Sampson's father makes difficult journey

ATLANTA (AP) _ Ned Sampson is determined to see his son coach in the biggest game of his life. <br><br>Six days after surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain, the father of Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson

Saturday, March 30th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ATLANTA (AP) _ Ned Sampson is determined to see his son coach in the biggest game of his life.

Six days after surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain, the father of Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson flew from San Jose to Atlanta so he could be in town for Saturday's game between the Sooners and Indiana.

``Being at this game is really important to him,'' said Kelvin Sampson, who spent Thursday morning in the hotel room with his tuckered-out, 72-year-old dad.

A week ago, team trainers realized there was something wrong when Ned Sampson stumbled off the bus and into a chain-link fence while the team was in San Jose for the West Regional.

He was admitted to the hospital, and when he woke up from surgery, he was watching the Sooners defeat Missouri in the regional final.

A few hours later, the team was in the hospital room, and Sooners forward Aaron McGhee was hanging the net he had cut down a few hours earlier around Ned Sampson's neck.

``The thing that really blew my mind was he was in a wheelchair,'' Sooners guard Hollis Price said. ``As soon as we walked in the door, he's telling us how good, how tough we played. I'm thinking he was going to be in bed lying down, sick. But it shows you how tough he is.''

Price thinks Ned Sampson's toughness rubbed off on his son.

As a kid, Ned Sampson used to bring Kelvin with him to a number of odd jobs during the summer. Among them was working at a tin-roofed tobacco warehouse in the scorching North Carolina heat.

``He taught driver's ed. He sold World Book Encyclopedias. He sold life insurance. He worked the tobacco market,'' Kelvin Sampson said. ``It's just the way it was.''

The hard part growing up turned into a rough road in the coaching business. The Sampsons are Lumbee Indians, and Kelvin Sampson grew up in a rough world for men of color.

When Sampson told his father he wanted to be a basketball coach, Ned figured he'd max out at a high school somewhere in North Carolina.

``The first time he told me he wanted to be a college coach I just said, 'That's fine,''' Ned Sampson told USA Today.

After five seasons at Montana Tech, nine more at Washington State and eight at Oklahoma, Sampson has reached the pinnacle of his profession.

He and Indiana coach Mike Davis are the fifth and sixth minority coaches to make it to the Final Four. They're the first pair of minorities to coach against each other on the sport's biggest stage.

Ned Sampson is determined not to miss it.

``If at all possible, he'll be at the game,'' Kelvin Sampson said. ``I'm hoping he will be.''