Kelvin Sampson made headlines two weeks ago when he suggested Houston‘s athletic department is “very poor” when it comes to its NIL — name, image and likeness — resources, especially when compared to other Big 12 programs like free-spending Texas Tech. The 70-year veteran Cougars head coach walked those comments back a day later, attributing Houston’s NIL issues with the fact that it has only been in the league three seasons.

“I shouldn’t have said we’re poor,” Sampson said Feb. 5. “We’re not poor. We’re anything but poor. We’ve got a great athletic department. The NIL thing, though, that’s not a bottomless pit. You’ve got to continue to work at that. And the schools that have been in the Big 12 the longest, they have an advantage.”

Houston, along with the other Big 12 newcomers, received only a partial share of the conference’s annual revenue share during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years as part of a two-year phase in. This year, though, all 16 members of the league should receive the full share of the Big 12’s media rights revenue.

Still, Sampson’s claim that the Cougars are “poor” caused quite the stir among the college basketball community, including eliciting some hilarious reactions from his fellow coaching colleagues. The Field Of 68‘s Jeff Goodman even got in on the fun during a recent sit-down with Sampson.

“I heard that you’re poor,” Goodman joked as he slid a $100 bill across the table to Sampson. “I heard you don’t have a lot of money these days, … so I wanted to help you out.”

That’s when Sampson revealed UCLA head coach Mick Cronin had the best response to his “poor” claim.

“You know, Mick Cronin had the best line,” Sampson said. “So, he Venmos me a dollar — he actually sent it to (son and Houston assistant) Kellen to give to me — and he said, ‘Yo man, I heard your schtick at your postgame press conference. You’ve got to learn not to say certain things. But I did get that you don’t have very much, so here’s a dollar.’”

Kelvin Sampson: ‘I have to’ work on NIL in-season

Sampson said NIL still requires a year-round effort. In fact, he had discussions with son and assistant coach Kellen, as well as Houston football coach Willie Fritz about how to improve the team’s NIL purse. Of course, Kelvin Sampson knows working on NIL during the season comes with the territory in the new era of college basketball. It’s part of being competitive in the race for a national championship.

“I run the basketball program,” Sampson said. “I’m not going to sit there and wait for them to come to me, and neither is Willie. He and I have had some awesome, awesome conversations, just exchanging idea. We’ve been around a little bit.

“But this NIL thing, every year – I look at what other programs are doing. Kellen and I spend a lot of time. We’re doing NIL this week. I have to. We want to continue to win, but you’ve got to keep working at it.”

— On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.