Leaving Oklahoma for Illinois is not the no-brainer some think it is.
— Kelvin Sampson
I learned quickly in the NBA that you keep one eye open at all times and one ear closed. You can't react to everything you hear or see.
Pembroke is my foundation. Everything that I've become is because of those people.
You just have to be secure and understand what your beliefs are and how determined you are.
It's a big deal to get to the NCAA Tournament.
I learned to be more flexible offensively, to not talk as much in practice.
Scott Skiles is one of the best coaches in the NBA, someone I observe and learn from on a day-to-day basis.
As an outsider, when you think of Indiana, you think about a place that not only has championships but a championship tradition.
The people who know me, know me. Those are the only ones I worry about.
I'm really proud of what we are building at the University of Houston, and hope I spend the rest of my career here.
Kevin McHale was a master communicator and knows how to coach stars, and that's a unique gift because you take an old-school guy that's used to coaching his way, he'd have a hard time coaching them cats now, but Kevin knows how, and he has the patience of Job.
There are incredible decisions made in a 48-minute game with a 24-second shot clock and the last two minutes of a game.
I like that there is a lot of work to be done.
I was comfortable in Pullman; I really was.
Nobody believed in us. Everybody made fun of Houston basketball. I can't say I blamed 'em.
My heading was NBA head coach. I didn't want to be back in college for a lot of reasons.
Sometimes players just take a little while to develop.
In this business, a lot of coaches are running around thinking they're the reason their teams are winning.
I didn't realize the difference between coaching college and coaching the NBA. It's a totally different animal.
No one would have ever thought College GameDay would be coming to the University of Houston, I know that.
Iowa State's a great team; I know how tough they are in Ames.
Getting to the NBA really helped me personally on a lot of levels. I liked it so much that I wanted to stay there.
There were a lot of things that happened at Indiana that I was proud of.
The thing that surprised me is you hear a lot about NBA guys, do they really want to be coached? My experience is they really do want to be coached. They want a plan: 'How are we going to win the game?' And they'll follow that plan.
I came to Indiana for one reason: I think you can win championships at Indiana.
I just coach my team. I just focus on coaching my team.
The reason you get into coaching in the first place is to help and develop, try to make people better.
Scott Skiles was a master tactician - they're all masters, but he is elite. He knew how to manipulate his team from an X's-and-O's standpoint.
The one thing that young coaches should do is if there is an NBA team in your area, get to training camp and see the coaching that goes on.
What's an easier way to say 'bad?' Let's go with 'abysmal.'
I liked coaching in an underdog situation.
The coaching community is really tight-knit.
You remember all your teachers.
Washington State was a tough recruiting spot.
When I left college ball, I think I was prepared to coach a team, but I don't think I was prepared to help the team win.
Being Native American, we were different than everybody else, but I never felt like I was different.
Little old University of Houston jumping up, swinging with the big boys, and that's something to take pride in. I'm happy for our fans, I'm happy for our alumni, but more importantly, I'm happy for our players.
I have never intentionally provided false and misleading information to the NCAA.
Coaching is what I love to do, and I think I'm pretty good at it.
I've been taking off my tie for a lot of years. When I take it off, I usually throw it down.
I've always been a goal-oriented person.
When I was at Oklahoma, I didn't think it could get any bigger than that.
The most important thing in the world to me is my faith and my family.
You choose who you want to be.
Any time you work with your son, it's special.
I learned a lot in the NBA.
I didn't want to end my coaching career as an assistant in the NBA.
We have the wrong people chasing Osama bin Laden. It ought to be athletic directors and reporters. They'll find you.
If you are an Oklahoma football fan, you have one of the best football programs in the nation.
I have made the very difficult decision to leave my position as head coach of the men's basketball team at Indiana University.
