NCAA basketball: 5 bold predictions for the AAC in 2020-2021

AAC basketball Coach of the Year: Kelvin Sampson, Houston

Houston, as stated, should be the likely winner of the AAC this season, which would obviously put Kelvin Sampson into the conversation to win the conference Coach of the Year honors. But even if Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers were to edge out the Cougars in the regular season standings, the argument should be that Sampson still deserves the nod for this award.

The job that Hardaway has done as a recruiter since arriving at Memphis has been nothing short of remarkable, landing the top class in the country in 2019 and landing a top-10 player in the class for his encore effort. Bringing in that level of talent deserves recognition but, on some level, it’s a less impressive job than what Sampson has done at Houston to be at the same level of quality.

For as good as the Cougars have been in recent years, the Cougars aren’t out here landing the biggest fish in recruiting. Instead, Sampson has been a master of player development with the program, finding diamonds in the rough and polishing them up relentlessly until they are able to outshine the rest of the AAC.

With the strength of the Houston roster right now largely being predicated on what Sampson has done as a coach, that speaks to his merit as the possible Coach of the Year. And with the Cougars likely either winning or finishing second in the AAC this season, it would be too dismissive to not give him this award in recognition of what he’s done with the program.