NCAA Investigation into Indiana Basketball Program

[NastyDogg72]

What is starting to piss me off about this situation is that IU is singling out Sampson from the rest of the IU basketball team, saying that they should punish the coaches and not punish the players because the players are "innocent of any transgressions".

Isn't Sampson part of IU basektball? Are the players that Sampson was able to recruit illegally to play for Indiana part of IU basketball?

If either or both of those are yeses, then IU basketball deserves to be punished, not just IU coaches. The only "innocent victims" here are the players that are still with the team from the Mike Davis regime. I feel bad for them right now, because they are exactly where we were just a short couple of years ago when Matta and players that had nothing to do with Boban or the 1999 Final Four team were punished for something that they had nothing to do with.

But one thing has to be taken into consideration as far as the players are concerned. They have no control over how many times a coach calls them.

The root of these allegations are that Sampson participated in three way calls that were initiated by an assistant coach who was making a permissable phone call. How is a high school kid on the other end of a phone supposed to do anything about a coach pushing a button on a phone on his end and turning it into a three way call?

While these kids are prospective student athletes it isn't their responsibility to know the rules of NCAA compliance, that is the coaches job. Once they become a student athlete at the university of their choice they are then educated by the university compliance department as of the rules and they sign a contract with the NCAA to follow those rules.

The Fab Five at TSUN and the O'Brien saga here at tOSU are a different set of circumstances altogether. These were the actual student athletes choosing to accept unallowed benefits. Don't take me the wrong way punishment is warranted and inevitable in Bloomington but it should befit the crime.

This was a coach who gained an unfair advantage in recruiting over fellow coaches by breaking the rules. The punishment should affect that same situation. What is the most important tool to a coach on the recruiting trail? Easy, the ability to offer an athlete a scholarship in order to attend the university he represents free of charge. The players have the ability to not accept money, they have the ability to say no to boosters. They do not have the ability to control who their coaches may or may not be calling. Don't punish the players for something that they have NO ability to prevent.

Take away scholarships, not a goal that players who have followed all the rules put in front of them have worked hard towards.

Don't punish the son for the sins of the father.

 

[Bestbuck36]

They're screwed.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

But one thing has to be taken into consideration as far as the players are concerned. They have no control over how many times a coach calls them.

The root of these allegations are that Sampson participated in three way calls that were initiated by an assistant coach who was making a permissable phone call. How is a high school kid on the other end of a phone supposed to do anything about a coach pushing a button on a phone on his end and turning it into a three way call?

While these kids are prospective student athletes it isn't their responsibility to know the rules of NCAA compliance, that is the coaches job. Once they become a student athlete at the university of their choice they are then educated by the university compliance department as of the rules and they sign a contract with the NCAA to follow those rules.

The Fab Five at TSUN and the O'Brien saga here at tOSU are a different set of circumstances altogether. These were the actual student athletes choosing to accept unallowed benefits. Don't take me the wrong way punishment is warranted and inevitable in Bloomington but it should befit the crime.

This was a coach who gained an unfair advantage in recruiting over fellow coaches by breaking the rules. The punishment should affect that same situation. What is the most important tool to a coach on the recruiting trail? Easy, the ability to offer an athlete a scholarship in order to attend the university he represents free of charge. The players have the ability to not accept money, they have the ability to say no to boosters. They do not have the ability to control who their coaches may or may not be calling. Don't punish the players for something that they have NO ability to prevent.

Take away scholarships, not a goal that players who have followed all the rules put in front of them have worked hard towards.

Don't punish the son for the sins of the father.

I disagree that the situations are different. The student athletes that received the benefits (Webber, Savovic, etc.) were never punished for receiving the benefits. The probation and post-season ban came down on the coaches and players that followed the Fab Five and the Savovic years, and innocent student-athletes suffered then, too.

 

[sandgk]

Various sources are reporting that a decision on this matter may indeed come in a matter of days. (Chicago Tribune)

Indiana President Michael McRobbie will announce Friday that athletic director Rick Greenspan will review a new university investigation into NCAA allegations against basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and will offer a recommendation within a matter of days, a person close to the situation told the Indianapolis Star.

