Tennessee's Rick Barnes and Houston's Kelvin Sampson have known each other since the 1970s. They are coaching against each other in the Elite Eight.

As Houston and Tennessee clashed in the Elite Eight, the spotlight extended beyond the court to two of college basketball’s most respected coaches—Kelvin Sampson and Rick Barnes. Their relationship, spanning nearly 40 years,

Kelvin Sampson’s phone will ring. Rick Barnes has a question. “He won’t even say hello. He will just say, you still run your 3-2-zone? I’ll say, yeah,” said Sampson, who is in his 11th season as coach at the University of Houston.