When every Big 12 men’s basketball coach converges on downtown Kansas City, Missouri, for the league tournament next week, I hope we get some more insights into graduation like we did from Houston’s Kelvin Sampson on Wednesday.
A video shared by Chris Baldwin of PaperCity Magazine peeled the onion back on Sampson’s view of education and the importance of obtaining a degree when his players come to Houston for basketball.
As of late 2025, Houston reported an 82% student-athlete graduation rate, a 26-point improvement across the last two decades. Sampson himself has four rostered seniors (forward Kalifa Sakho, guard Emanuel Sharp, guard Milos Uzan and guard Ramon Walker) that he expects to walk the stage after basketball season is in the rear view.
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Sampson acknowledged that freshmen stars Chris Cenac Jr. and Kingston Flemings, two players with high potential for the upcoming NBA Draft in June. While it’s not Sampson’s decision whether they stay or go, one has to wonder just how much of an effort are coaches like Sampson making to get their youthful talent to hang around?
Around the Big 12 Conference
This college basketball season already saw the phenomenon of an NBA Draft pick, James Nnaji, return to the sport after seeing his name called two years ago. Are players rethinking the college ceiling now that there’s money to be made, and how much of an education is being obtained when making millions on the hardwood?
On Wednesday, former Kansas star Christian Braun shared with The Old Man And The Three podcast that he amassed somewhere around $60,000 in his final season as a Jayhawk. That kind of cash, for better or worse, can do a lot more than write a few essays, and it’s certainly enough to convince an 18-year-old to hang around school.
The average NBA rookie salary lands between $8-9 million, and while that’s some serious cash, it won’t be long before colleges are competing with that figure while offering a major advantage in the process: the college experience. You can’t replicate that in the real world, and it’s evident players are beginning to think twice about it.
AJ Dybantsa, another Big 12 star, is floating the possibility of finishing his degree at BYU and avoiding this year’s NBA Draft altogether for another year of college eligibility.
Where does it go from here? We’re at a crossroads where money is dividing student athletes and their families on what the right decision is, and, frankly, the education choice is emerging as the safest option while still pulling down big-time dollars for playing basketball a handful of months out of the year.
Could this be the silver lining?