McRobbie will outline his plan at a news conference that will attempt to accelerate the adjudication, the paper said.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Indiana should suspend Sampson for tourney

Penalty would show some level of contrition from IU administration

OPINION
By Mike DeCourcy
[URL="http://register.sportingnews.com/subscriptions/index.html?sourceid=subscribe"][/URL]
updated 4:25 p.m. ET, Thurs., Feb. 14, 2008

There is a simple question facing the Indiana University today: Has it done enough?
When the school revealed, in the fall, the results of an internal investigation that indicated coach Kelvin Sampson had participated in impermissible three-way calls while under NCAA sanctions that prohibited him from working recruits on the phone, it took several steps designed to ward off future NCAA sanctions.
Among those were Sampson forgoing a pay raise, the team forfeiting one scholarship spot, the school imposing additional recruiting restrictions and, ultimately, making the cynical decision to dismiss assistant coach Rob Senderoff, who allegedly was involved in the three-way calls. That action served as a declaration IU intended to keep its head coach and that it thought sacrificing a lower-level employee ought to be sufficient punishment.
Perhaps it was. The arrival of a letter of inquiry from the NCAA alleging major infractions by Sampson might be nothing more than a procedural matter ? although the use of the term "major violation" indicates the infractions committee takes a dimmer view of these activities than the university.
IU will have to appear in front of the infractions committee, most likely in June, and will have the opportunity to explain why the actions it already took are sufficient.

Continued....

 

[coastalbuck]

I actually feel sorry for the officials at IU, even though they hired the scumbag. No matter how they react, they're screwed.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

I actually feel sorry for the officials at IU

why....I outa ding ya!

 

[GrizzlyBuck]

I actually feel sorry for the officials at IU, even though they hired the scumbag. No matter how they react, they're screwed.

[sarcasm]
Me too, they are faultless in this, it is all a big conspiracy between Miles Brand, Bob Knight, and eventually it will come out that the true villain is Ty Willingham (will his evil reign never end?)
[/sarcasm]

Actually Coastal, to a point I agree, they hired Sampson after their trying out of an inexperienced rookie in Mike Davis did not work, so they could not go the assistant route again. They did not want to chance an up and comer either. Then they found that they could not lure one of the really top tier coaches (at least not the spotless ones) so they settled for a top coach with some baggage hoping that the cleanliness of the University would rub off.

In this case it appears that the Leopard could not change his spots and the University and the players may take a hit because of it. Looks like another case of wanting to win to the point of taking chances.

It is crap like this and the dick wad fiasco that makes me look back more and more fondly to Andy Geiger's impressive hiring resume (at least O'Brien looked squeeky clean, oops :()

 

[jimotis4heisman]

how do you feel sorry? for the fans maybe, not for the university at all.

lets say you knew someone had been unfaithful in a previous relationship 577 times, you get married, you find out theyve been unfaithful over 100 more times while you were married-even though they promised theyd be on the straight and narrow, then youd feel sorry? i guess i just dont get it...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

I personally think he should be suspended with pay at this point. This will be a two part solution.....he is not running your basketball program and it will protect Indiana from any legal issues down the road. Once the NCAA process plays out and he gets his day in "court".....then fire him.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

IndyStar

IU plans new probe of Sampson
President to detail course of investigation today

Indiana University President Michael McRobbie will announce today that the school will launch a new investigation into NCAA allegations against basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and that Athletic Director Rick Greenspan will make a recommendation on Sampson's future within days, a person close to the situation said Thursday night.
In the meantime, Sampson will continue to coach the Hoosiers, who play Michigan State on Saturday night at Assembly Hall.
If Greenspan recommends that Sampson be fired, Sampson's contract calls for a 10-day appeal process to challenge the termination. At that point, IU would suspend him from his coaching duties.
McRobbie will make the final decision, the source said. University trustees have been kept updated by the president.
At today's news conference, McRobbie will explain the investigation procedure and name those who will conduct it, the source said. An NCAA report released Wednesday said Sampson knowingly violated telephone recruiting restrictions and then lied about it to university and NCAA investigators.

