Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
INDIANAPOLIS — Some nights Kelvin Sampson’s phone will ring.
Rick Barnes has a question.
“He won’t even say hello. He will just say, you still run your 3-2-zone? I’ll say, yeah,” said Sampson, who is in his 11th season as coach at the University of Houston. “He’ll say, I’m gonna call you tomorrow and talk about that, all right? And just hangs up. Who does that? Rick Barnes.”
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It’s a 40-something-years friendship that has endured the test of time and one of the nastiest college rivalries in the country.
They grew up 165 miles apart in North Carolina. Barnes, known as “Little Ricky from Hickory” who “used to have long hair” during his basketball days at Lenoire-Rhyne University; Sampson played basketball and baseball at Pembroke State (now UNC Pembroke).
Barnes is 70 years old, just 15 months older than Sampson, who will join him in the septuagenarian club in October.
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“We’ve known each other a lifetime,” Barnes said.
Then there’s the dozen years that Barnes (Texas) and Sampson (Oklahoma) spent on different sides of the Red River.
On Sunday, two of the winningest men’s basketball coaches in Division I history will meet in the Elite Eight at Lucas Oil Stadium. Sampson and the No. 1 seed Houston Cougars. Barnes and the No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers. The winner advances to the Final Four in San Antonio with a shot at a first national title.
“If we don’t win it, I hope he does,” said Sampson, who needs three wins to reach 800 in his illustrious 36-year career. “That’s how much I respect him.”
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“We would love to win it, but I would love to see Kelvin Sampson win a national championship,” said Barnes, whose 836 career wins are the most active coaches. “Not this year, you know?”
Through the years, their families have gone on vacation together. They play golf together. Early on, Barnes recalled when the Sampsons let him sleep on the futon at their house.
“Rick is a prankster, jokester, funny as all-get-out,” Sampson said. “Country boy, ‘Little Ricky from Hickory.’”
Even when the two coached on opposite sides in the Red River rivalry. The two coaches squared off 20 times in the Big 12 between 1998-2006. Sampson got the best of Barnes, winning 12 of the meetings.
“Everybody knows what that rivalry is about,” Barnes said. “But we’ve never let any of that get in the way of our friendship. If you knew his pedigree and who he is, he hasn’t changed a bit. He’s the same guy. Highly competitive. Beautiful family. I’m a huge Kelvin Sampson fan. Always will be. He and I will be friends until the day we die.”
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Once the season is over, Sampson and Barnes will go back to North Carolina. They’ll likely spend time together.
Sampson’s phone will inevitably ring.
“Kelvin, I just called to tell you I love you, brother,” Barnes will tell Sampson.
“That’s Rick Barnes,” Sampson added. “He’s one of a kind. I wish we had more like him. He’s just a jewel among jewels. He’s one of the great ones.”
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