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Forbes
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
If It's Houston, And If It's The Final Four, Well, Florida Had To Win
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - APRIL 05: Head Coach Kelvin Sampson of the Houston Cougars reacts during the ... More second half in the Final Four game of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against the Duke Blue Devils at the Alamodome on April 05, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by) They had this Monday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, and not just because the college basketball budget for the Houston Cougars of Phi Slama Jama lore was $11.1 million this season compared to $8.4 million for the Florida Gators, who traditionally care more about blocking and tackling than picks and rolls. Houston owned that 12-point lead during the championship game of the Final Four on the verge of the school's first national title. 'Yeah, I'm just going through those last two possessions more than anything else,' Houston coach Kelvin Sampson told me and other reporters after 'those last two possesions' for the Cougars were bungled along the way to that 12-point lead becoming a 65-63 loss when his team forgot how to score. 'Incomprehensible in that sitaution we couldn't get a shot, couldnt't get a shot,' Sampson said, repeating himself since he still couldn't believe what he witnessed moments earlier. And, yes, it was incomprehensible. In fact, with the Cougars ahead 42-30 to continue their first-half explosiveness against Florida inside the closing 16 minutes, you could see it. You could feel it. You also could hear it since most of the packed house of 66,602 folks in the Alamodome weren't exactly doing Gator Claps across the way. Those among the sea of Houston red, which stretched from near courtside to the back parts of the upper deck, knew this one was for Hakeem Olajuwon. And for Clyde Drexler. And for Guy Lewis. And for the rest of those Phil Slama Jama folks who spent three consecutive Final Four appearances through 1984 (in order) dribbling too young for the moment against North Carolina and some guy named Michael Jordan, failing to counter the pixie dust of Jim Valvano's North Carolina State miracle bunch and lacking the NBA-departed Olajuwon to slay Patrick Ewing and Georgetown. SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - APRIL 07: Walter Clayton Jr. #1 of the Florida Gators celebrate a win during ... More the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship game at Alamodome on April 07, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) Actually, Florida had to win, and the Gators promptly did just that after they kept clawing back when Houston went from flawless during most of the evening to dreadful when it counted the most. Here's why Florida had to win: It has been all about the Gators and most of their conference pals throughout March Madness, otherwsise known as the SEC Invitational. A record 14 of the SEC's 16 teams made the men's NCAA basketball tournament this time, and that included Florida and Auburn as No. 1 seeds. Auburn was the No. 1 overall seed. Even so, the Gators shocked the Tigers in Saturday's semifinals of the Final Four after overcoming a nine-point deficit in the second half. Florida also surged to victory during the Elite Eight after trailing Texas Tech by 10 points. The Gators finished 7-4 this season when down at halftime along the way to the SEC's first national championship since Kentucky in 2012. That was back during the dark ages when the SEC hugged only football. Now, courtesy of the conference's growing love affair with hoops, its already hefty payroll from 11 different schools appearing in the College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014 (including six national championship teams) got fatter this spring. The NCAA calculates the March Madness money it sends to each conference by the number of teams in each conference participating in games before the championship game. Since the SEC played 35 tournament games this season, the conference will get approximately $70 million, which is another NCAA record. Much of the credit for the SEC's mighty basketball payday goes to Florida finding ways to make Todd Golden the youngest head coach ever to win a men's Final Four since the tournament expanded in 1985. SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - APRIL 07: Head coach Todd Golden of the Florida Gators celebrates after ... More defeating the Houston Cougars in the National Championship of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Alamodome on April 07, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by) 'I mean, I'm super proud obviously, but I'm just a piece of the puzzle,' said Golden, the 39-year-old (and nine months) owner of 13 double-digit comebacks during his three years with the Gators. 'I've been able to put together an incredible staff and recruit great student-athletes over these last three years.' There was Walter Clayton Jr., for instance. Clayton became the 2025 Final Four's Most Outstanding Player with his 134 points over the six tournament games. That said, Will Richard is Florida's other guard, and he did the most to keep his team from vanishing totally on offense in the first half with 14 of the Gators' 28 points overall. Then came the second half, when Florida surged and Houston slumped, but Houston is known to do such things. Ask those Phil Slama Jama folks.