Continued.....

Sampson's contract allows IU to fire him "with just cause" and owe him nothing beyond that month. Among the definitions of "just cause" is a "significant, intentional, repetitive violation of any law, rule (or) regulation" of the NCAA -- which basically mirrors the charges against him.
But experts says it's not that simple for the school.
Rick Karcher, a sports law expert at Florida Coastal School of Law, warned that "these are just allegations" and said that if IU fired Sampson right away, it could expose the school to a wrongful-termination lawsuit.
He said IU would be in a stronger position to fire Sampson with a decision against the coach from the NCAA Committee on Infractions. But that committee's hearing isn't until June 14. A decision isn't expected to be released until July or August.

 

[GrizzlyBuck]

I personally think he should be suspended with pay at this point. This will be a two part solution.....he is not running your basketball program and it will protect Indiana from any legal issues down the road. Once the NCAA process plays out and he gets his day in "court".....then fire him.

I agree and would add a strong statement, with the suspension, along the lines of "he is suspended pending the result of the investigation, if the charges are found to be true expect a swift resolution of this affair"

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

But one thing has to be taken into consideration as far as the players are concerned. They have no control over how many times a coach calls them.

The root of these allegations are that Sampson participated in three way calls that were initiated by an assistant coach who was making a permissable phone call. How is a high school kid on the other end of a phone supposed to do anything about a coach pushing a button on a phone on his end and turning it into a three way call?

While these kids are prospective student athletes it isn't their responsibility to know the rules of NCAA compliance, that is the coaches job. Once they become a student athlete at the university of their choice they are then educated by the university compliance department as of the rules and they sign a contract with the NCAA to follow those rules.

The Fab Five at TSUN and the O'Brien saga here at tOSU are a different set of circumstances altogether. These were the actual student athletes choosing to accept unallowed benefits. Don't take me the wrong way punishment is warranted and inevitable in Bloomington but it should befit the crime.

This was a coach who gained an unfair advantage in recruiting over fellow coaches by breaking the rules. The punishment should affect that same situation. What is the most important tool to a coach on the recruiting trail? Easy, the ability to offer an athlete a scholarship in order to attend the university he represents free of charge. The players have the ability to not accept money, they have the ability to say no to boosters. They do not have the ability to control who their coaches may or may not be calling. Don't punish the players for something that they have NO ability to prevent.

Take away scholarships, not a goal that players who have followed all the rules put in front of them have worked hard towards.

Don't punish the son for the sins of the father.

Good points. It would suck to be a kid who dreamed his whole life of playing football/basketball at the big time school of his choice only to be told by the NCAA that school was off limits because their coach violated a rule that you neither had any knowledge of nor benefited personally in any way from its violation.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

IndyStar

February 15, 2008
A matter of days


After a full day of meetings discussing what the proper action should be, IU president Michael McRobbie decided late Thursday to order an investigation of the latest charges Kelvin Sampson faces from an NCAA report. Rick Greenspan will review the investigation and ultimately give his recommendation to McRobbie when the investigation is complete. The investigation is expected to last "a matter of days.''
Here's my question -- What's going to take "a matter of days?"
It seems pretty straight forward here. The biggest new allegation is that Sampson lied to both university and NCAA investigators. The NCAA was pretty firm in its position in the report it sent to Indiana last Friday, a report that was released to the public on Wednesday following a public records request by The Star. And Sampson was equally as firm in his response saying he hasn't lied to anyone.
So how are IU investigators going to be able to determine, "in a matter of days", whether or not Sampson lied? If the NCAA determined by looking at its pile of evidence that Sampson lied, what will be different for IU's investigators?

Continued.....

 

[LitlBuck]

I would really like us to give Pritchard a look if he wants to look around. We need another big body on the low post for next year, especially if KK leaves.

Props. Forgot all about him and we a PF in next year's class. I have no idea if he was ever interested in us however.