PROVIDENCE, R.I. - After a record-setting season for the Houston men's basketball program, head coach Kelvin Sampson was recognized as a Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year Semifinalist by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

In 2018-19, Sampson has led the Cougars to one of the best seasons in school history with a 29-2 overall record and 16-2 mark in American Athletic Conference play entering postseason play. With the Cougars' 85-69 win at No. 20/19 Cincinnati on Sunday, Houston captured the outright American Athletic Conference regular-season championship, a first for the program since 1984.

The Cougars won their first 15 games to open the season before falling at Temple in early January but rallied with a 12-game winning streak following that setback. They are the first team in American men's basketball history to have multiple 12-game win streaks in a season.

Houston's 29 regular-season wins set a school single-season mark and topped the previous record of 28 victories by the 1967-68 team.

Under Sampson's leadership, the Cougars are poised for their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and the 15th NCAA postseason appearance of his outstanding career.

Senior guard Corey Davis Jr. and junior guard Armoni Brooks were named to the All-American Athletic Conference team earlier Monday, while guard Nate Hinton was recognized as a member of the league's All-Freshman Team.

Sampson has previously been recognized as National Coach of the Year twice during his career. He was named National Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in 1994-95 after leading Oklahoma to a 23-9 record in his first season with the Sooners.

He was named National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Coach of the Year in 2001-02 after leading Oklahoma to the NCAA Final Four, the Big 12 Tournament championship and a 31-5 record.

Sampson joins Rick Barnes (Tennessee), Chris Beard (Texas Tech), Tony Bennett (Virginia), John Calipari (Kentucky), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Nate Oats (Buffalo), Matt Painter (Purdue), Roy Williams (North Carolina) and Mike Young (Wofford) as semifinalists.

Four finalists will be chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's national voting academy, comprised of leading journalists from around the country, current and former head coaches, former award winners and conference commissioners, all of whom based their selections on outstanding coaching performances during the 2018-19 season.

THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The American Athletic Conference (The American), a member of the NCAA, was reconstituted in 2013. With the conference office in Providence, Rhode Island, The American is comprised of the following institutions: UCF, Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Navy (in football only), USF, SMU, Temple, Tulane and Tulsa and Wichita State. Under the leadership of Commissioner Mike Aresco, The American sponsors 22 championships - 10 for men and 12 for women; is a member of the College Football Playoff; began new television partnerships with ESPN and CBS Sports in 2014; and has a marketing partnership with Learfield IMG College. For more information, please visit www.TheAmerican.org.