Axios
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Axios
Florida Gators defeat Houston Cougars in NCAA championship
The Houston Cougars fell to the Florida Gators in Monday's NCAA men's basketball championship game. Why it matters: The loss was the Coogs' first national championship try since 1984 and signifies the team's growth in the last decade. Driving the news: The Florida Gators outscored Houston 65-63 in the March Madness finale in San Antonio. Catch up quick: Houston blew through most of the competition in this year's tournament, topping SIU Edwardsville, Gonzaga, Purdue and Tennessee before facing the Duke Blue Devils in the Final Four. Duke led for nearly the entire game, but Houston went on a 9-0 scoring run in the last 35 seconds to secure the victory. The intrigue: Despite the championship loss, it's the furthest the team has gotten in March Madness since Phi Slama Jama greats like Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler contended for back-to-back championships in the mid-1980s. The Coogs' recent success is thanks to veteran coach Kelvin Sampson, who took over the team in the 2014-15 season after years of losing seasons and zero March Madness wins since 1984.
USA Today
07-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
What is Phi Slama Jama? Looking back at Houston basketball's famous 1980s teams
What is Phi Slama Jama? Looking back at Houston basketball's famous 1980s teams Show Caption Hide Caption Kelvin Sampson's funny response to historic Houston win over Duke Kelvin Sampson and Houston pulled off a historic comeback against Duke in the Final Four and the legendary coach has funny reaction when hearing the stat. Sports Pulse Houston men's basketball has become a machine under coach Kelvin Sampson, an unlikely national juggernaut that has risen to the upper echelon of the sport after spending the better part of the previous 30 years in the metaphorical wilderness. Since the start of the 2018-19 season, Sampson's fifth at the helm, the Cougars have gone 216-35, winning an absurd 86.1% of their games. They've made it to at least the Sweet 16 in each of the past six seasons in which there has been an NCAA Tournament. In each of the past three tournaments, they've earned a No. 1 seed. They've made two Final Fours in the past five seasons. Perhaps most impressively, they seamlessly made the transition from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12, posting a 34-4 record in their first two seasons in arguably the most difficult league in the country. On Monday night, all those years of building Houston up from a commuter school that played in front of small crowds in a dingy, outdated arena into a model of sustained success will culminate with a national championship game appearance against Florida. REQUIRED READING: Kelvin Sampson's old-school Houston program is a reminder of a disappearing era For all the Cougars have accomplished in recent years, a list that could soon include a national title, the program is perhaps best known for a group of players it had 40 years ago. In the early 1980s, at what could still be considered the zenith of Houston basketball, the Cougars were carried by a group of stars that earned one of the greatest, most memorable nicknames in American sports history — Phi Slama Jama. As Houston prepares to take part in the national title game for the first time since the halcyon days of Phi Slama Jama, here's a closer look at those iconic Cougars teams: What is Phi Slama Jama? Phi Slama Jama was the moniker given to Houston's men's basketball team during the 1982-83 season, with the label later encompassing a three-year stretch, from 1981-84, in which the Cougars made the Final Four every season. The legendary nickname was born from an otherwise forgettable game, a 112-58 rout of Pacific on Jan. 2, 1983. Among those in attendance was Thomas Bonk, a sports columnist for the Houston Post writing about the game. While racking his brain to try to come up with a compelling column about 54-point blowout, he eventually struck gold. 'I thought 'Well, let's see. They had 10 dunks. What would you call a dunking fraternity?'' Bonk said in 'Phi Slama Jama,' a 2016 ESPN documentary about the eponymous Houston teams. 'Well, you've got to start with 'Phi.' Then, OK, 'Phi Gamma,' how about 'Slama'? And then 'Jama' goes with that because slams and jams go together, so it became Phi Slama Jama.' The name wasn't casually dropped deep into his column, either, instead appearing in the opening sentence in the Jan. 4 edition of the paper: As members of the exclusive college roundball fraternity Phi Slama Jama, the Houston chapter has learned proper parliamentary procedure. The following day, Bonk received a call from Frank Schultz, an assistant athletic director at Houston, commending him for the name and asking if the school could use it. Bonk agreed and the nickname quickly caught fire, with the university, its fans and players embracing what became popularly known as 'Texas' Tallest Fraternity.' 