When speaking with Houston Cougars men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, there are two crucial rules to remember: never call him Kevin, and always pronounce Gonzaga correctly.
The 69-year-old head coach has guided Houston to a level of success not seen since the early 1980s, boasting a Final Four appearance and leading the Cougars to a No. 1 seed in the Midwest region of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. After defeating the SIU Edwardsville Cougars in the first round, Houston is set to face the 9-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs for a chance to reach their fifth consecutive Sweet Sixteen and sixth in seven years. Before the game, however, Sampson insisted on ensuring at least one reporter pronounced his opponent’s name correctly.
Do NOT mispronounce Gonzaga in front of KeLvin Sampson pic.twitter.com/5040iiQ7qD
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 21, 2025
During a media engagement on Friday, when a reporter referred to Gonzaga as ‘Gun-zah-ga,’ Sampson quickly interjected, saying, “Gon-zaa-ga. It always burns me up when people say that. It’s like calling me Kevin. My name is not Kevin. My mother used to say, ‘Don’t let people call you Kevin; your name is Kelvin. Make sure they pronounce your name right.’ So that’s why my antennas go up with that. Same with Gon-zaa-ga. They were our neighbors. And it’s not ‘Spo-kane,’ it’s not ‘Gon-zah-ga,’ it’s ‘Gon-zaa-ga’ and it’s ‘Spo-can.’”
Fair enough, Kevin.
