Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson waves around the final part of the net after cutting it down following the team’s 69-50 win over Tennessee during an Elite Eight men’s basketball game in the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, Sunday, March 30, 2025.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
University of Houston fans cheered and celebrated March 22 in Wichita, Kan., as Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars defeated Gonzaga to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
That same day, half the country away, in Sampson’s hometown of Pembroke, N.C., members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina were celebrating too. That Saturday was the 2025 BraveNation Powwow and Gathering at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, a celebration of Native American traditions and culture.
Amid the excitement of the powwow, people still thought about Sampson, a member of the tribe. Someone brought a big banner expressing support for the coach and the Cougars, said John Oxendine, a Lumbee Tribe leader, and a large group gathered around it.
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“We took a really big photo and sent it to Kelvin just to let him know that, hey, we’re rooting for you,” Oxendine said. “We got your back.”
But the Lumbee Tribe doesn’t just have his back every March.
It roots all year round for Sampson, the only Native American head coach to lead a team to the Final Four, the first in 2002 as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners.
“He’s a big vision of hope,” Oxendine said.
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The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is based in the southeastern part of the state. The name comes from the Lumbee River, which has helped sustain Native Americans in the area for centuries.
It is the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River.
“We’re a non-federally recognized Native American tribe in southeastern North Carolina that’s fought prejudice and racism our entire lives,” Sampson said in 2021 ahead of the Cougars’ Final Four game versus Baylor. “A big source of pride is that we stayed with each other and we took care of each other.”
Sampson grew up in Pembroke, home of the tribe’s headquarters. His father, John Willie “Ned” Sampson, is highly regarded in the Lumbee community. Ned, who died in 2014, was a high school basketball coach who worked other jobs during the summers to provide for his family.
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Ned also was an important figure, Oxendine said, in the Battle of Hayes Pond that saw hundreds of Lumbees run the Klu Klux Klan out of town when they scheduled a rally near Maxton, N.C.
The KKK never returned, Oxendine added.
“I’m very proud of Pembroke, very proud to be part of Lumbee Nation,” Sampson said during that 2021 press conference.
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson is seen during the second half of a college basketball game in the first round of the men’s NCAA Tournament at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan., Thursday, March 20, 2025.
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Basketball, like in many Native American communities across the country, is a popular and important part of the Lumbee Tribe. Oxendine, a self-described gym rat growing up, said the sport connects Lumbee people.
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Danyel Jolicoeur witnessed that growing up three decades ago and still sees it today. She notices children still play basketball in area parks and yards while fans pack into gyms to watch middle school and high school teams.
Sampson connects the community too. Shirts with his name on them are sold during Lumbee’s homecoming activities, Jolicoeur said. During a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new high school fieldhouse, she recalled someone standing up to say how proud they were of Sampson and that everyone should make sure to watch his game that night.
Even this week, Jolicoeur was in the produce section of a local grocery store when someone asked her if she was ready to watch Kelvin.
“You don’t have to say ‘Kelvin who?’” Jolicoeur said. “Everybody knows who you’re talking about.”
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Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson is seen during the first half of a Midwest Regional semifinal basketball game in the NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Friday, March 28, 2025.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Jolicoeur, like Sampson, is a Lumbee basketball legend. At Division II Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C, where she played in the early 2000s, Jolicoeur still ranks among the top three all-time in points scored, blocks and rebounds. She then played professionally in Belgium, the first Lumbee, man or woman, to go pro.
When she later returned to southeastern North Carolina, Jolicoeur coached high school basketball. She now teaches at an elementary school and coaches a middle school AAU team. Sampson, she said, is an inspiration to her students.
“I hope that one of our little Lumbees will see him and say, ‘Why not me?'” Jolicoeur said. “Not ‘Can I do that?’ But ‘Why not?’ And strive to do it and put in the work and not stop until it happens. Dream big, just like Kelvin.”
But it is not just Lumbee people who can look at Sampson on Saturday and dream big.
Brent Cahwee — co-founder of the website NDNSPORTS.com, which covers and highlights Native American athletes and coaches — said other communities see Sampson’s pride in his heritage and support him.
“Indigenous communities all across the United States are going to be tuning in to the Final Four, like the whole United States will be, and they’re going to be pulling for Coach Sampson,” Cahwee said.
Oxendine will be one of the many watching Saturday night in North Carolina.
When asked what he would say if he had the chance to travel to San Antonio and say something to Sampson on behalf of the Lumbee Tribe, Oxendine emphasized gratitude and support.
“I would definitely say thank you,” Oxendine said. “We love you. We got your back, and just know that win, lose or draw, we’re proud of you.”
