire wanted to know: What do the four coaches remaining in the tournament think makes a strong leader?
Here’s what they said:
Florida’s Todd Golden: “I think being consistent is really important, making sure you’re providing a good example for the people that you’re leading. And, you know, fortunately for me, we have really mature, veteran guys in our program that compete the right way. And you know, as part of our success is the fact that we’ve been consistent all year now.”
Auburn’s Bruce Pearl: “Just trust in your players, trust in your staff, everybody making sacrifices for the greater good. Understand that when we as a team are successful, you as an individual will benefit far more than if you as an individual are successful and the team fails. All these kids cared about all year long is winning.”
Houston’s Kelvin Sampson: “Respect. Respect the people you’re leading, and make sure they understand that we’re doing this together. And somewhere along the way, I’ve learned the importance of being a servant leader and not a boss. I like working with people and helping them become better at whatever they’re doing, and I think that should always be a joint effort.”
Duke’s Jon Scheyer: “I’ve learned that in order to ask anybody to do anything, you better be willing to do it yourself. And that’s something I’ve always tried to take pride in, you know, I’ve tried to use the fact that I’m younger to get out there with our guys when possible. But end of the day, I don’t think you can ask them to do anything you’re not willing to do yourself.”
If there’s one freshman in the country who will be ready to handle the intense pressure of the Final Four, it’s Cooper Flagg.
The nation’s top recruit came to Duke and immediately was the most watched player in the nation. All through the season, he’s had every eye in every arena trained on him and been talked about more than any other player.
How has he handled that pressure? By averaging almost 19 points per game to lead the team, grabbing an average of 7.5 rebounds and being a defensive force close to the basket.
“It’s just the work and hours you put in,” Flagg said of the source of his confidence. “So many hours I’ve been in the gym by myself, with my trainer Matt this year, working on the skills, putting in the hours that you just trust that. It’s just coming from game experience, being in the moments, just trusting what you’ve done to get to where you are.”
Houston’s suffocating defense might be just the powerful Duke offense’s kryptonite.
The veteran Cougars only allow a little more than 58 points per game on average and hold their opponents to just 38% shooting from the field. They rely on a combination of intensity and familiarity with one another – star guard Milos Uzan is the only player they brought in during last year’s transfer window and 80% of the team’s minutes are from players who were on the team last season.
If the Cougars are able to clamp down on Cooper Flagg and company in front of the huge crowd at the Alamodome, the Lone Star State might well be represented in the national title game on Monday.
“You have to give them a lot of credit for what they’ve been able to do all year long with the pressure and the effort they play with every single night,” Flagg told reporters Friday. “I think that’s the biggest thing from watching all the film and whatnot. Just seeing the amount of effort and pressure they’re able to put on teams is the biggest thing I’ve seen so far.”
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer added, “I would just say been fortunate or not fortunate to coach against these guys a couple times. One in a scrimmage, then last year in the Sweet 16. Just watching them on film, any Coach Sampson team, you talk about five guys moving as one on defense, they’re the epitome of that. Whenever something is happening, you see five guys always moving. So, the window of opportunity you have is smaller than a regular game you play.”
The University of Houston Cougars are the only team in San Antonio that traveled the actual road to the Final Four for this weekend’s games. The Alamodome is just three short hours west on Interstate 10 from campus and there’s going to be a red-and-white parade of vehicles heading deep into the heart of Texas for Saturday.
The Cougars will need every ounce of that collective energy to overcome a Duke squad that has looked unstoppable for vast swaths of the last month.
The Blue Devils have only had one game in which they were tested during this run to the Final Four, overcoming a tough Arizona test in the Sweet 16. Otherwise the closest game they had was in the Elite Eight, when they cruised past Alabama in a 20-point win.
Led by Cooper Flagg, who could be named the Naismith Player of the Year on Sunday as the best player in men’s college basketball after already winning the AP’s player of the year award, Duke is firmly the favorite for to take home the national championship trophy on Monday. Flagg and fellow freshmen Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach lead the way, but the veteran leadership and experience provided by junior Tyrese Proctor and graduate student Sion James make Duke look like a juggernaut on paper.
