Old friends, new rivals

Compared to their personal relationship, IU men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and Kentucky coach Tubby Smith don't have much of a coaching history together. \nDespite the success both coaches have had at Division I programs, the duo's teams have only met once -- 12 years ago, in Sampson's first season at the University of Oklahoma. Sampson's Sooners beat Smith's University of Tulsa squad 76-61. \nTheir next meeting, finally, will be noon Saturday at Rupp Arena, as Sampson looks for his second win over Smith in their series together. It is a pairing devoid of many basketball games but filled with respect, friendship and warmth, Sampson said.\n"There's not a lot of people who, if something happened to you, you would want them to raise your children," Sampson said. "That's the way I feel about Tubby."\nFor their second meeting, Sampson is in his first year in the IU program. And this time, the two friends' squads are bitter enemies with a 50-game, 82-year-old rivalry. \nThe Hoosiers (5-2), though still developing and learning their new coach's system, are coming off a 52-point rout of Western Illinois University on Wednesday. The Hoosiers' two losses have come against now-ranked opponents Butler (No. 15) and Duke (No. 7). \nWith the same amount of wins, Kentucky (5-3) is off to a similar start. The Wildcats' three losses came against ranked powerhouses UCLA (No. 1), North Carolina (No. 3) and Memphis (No. 16). \nWith their teams sitting in similar positions early in the season, Sampson reflected on the beginning of his friendship with Smith in 1977. \nWhen IU's new coach was the point guard at Pembroke State University -- now the University of North Carolina at Pembroke -- Smith had already made his mark on the local basketball scene as a four-year letter-winner at High Point University from 1969 to 1973. Though they never squared off on the hard court, Sampson had the chance to see Smith play numerous times and was impressed. \n"Tubby was the player," Sampson said.\nA few years later, Sampson and Smith began their coaching careers -- and their friendship -- just miles from each other. \nWhen Sampson was student-teaching at Upchurch Junior High School in Raeford, N.C., Smith was the town's high-school coach. Smith came over to the junior high often, Sampson said.\nSince then, the two have forged a friendship that includes coaching but revolves around their families. They take vacations and play golf together. Sampson sent his son Kellen to Smith's camp and Smith has sent his two sons to Sampson's clinics. Even their wives are good friends, Sampson said. \nThis summer, the two visited Kuwait with several other coaches as part of "Operation Hardwood," a USO event that brings athletics and friendly competition to American troops serving in the Middle East. \nBut despite the tournament success of both, Oklahoma never met Kentucky in an NCAA regional. Neither program scheduled the other for a nonconference series, and the coaches haven't met on the court since the 1994 game.\nUntil Saturday.\n"I think one of the reasons why we've always been good friends is that we've kind of come up through this profession similarly," Sampson said. "Tubby's a genuine person. He's just a great guy"