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.
Despite 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.
Their 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.
"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."
For 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.
The 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).