Ok, stop! An article on the dismissal of Coach Kelvin Sampson at Indiana University can now be shared. Is winning every thing? Ask IU alumni and you may be shocked at the difference in opinions. What happened at IU? An NCAA report accused Sampson of five "major" violations. The report claimed Sampson gave "false or misleading information" to investigators. It all starts with allegations of Sampson making prohibited phone calls to recruits while he was still under recruiting restrictions because of a similar episode at Oklahoma. According to the report sent to IU, Sampson "failed to deport himself ... with the generally recognized high standard of honesty" and "failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance within the men's basketball program."
Athletic director Rick Greenspan promised that IU would cooperate with all NCAA requests.
"It's regrettable, to say the least, that we are in this position, in regards to these allegations... I personally and professionally am profoundly disappointed that there is even a hint of inappropriate behavior," said Greenspan.
Sampson originally responded,"The allegations that I knowingly acted contrary to the sanctions that occurred while I was at Oklahoma are not true... I have never intentionally provided false or misleading information to the NCAA. I intend to work within the NCAA process on this matter, and I look forward to my opportunity to do so."
On Friday, February 22, 2008 Coach Sampson was suspended by IU. He immediately resigned and signed a release of all claims in exchange for $750,000. Approximately $550,000 was coincidently pledged to IU as a donation by an anonymous donor. IU's next step is to try to salvage team unity and finish the season under interim coach Dan Dakich. The search for a permanent coach will likely begin within the next seven days.As for Sampson, he will likely lay low before circulating a revised resume.
Update 3-25-08:The Dakich experiment was a disaster. Indiana lost its first game in the Big 10 Tournament and in the NCAA Tournament. Comments as to possible coaches appears in the comment section.
Update 3-29-08: WSU coach Tony Bennett has been offered the head coaching job at IU. LINK. While IU expected Bennett to accept the offer and return to the midwest at the school his sister once coached in basketball, he declined. (Keep in mind, the procedure is that an University's agent or attorney contacts the coach's attorney and no direct discussions are held between the University and a prospective coach. That way if it doesn't work out either or both sides can say they never spoke to each other about the job) One way or another, IU will have a new coach inked within 9 days.
Update 4-2-08: Tom Crean has been hired as coach of the Indiana Hoosiers.
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38 comments:
Interesting choice of interim coaches
College sports is all about money!
Did he attend the Bill Belechik school of coaching?
He may have been Bill
Belechik's meantor!
Iron Mike
Good bye good riddance!
Sam Scum! Black eye on IU.
C-ya!
I wouldn't hire that guy to coach my fifth grade girls team!
I'm absolutely totally embarrassed for the Indiana basketball program. They needed to do the right thing. If no tolerance means no tolerance, they needed to get rid of him. And Greenspan should be right behind.
All coaches advertently or inadvertently make mistakes like that.
They made the right decision getting rid of Sampson. He should have never been here in the first place and now we can move ahead with the integrity and character that Indiana basketball is all about.
But it's not the mistake that kills you. It's repeating the mistake. That's not going to happen.
Hey, sounds like an opportunity over there in Bloomington. I guess I will check it out.
Right now, we still have yet to make a decision. Obviously, this is more serious than ever before, but we'll have to talk with the coaches and wait to see if Devin Ebanks will reopen his recruitment.
For the normal coach, three-way phone calls are not a major issue. Now the NCAA says they have an issue with that. If they have an issue with that, that’s not anything that’s going to change my opinion of coach Sampson or the university. Depending on how the university reacts or whatever the NCAA chooses to do in June, I’m not terribly concerned, other than I’m concerned for the kids and concerned for the coaches because this is about the kids.
Just because the NCAA says so, it doesn't make it true. This is a process. This is the first step. How can you make any determinations until the accused party has had an opportunity to respond?
Through extensive and lengthy discussions with our legal counsel, it was concluded that these violations are of a secondary nature because they represented isolated instances. They provided little, if any, recruiting advantage and did not involve any extra benefits.
With so few impermissible calls involving Sampson out of the thousands of recruiting calls made from May 2006 through May 2007, this could not have been a purposeful plan to circumvent the sanction.
Sorry, I'm not interested.
Maybe I can finally get Kelvin to go hunting with me again.
Not sure how many of the authors are real, but in case they are, I will add my two cents. What Sampson did is inexcusable. He was not man enough to call me to tell me he was recruiting E.G. He had sanctions, yet he broke them. While I have no ill will toward the university, I shall never forgive Coach Sampson. Any punishment he gets will be well deserved.
B.W.
Sure enough...
Indiana is cursed for the rest of the season!
Here is what the Seeker sees for IU Coaching job:
30% Steve Alford
30% Scott Drew
25% Sean Miller
10% Bennett
5% Other
How about Dixon?
How about Lon Kruger?
Here is my choice:
• Tony Bennett, Washington State. He's a winner at a place where it's not very easy to win. Washington State went 26-8 last season was in the Top 25 in 2007-2008.
Pat
Sean Miller, Xavier would be my choice, but what do I know about basketball? Pete Gillen, Skip Prosser, and Thad Matta have all coached at Xavier. The Musketeers have won 20 games for the third straight season, and Miller has his team in the final 16 in the NCAA!
Lon Kruger, UNLV; Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt; Scott Drew, Baylor; Keno Davis, Drake; Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois are probable coaching candidates who would accept the job.
Brownwell, Pitino, Barnes, Matta, and Few are very unlikely.
Jeff F.
Update 3-25-08:The Dakich experiment was a disaster. Indiana lost its first game in the Big 10 Tournament and in the NCAA Tournament. Comments as to possible coaches are welcome in the is comment section. Enjoy and we will try to recognize the best prognasticator.
Here is my contribution to the projected list of coaches. It will likely be one of these men:
Tier 1 grand slam choices
1)Rick Petino
2)Thad Matta
3)Bruce Pearl
4)Rick Barnes
Tier 2 a 3 run homer
1)Mike Montgomery
2)Sean Miller
3)Jamie Dixon
4)Toney Bennett
5)Tom Crean
Down here in Gator country, I have heard that IU has offered Billy Donovan a ton of money to come coach the Hoosiers!
Native Gator
Update 3-29-08: Fox has reported that WSU coach Tony Bennett has been offered the head coaching job at IU. LINK on story page. At least one source has confirmed that IU expects Bennett to accept the offer and return to the midwest at the school his sister once coached in basketball. Congratulations to IU on a solid hire assuming the offer was accepted.
Two reasons the offer may not be accepted:
Bennett may be able to choose the Cal job or the LSU job.
The buy out of Bennett's contract, $500,000 may be too much for IU. (Note the buyout of Sean Miller and almost every other employed coach is a lot more.)
Look for a hire to be announced during Final 4! But again, what does the legal world know about contracts or basketball?
Bennett turned down the IU job.
In baseball terminology, the hiring of Tom Crean was a double which is not bad under the circumstances. IU has other problems with players apparently being kicked off the team for attitude, drugs and/or class attendence. Coach Crean has his hands full...
IU Mike
Can Sampson still be punished by the NCAA?
Yes, he can be banned from returning to coaching!
Iron Mike
Who cares about Sampson. Now IU has the "Crean of the crop."
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