Houston coach Kelvin Sampson cries foul on NIL 'Now It's Legal' recruiting rant: 'We're poor'

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson says it's only a matter of time before the Cougars fail to keep pace with other elite programs in recruiting because of his school's NIL situation, a factor he cites as an unfortunate reality for one of college basketball's non-bluebloods.

After signing the nation's No. 3 class in the 2025 cycle, Sampson's eighth-ranked Cougars are 20-2 this season coming off an appearance in last year's national championship game, the program's sixth straight run in the NCAA Tournament to the second weekend or further.

Sampson's long-winded NIL rant came after Wednesday night's 79-55 win over UCF.

"We participate in NIL like everybody else, we know what our kids' market value is," Sampson said. "Trust me, they're not starving here. They're getting exactly what the market is for them. We have a very poor athletic department. We're poor. We're poor when I got here and we're still poor. We probably have the lowest budget of anybody in Power Four. 

"The way our recruiting's going, we're going to have to stop it at some point because we don't have the money to keep bringing in good players. That's not easy for us to do. People ask about recruiting ... teams that have the best recruiting classes usually have the most money. That's the way it is today."

Per Front Office Sports, men's college basketball players account for collectively 20.9% of revenue-sharing dollars for the average school in the 2025-26 academic year. Last summer's House v. NCAA settlement allows schools to share up to $20.5 million annually with athletes, most of which goes to football.

While NIL and revenue share contracts are not public, if estimated figures are accurate at Houston, that would total around $4.3 million the Cougars would have to divvy up to their basketball roster. Some schools that are hoops-heavy likely have a larger portion of the pie earmarked for basketball.

For context, Houston's football program won 10 games this season under second-year coach Wille Fritz and recently welcomed the nation's 44th-best recruiting class to campus.

Duke, Michigan State and Kansas currently hold the top basketball classes for 2026. In the 2025 cycle, only Duke and Arizona were slotted ahead of Houston in recruiting.

247Sports Director of Basketball Eric Bossi says there's a noticeable recent recruiting uptick at Houston under Sampson, who's been able to navigate the new era without much worry -- at least up to this point.

"Houston does a great job of identifying prospects who fit their mentality and their culture," Bossi said. "And when you combine that with the success that they've had in developing guys for the NBA, particularly some lesser-known guys, like the Marcus Sassers of the world, their pitch has resonated and been effective with today's high school recruit, and they are able to get into some doors they previously were not able to.

"I don't think anything has particularly changed in their recruiting strategy. They have always cared about fit in terms of style of play and, more importantly, fit in the culture of the locker room and on a day-to-day basis in the program. They are going after the same type of guys. They are just able to do it at a higher level because of the success that they have been having."

Sampson signed three of the nation's top 20-rated players last cycle and currently has the No. 16 and No. 55 overall prospects in tow for 2026, per 247Sports. That puts Houston at No. 24 nationally in recruiting for next year.

"We signed Ikenna (Alozie) and Arafan (Diane) for (2026) early, and a lot these kids we have will come back, but who knows who else we'll sign ... it depends on how much money we have," Sampson said. "It's not about who we want to sign, it's who can we afford to sign? Even though we've been doing this NIL thing, it still feels funny for me to even say that. It's like a culture shock that it's even coming out of my mouth. 

"For so many years, it's illegal to do that. It's legal now, that's why they call it NIL -- now it's legal."

Sampson mentioned several depth pieces that Houston was able to retain this offseason, but there's no guarantee that level of commitment happens again after the current season.

"I never thought Mercy (Miller) would leave, but I'm around him every day, so I have an advantage because I coach him," Sampson said. "It was a big deal he came back. It was a big deal for Chase (McCarty). Ramon (Walker Jr.) came back. Ced (Cedric Lath) came back. Jacob (McFarland). All our guys came back, so that helps us."

Sampson's 319-86 overall at Houston since taking over in 2014, which includes two trips to the Final Four.