Story time with Sampson: Reading matters

Volume 1 of a series of stories with Kelvin Sampson

When Maisy Sampson, the granddaughter of Houston men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, finishes a book, she FaceTimes him, holding it up to the camera.

“Okay, tell me what it was about, Maisy,” Sampson says, “because I want to see if I want to read it.”

The 8-year-old is currently reading Descendants Diaries, a series Sampson, known as Papa to his grandchildren, gifted her for Christmas.

“Maisy is a voracious reader,” Sampson said. “She loves to read.”

For the Cougars’ coach, nurturing Maisy’s generation begins with sharing his own love of reading, which he celebrated during the Champions for Literacy Fight for Literacy game. He proudly wore a green book pin to show his support for increasing literacy in America and for young children struggling to read in Houston.

While sharing, he reflected upon his holiday visit to Lockhart Elementary in the Third Ward, recalling the energy and excitement that the teachers and students there maintained.

“There are some really highly intelligent kids in these communities who, given the opportunity, are all going to do great things,” he said. “But there are a lot of kids that don’t have access to books.”

That is why promoting literacy is so important to him. 

“If you have a child that can’t read, read to them,” he said.

That is what he did for his own children, Lauren and Kellen. Still, his coaching obligations sometimes prevented him from attending a reading session.

“They got upset when I didn’t read to them because I would act it out, make it more than just reading a book,” Sampson said. 

Their love of reading grew into a tradition that brings players and coaches into his home the night before home games for film sessions. The in-home sessions allowed him to keep reading bedtime stories to his children, a habit he still considers essential in a world dominated by screens and technology.

“And if you have a child that’s old enough, instead of getting them a video game, get them a book, he said. “Get them a book about video games. Let them read the book.”