Everything Kelvin Sampson said about Jamal Shead's injury: Houston coach addresses ankle sprain

Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson offered reporters an update on star player Jamal Shead after he suffered an ankle sprain in the Cougars' Sweet 16 matchup against Duke on Friday.

Shead suffered his injury on a drive to the hoop with just over 6:50 left in the first half and the Cougars leading the Blue Devils 16-10. He planted his foot and it turned as he went for the layup, causing him to miss the basket. He was on the floor in obvious pain with his jersey pulled over his face as he was tended to by athletic trainers. Shead walked off the court with assistance but did not return to action.

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The 6-foot-1 senior from Manor, Texas, had X-rays at halftime with negative results, according to the school. He had his ankle re-taped at halftime, with Houston reportedly open to a potential return. The 1-seeded Cougars fell to 4 seed Duke 54-51 without the Big 12 player of the year and first-team All-American, who averaged 12.9 points and 6.3 assists per game.

"Well, it doesn't feel like a fair fight. You would have to take maybe two of theirs to equal one of Jamal. That's how good he was," Sampson said postgame. "He's a first-team All-American. You don't have another one of those. You don't have the best defensive player in the Big 12. You don't have a guy that made all the big shots at the end.

"I thought our kids battled. Think about it. We had the ball a couple of times to take the lead late in the game. So it's not like we lost Jamal. OK, the game was lost. No, we still battled, but that's our identity. That's our culture. That's who we are. We felt like we had a good enough team to get to Arizona. It was unfortunate that that team wasn't able to stay together."

Here is everything Sampson said about Shead's injury.

Jamal Shead injury update

Following the game, Sampson was immediately asked about the status of his star player. Sampson provided an update to reporters.

"Grade 4 sprain. He is probably going to be out four to six weeks. That was a really tough locker room at halftime," Sampson said (via ASAP Sports transcripts). "It didn't take a lot to convince those kids that we could still win. That's just kind of what we've done all year. We've dealt with this all year. As far as answering your question what did it mean ultimately, he is a first-team All-American. He is a Big 12 Player of the Year. He's a Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He's the heart and soul of this team.

"I doubt any team in America has — maybe [Zach] Edey from Purdue — that means as much to their team as Jamal means to this team. There's just not another Jamal. He was the best player on the floor tonight. He's been the best player on the floor every game we've played this year except a few."

The Cougars earned a 1 seed following their third straight 30-win season with a defense that ranked No. 1 in scoring, allowing an FBS-low 57.6 points per game. Houston beat 16 seed Longwood and 9 seed Texas A&M to advance to the Sweet 16, in large part due to Shead.

"We got a 1 seed because of his leadership, his toughness, his ability to make everybody better," Sampson said. "We didn't have another — we don't have another Jamal. You say, 'Well, who is your point guard to replace Jamal?' We don't have a point guard to replace Jamal. Those guys are — we've had guys to go in and rest him, but get him back in. Sometimes that's just God's work. It just wasn't our time."

The timing of Shead's injury, coupled with the close nature of the game, naturally raises questions as to whether Houston could have won had he remained healthy. Following his exit, the Blue Devils ended the half on a 13-6 run to take a 23-22 halftime lead.

Despite being without Shead, Houston never trailed Duke by more than six, meaning the Cougars were able to hang around without their second-leading scorer and leading assister. The Houston coach was unwilling to play the "what-if" game when asked whether his team would have won had Shead remained in the game.

Said Sampson:

"I'm not going to answer that."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Kelvin Sampson gives update on Jamal Shead's ankle injury vs Duke in Sweet 16