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Kelvin Sampson didnt say a word. Before Oklahoma played at Texas on Feb. 2, he simply glared at a newspaper clip in which UTs James Thomas called the Sooners "cocky and self-centered." Then, the coach focused his cobalt eyes on his team. Sampsons players, well-schooled in the Kelvin scale of intensity, promptly went out and beat -- and beat up -- the Longhorns. "We feed off Coach," says OU power forward Jozsef Szendrei.

Friend: The Terps can't do without Dixon Kirkpatrick: Gooden & Collison lead the Jayhawks Forde: Tough defense is the standard in Con-USA Liang: Haslem is comes up big for the Gators. Burton: Don't question Duke's toughness Feldman: Sampson's teaching are getting through Hockensmith: Dickau knows how to finish Wojciechowski: Johnson makes or breaks the Illini Thamel: UConn women are more than their starters Hodes: Look out for the women of the Big 12 Hodes: Lady Cardinals believe in Magic

And theyre only getting hungrier. After coldcocking the Big 12 with a brass-knuckles style, Oklahoma may be ready to bully its way to its first Final Four since 1988. The teams success is spurred by in-your-grill defense and suffocating pressure, spearheaded by junior guard Hollis Price. The Sooners led the Big 12 in turnover margin (plus-4.1) and were second in scoring D (65.2). As with almost all of Sampsons eight OU squads, these guys dont make a whole lot of friends on the court. Kansas forward Drew Gooden, for one, calls them flat-out dirty. Like the Sooners could give a flying hoot. Says Szendrei, a 6'9", 240-pound Hungarian goulash of muscles and menacing scowls: "Id rather be called dirty than soft."

From the second a new recruit steps on campus, Sampson is pushing toughness (in 6 a.m. preseason conditioning drills) and discipline (through his zero tolerance for crap). His favorite testimonial: The coach lost count of how many times he tossed out Cincy transfer forward Aaron McGhee from practice a year ago; now Sampson proudly calls "Ace" his most consistent player. "People dont understand," he says, "but one thing you can teach is courage.

Sampson learned that lesson from his own coach at Pembroke (N.C.) High: Ned Sampson. Ned and wife Eva, both Native Americans, raised their four kids on the nearby Lumbee Indian reservation. When Kelvin was 2, his father was part of a group of Native Americans and African-Americans who broke up a KKK rally, an event pictured on the cover of Life. Kelvin may have been too young to remember his dads brave stance, but he had a lifetime to study the mans work ethic: Ned wasnt just a coach, he also sold encyclopedias and insurance door-to-door, and worked in the tobacco market. Kelvin also inherited Neds tireless spirit. "His gym had no heat, no AC," Sampson says. "He was there because he loved teaching."

Now, his son does the teaching. Sometimes, without saying a word.

This article appears in the March 18 issue of ESPN The Magazine.