'It happened overnight,' Schultz said in the ESPN documentary. 'The marketing department, the media, everybody read the column by Tommy Bonk, saw the name. (The players) just fell in love with the name Phi Slama Jama.' Who was on Phi Slama Jama? Houston's success in the early 1980s was made possible by a talented group of players who helped turn Phi Slama Jama from a regional curiosity into a national phenomenon. The most famous members of the team were Hakeem Olajuwon (who was known then as Akeem) and Clyde Drexler, who went on to combine for 22 all-star appearances in the NBA and won an NBA title together in 1995 with, fittingly, the Houston Rockets. Both men are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Olajuwon was with the Cougars for all three years of Phi Slama Jama while Drexler left for the NBA in 1983 after his junior season. Those Houston teams also included forward Michael Young, guard Rob Williams, forward Larry Micheaux, guard Alvin Franklin and forward Benny Anders, among other standouts. Young — who led the Cougars in scoring in the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons — Williams, and Micheaux all went on to play in the NBA. REQUIRED READING: On a team of unsung heroes, Joseph Tugler stands out as Houston nears March Madness title Phi Slama Jama coach The maestro of Houston's Phi Slama Jama teams was coach Guy Lewis, who led the Cougars from 1956-86. Lewis' teams, particularly during Phi Slama Jama's run, employed an up-tempo, entertaining style. True to Phi Slama Jama's name, Houston's teams in the early 1980s were known for their dunking prowess, which came only a few years after the dunk had been banned at the college level for nearly a decade. Over his 30 years with the Cougars, Lewis' teams went 592-279 and made five Final Fours. Lewis was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013 and the court at Houston's arena, the Fertitta Center, is named after him. Did Phi Slama Jama win a championship? For all its dunks and wins, Phi Slama Jama was never able to cut down the nets and win a national championship. The Cougars made the Final Four in three consecutive seasons from 1982-84, but never won it all. That run included losses in the national championship game in 1983 and 1984, the first of which they entered as a sizable favorite before falling 54-52 to NC State on a buzzer-beating put-back dunk from Lorenzo Charles that's one of the most famous plays in college basketball history. Despite not winning a championship, Houston went 88-16 over those three seasons.
Associated Press
07-04-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
March Madness wraps in Florida-Houston matchup pitting tourney's best defense vs best clutch player
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The national title game between Florida and Houston could come down to the NCAA Tournament's best clutch player against the country's best clutch defense. Walter Clayton Jr., leads the Gators into Monday night's final against a long-armed Cougars defense that has snuffed out every team it has seen over this run to its first title game since 1984. That was the end of the 'Phi Slama Jama' era that featured Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. Houston (35-4) has never won a title. The Gators (35-4) are one win away from their third championship and first since they went back-to-back in 2006-07. Clayton, a high school football star who chose basketball in college, scored 34 points in Florida's semifinal win against Auburn. He has averaged 24.6 points over five wins in the tournament. In two of those wins, he scored 13 points down the stretch in each to help Florida pull out close games against UConn and Texas Tech. The Cougars, who lead the nation in points and field goal percentage allowed, held the nation's best player, Cooper Flagg, to 1 for 5 shooting over the final 10 1/2 minutes of their win over Duke on Saturday. Flagg's 3-pointer with 3:02 left in the game was the only basket Houston allowed over that stretch. 'We're going to need to have great mental and physical toughness if we want to give ourselves a chance,' said Gators coach Todd Golden, who at 39 would become the first coach younger than 40 to win a national title since Jim Valvano in 1983. Sampson, 69, would surpass UConn's Jim Calhoun as the oldest coach to win a men's basketball Division I national title. He earned his 798th career victory against Duke but this is his first time coaching for the championship. Among his strokes of brilliance at the end of the Duke game was a decision to let his defense do its thing instead of fouling with the Cougars down six and less than a minute to go. Houston's Jojo Tugler blocked Kon Knueppel's shot, then Houston made a 3-pointer on the next possession and went on to score six straight points to win. 'You've been in those situations so many times. It doesn't always work out,' Sampson said. 'If JoJo goes for the shot fake and draws a foul, we're down nine. All of a sudden I'm the dumbest guy ever.'