“First of all, they don’t have any freshmen. They were freshmen in November and December. They were sophomores in January and February. March and April, they’re vets,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said.
“I watch Cooper Flagg. … It’s hard to say what he’s not good at. Now, he’s not as great at some things as he is at others. His floor is really good at everything. But his ceiling is just his size, finishes with his left hand around the paint, right hand has a floater, can make a three. Really good free throw shooter. If you double him, you better get there quick ‘cause he can pass.”
Florida Gators’ recent run of success – winners of 10 straight games dating back to February 25 and 34-4 this season – has Bruce Pearl feeling like his Auburn Tigers are the underdog, even if they’re the top overall seed in the tournament.
“We’re probably considered the fourth best team here right now,” Pearl said Thursday. “There is nothing new. I prefer the underdog role rather than having to prove that we’re as good as we say we are. So, we’re going to take that underdog role into the Final Four and see if we can capitalize on it.”
Pearl said he feels like Florida is playing the best basketball of the teams left in the tournament.
“I’ve seen enough Florida tape to make me sick,” he said Friday with a smile. “They’re really good.”
The only other time these two intraconference foes faced each other this season was on February 8 when the Gators went into Auburn’s home arena and ended the Tigers’ 14-game winning streak.
Led by Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin, who played in the Final Four with Florida Atlantic University two years ago, the Gators will look to use their high-flying offense that averages 85 points per game to outrun the Tigers. But Auburn has the SEC player of the year in Johni Broome and an offense that can hang with the Gators.
Usually late-season tournament matchups between conference foes lead to coaches having a quiet confidence. The level of familiarity that teams build with each other during the conference season usually gives coaches or players enough of an insight on how to beat each other.
Florida head coach Todd Golden told reporters that he’s feeling good about the Gators’ chance to get by the Tigers one more time.
“Our teams know each other really well at this point. We are going to show these guys what we call our keys in personnel probably three more times before the ball goes in the air,” Golden said. “I would venture to guess Will (Richard, senior guard) could tell you player-by-player right now the tendencies that each of these Auburn players have, what they like to run, whether it is out of bounds, halfcourt, on the sidelines. That’s more of us as coaches covering our butts saying you were prepared to do these things.
“We have to play hard, defend well, be physical, rebound well, we have to be strong with the ball and take care of it, just do the things we’ve done all year to make us really, really consistent. The great thing is we have shot-makers on the team, and you have to make shots to win the game.”
CNN’s Coy Wire got the chance to ask each of the four coaches of the teams left in the men’s basketball tournament about their keys to leadership.
It’s certainly been a campaign to remember for the SEC.
Traditionally, the SEC sports world orbits around football but the 2024-25 season saw the SEC take over the mantle of best basketball conference in the nation.
The two teams that can claim championships this year – Auburn in the regular season, Florida in the conference tournament – are the last two teams standing and will guarantee that a SEC team will be playing for a national title on Monday.
“It is clear that the SEC was had the best efficiency margin over any league the past 20 years, I believe,” said Todd Golden, Florida’s head coach. “The success that the league has had in the tournament has been pretty amazing. To your point, whether it’s us or Auburn, one of us is going to be playing for a national championship on Monday night. I think that speaks enough for itself.”
The two top teams from that conference have taken far different routes to get to this point. Auburn had comfortable victories over Alabama State, Creighton, Michigan before a tougher Elite Eight test from Michigan State to get to San Antonio.
Florida, meanwhile, has been close to being the first top seed knocked out of the tournament on a couple different occasions – after rolling against Norfolk State, the Gators only just survived the reigning two-time champion UConn in the round of 32 and faced another stern test in the Elite Eight with a survive-and-advance win over Texas Tech in which they trailed by double-digits at one point.
The road to the Final Four has led us to the cavernous Alamodome in San Antonio, a Texas-sized venue for a Texas-sized group of teams.
Here’s the schedule for today’s Final Four:
- No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 1 Florida (6 p.m. ET on CBS)
- No. 1 Duke vs. No. 1 Houston (8:49 p.m. ET on CBS)
