Campaign clasps were authorized for wear on the Sampson Medal, showing various battles and the ship name which had participated. When worn as a ribbon on a military uniform, there were no devices authorized.
The Sampson Medal was declared a commemorative medal shortly after its issuance and never appeared on official U.S. Navy award precedence charts. The decoration was nevertheless worn on active duty uniforms, typically following the Spanish Campaign Medal. The decoration was issued under the same criteria as the West Indies Campaign Medal, and U.S. Navy regulations prohibited service members from receiving both medals for the same period of duty.
The Sampson Medal was also known as the West Indies Naval Campaign Medal. A similar commemorative decoration was the Dewey Medal, considered senior to the Sampson Medal.
Sampson averaged 23 wins per season during his 12-year Oklahoma career, and the Sooners were sixth in the nation with 156 victories and a.776 winning percentage from 1999-00 to 2004-05.
Sampson also holds the Big 12 record for most combined regular season and conference tournament wins (he was 128-56) and holds the mark for most overall wins by a conference coach since the Big 12 was formed (he was 239-87).
Sampson was born on Oct. 5, 1955, in Laurinburg, N.C. He was raised in Pembroke, N.C. and was an all-league three-sport star (football, basketball and baseball) at Pembroke High School.