Wall Street Journal
07-04-2025
- Sport
- Wall Street Journal
We'll Talk About Houston Stunning Duke for a Long Time
All month long, it was Duke this, Duke that, Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke. Well, that's that. Saturday in San Antonio, the Houston Cougars roared back from a seven-point deficit with 86 seconds left to stun the mighty Durham Blue Devils, 70-67, breaking this columnist's—and this august newspaper's—Duke fever and freeing America from another 24 hours of sweaty hype. Now 35-4 Houston plays in Monday night's title game against the 35-4 Florida Gators. Tipoff is at 8:50 p.m. ET. (Yes, it's really at 8:50, because sports must make everything as weird and hard to follow as possible.) The Cougars, who haven't been in the title game since the days of Hakeem Olajuwon and 'Phi Slama Jama,' are seeking the school's first-ever national championship. The Gainesville Gators are chasing their third—and the first since they went back-to-back in 2006 and 2007. It should be a zesty, hard-fought game in the Alamo Dome. These are two hungry top-ranked teams. Can't wait. Still, we need to talk about Houston-Duke, because that one was an all-timer. It's the day after the day after and I don't quite believe what I saw. You can call it a Blue Devils collapse, if it pleases you. I think the Cougars went out and took it. Duke, rolling for a month and an even-money favorite to take the 2025 title, appeared squarely in control. The second semifinal wasn't a back-and-forth battle. Duke was scoring, rebounding, dictating pace. Houston seemed a notch lacking almost every facet of the game. Yes: There were some early minutes in which the Cougars displayed their famous defensive ferocity (they're the nation's top-rated defense) and Duke struggled to get good shots, but…it didn't last. Coach Jon Scheyer's long, tall Blue Devils started finding a way and pouring it on. It stayed that way for three quarters of the game. The Blue Devils were putting the Cougars in the rear view. Houston would make mini-runs and Duke would answer. Scheyer was getting an excellent game from his signature recruit, Mainer Cooper Flagg (27 points), and Duke's fellow super-freshman, Kon Knueppel (16 points). What everybody thought was going to happen was happening. Duke was better. It was obvious. Then, suddenly, it wasn't. With 10 ½ minutes remaining in the game, the Blue Devils went cold. They'd manage only a single field goal the rest of the night. What happened? Houston happened. It was a ruthless comeback. The Cougars, refusing to submit, collected like a fist. They ratcheted up the intensity and started chipping away. Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson is known for punishing practices and obsession with game fitness—a brutal regimen helpful for moments like this. Despite a few runs, Houston had trouble fully closing the deficit, and Duke maintained breathing room. In the closing minutes, when the fouls and endless referee reviews started happening, I did that groan you do when you start seeing end-of-game-fouls and referee reviews. This never works, I thought. This game is cooked. Good night. When Houston's Joseph Tugler got dinged for a technical foul with 1:14 left for slapping the ball out of a Duke inbounder's hand, it felt like the cruel end. It wasn't the end. Duke will relive those closing minutes for a long time. That brickfest from the field, a late miss at the line, a questionable over-the-back foul on Flagg that put Houston's J'Wan Roberts on the stripe…you could start to delude yourself this was some sort of unprovoked cosmic unraveling, the basketball gods conspiring against one of the most polarizing programs. It wasn't a conspiracy. It was Houston. Houston never gave up. They played the better, clearer clutch minutes. They hit their free throws. They squared up on defense against Flagg on Duke's final stand and watched as his jumper hit the front rim. They didn't get this win. They took it. Sampson, a coaching peripatetic who's been at this for more than four decades, alluded to his team's tenacity in his postgame interview. With his jubilant players around him, he told CBS's Tracy Wolfson he'd heard all the 'Duke this, Duke that.' 'Duke's great,' the 69-year-old Sampson said. 'Jon Scheyer is awesome. But don't sleep on Houston…we weren't 34-4 playing in the toy poodle league. We were 19-1 in the Big 12.' First of all, if there is no such thing as the toy poodle league, I would like to start the toy poodle league, because I would enjoy watching it, especially if the toy poodles got name, image, likeness deals for hair ribbons and carry-on bags and got at least one automatic bid into March Madness. Secondly, you know a coach has been around for a while when he says something like the toy poodle league. It's hard not to feel some joy for Sampson, who's toiled at multiple programs and levels and is finally at the doorstep of an incredible career moment. And it's hard not to feel some joy for the Cougar players, who had to listen to all that endless Duke this, Duke that, and Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke. No more. Florida awaits. Uh, 8:50 p.m. ET. Write to Jason Gay at
