BUTTE, Mont. -- Indiana men's basketball coach Kelvin
Sampson, who started his college coaching career at Montana Tech,
has donated $50,000 toward the cost of renovating the school's
physical education building.
Sampson's signature will be embossed on the gym floor.
Sampson spoke Sunday at a breakfast in Butte kicking off the
"Project Dreams" fundraising effort, which seeks to raise
$400,000 for the work.
Tech athletic director Joe McClafferty, who played basketball
for Sampson at Tech, said the funding goal is nearly half met.
He said Sampson's signature on the court will serve as a
reminder that "dreams do come true."
Sampson, 51, urged strong backing for the renovation, for the
college in general and for Montana Tech's efforts to stay
competitive in the Frontier Conference and the NAIA.
"If Montana Tech wants to be competitive in this league, it has
to improve its facilities," Sampson said. "Not many schools
combine academics with athletics like Montana Tech. It remains
today my toughest recruiting" that he's had to do as a coach,
Sampson said.
Sampson said his $50,000 donation "does not even come close to
repaying" the school and Butte for the opportunities and good
treatment he and his wife, Karen, received.
"If not for Montana Tech, I would probably have been coaching
high school basketball in North Carolina and would've been proud to
do it," Sampson said.
Sampson coached at Montana Tech from 1981-86 and left to become
an assistant coach at Washington State. He became head coach there
before moving on to Oklahoma in 1994. He was twice named the
national coach of the year and led Oklahoma to a Final Four
appearance. He was named head coach at Indiana in March 2006.
------
Information from: The Montana Standard,
http://www.mtstandard.com