In Houston's success, Kelvin Sampson finds redemption March Madness - ESPN

DALLAS — The reclamation journey of Kelvin Sampson came to an abrupt end in the NCAA tournament.

His top-seeded Houston team fell to the blue-blooded 4-seed Duke on Friday, 54-51. The Cougars were without their star guard and leading scorer Jamal Shead — who went down while driving the lane with an ankle sprain late in the first half — for most of the game.

Even without its star, Houston proved to be a tough out. It ended the season for Sampson — his 10th with the program — who was once considered too hot for major programs to touch.

Waiting for Duke in Dallas, Sunday, will be 11-seed NC State in an all-ACC South Region final and a trip to Phoenix and the Final Four on the line.

«It just wasn't our time,» Sampson said, summing up the loss of Shead and the Sweet 16 game.

Sampson's Cougars spent the final three weeks of the regular season ranked No. 1 in the AP top 25. The Connecticut Huskies were the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, but Houston was the top seed in the South Region. They were also a 1-seed in last year's tournament.

«It's kind of funny watching us being ranked No. 1 in the nation,'' Sampson said after the Cougars' overtime victory over Texas A&M in the second round. „I know our fans do. But our fans don't really know us.''

They may not really know Sampson, either. The details of his career are public: Before Houston, the 68-year-old Sampson had stints at Washington State, Oklahoma and Indiana — leading the Sooners to the NCAA tournament in all but one of his 12 seasons, including the 2002 Final Four. He is 20th in coaching wins, with 764 on the NCAA's all-time list.

But at Indiana, he was penalized for sending text messages to recruits — against NCAA rules at the time — and was forced out.

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