Indiana Hires Kelvin Sampson

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by watravaler

Hypo: Indiana keeps Sampson on board with the intention of firing him after the season. They make it to the final four, will the fans still be calling for his head? Do fans hold winning in higher esteem than ethics? I know what most people will say, but I believe otherwise...

I don't care if he wins it all. He should have been fired days ago.

[Drake]

The word is that Sampson's contract doesn't allow for him to be fired without an investigation (like the one announced yesterday) of the allegations. That's just the legal reality.

That said, I have no doubt that he'll be fired next week. He's got zero support in Bloomington, on campus or within the university community. IU fans will not support a cheater.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Drake

The word is that Sampson's contract doesn't allow for him to be fired without an investigation (like the one announced yesterday) of the allegations. That's just the legal reality.

That said, I have no doubt that he'll be fired next week. He's got zero support in Bloomington, on campus or within the university community. IU fans will not support a cheater.

If that is the case then whoever allowed that clause to be in HIS contract should be fired as well.

[MrBug708]

Thanks J. O'Brien

Signed,
Indiana Fans

[wbatl1]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

If that is the case then whoever allowed that clause to be in HIS contract should be fired as well.

I heard that it was more a matter of him not being able to be fired "with cause" without the investigation. If he was immediately fired, he would be due the rest of his money, but if they do a 7 day investigation he can be fired with cause and not recieve any more money.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by wbatl1

I heard that it was more a matter of him not being able to be fired "with cause" without the investigation. If he was immediately fired, he would be due the rest of his money, but if they do a 7 day investigation he can be fired with cause and not recieve any more money.

Right. This is actually what I meant. The investigation is to officially establish "cause" so that we don't end up paying him the balance of the contract.

[Kodos]

hxxp://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7904939

It appears that Sampson is out. Thank god.

Hoosiers to finish season without Sampson

Posted: Feb 21, 2008 11:53 AM EST
Rich Nye/Eyewitness Sports

Bloomington - Indiana University is making plans to finish the basketball season without Kelvin Sampson. The coach of the Hoosiers is not expected to be with the team when they play at Northwestern Saturday.

A source close to the situation tells Eyewitness Sports that officials from the IU administration have met with assistant basketball coach Dan Dakich about taking over the basketball team as interim head coach for the rest of the season.

Dakich began this season in an administrative position with the team. He became an assistant coach when assistant coach Rob Senderoff resigned in October for his involvement in improper phone calls to recruits. Dakich is a former IU player and assistant coach under Bob Knight.

Athletic director Rick Greenspan must make a recommendation to the president by Friday regarding Sampson's future and the NCAA allegations. The program is accused of five possible major recruiting violations, and Sampson is accused of lying to IU and the NCAA about it.

The source says that by Friday afternoon, Sampson and the university will likely reach a financial settlement ending his employment, or Sampson will be suspended pending termination under the terms of his contract.

The Hoosiers play at Northwestern Saturday night. IU is still contender for the Big Ten title, just a half game out of first place.

It does not appear that Coach Sampson will finish the season with the Hoosiers.

[Drake]

Didn't I say Dan Dakich?

I am the shit.

[dime]

Originally Posted by Drake

IU fans will not support a cheater.

Then why'd they hire him in the first place? None of the other big-time programs were going to touch him with a ten-foot pole.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by dime

Then why'd they hire him in the first place? None of the other big-time programs were going to touch him with a ten-foot pole.

+1

It was, at the least, a very weird hire. I don't really follow college basketball, but I knew Sampson was a piece of shit. How did IU not know?

[firebirds]

Why did they hire him in the first place? That seems to be one of the biggest questions here on local sports radio talk shows. People out here are wanting to know who/how/why let this come pass. With the reputation that IU had under The General, 100% graduation rate, zero scandle and an NCAA title now and then (the occasional chair flying across the floor and a back hand every so often evidently is acceptable though), there seems to be a strong need for accountability needed by the local media. Only having lived here for 12 years I'm still learning how deep and strong the Indiana basketball tradition is, from the littlest kids in the playground on thru to the colleges.

[Racer]

Apparently, IU is denying the previous report.

hxxp://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3257218

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by firebirds

Why did they hire him in the first place? That seems to be one of the biggest questions here on local sports radio talk shows. People out here are wanting to know who/how/why let this come pass. With the reputation that IU had under The General, 100% graduation rate, zero scandle and an NCAA title now and then (the occasional chair flying across the floor and a back hand every so often evidently is acceptable though), there seems to be a strong need for accountability needed by the local media. Only having lived here for 12 years I'm still learning how deep and strong the Indiana basketball tradition is, from the littlest kids in the playground on thru to the colleges.

I think it would be disingenuous for the Hoosier faithful to wonder how it came to this. How Sampson got there is easy. Kelvin Sampson was ABMD. Anybody But Mike Davis. Remember the strong dislike (hate?) there was for Mike Davis in Indiana? Now did they want expect Sampson to be a dumb ass and do the same shit all over again? No. However the risk of getting a good coach with Sampson's flaws was a much better option than Mike Davis from all the reports I read out of Bloomington at the time.

[Drake]

Right. I think there was also a belief that the strong IU tradition would have a positive impact on Sampson -- i.e., he may have cheated at Oklahoma, but he wouldn't do it here.

You've also got to realize that by the time Mike Davis was canned, IU wasn't exactly a top tier job in lots of people's minds. You had an administration that appeared actively hostile to powerful coaches in a state where a great coach is treated almost like a god. You had an increasingly angry alumni base. You had a 5-year coaching gap where recruiting inside our own state had essentially dried up. (Perhaps more than anything else at the end, Mike Davis was doomed by Greg Oden going to Ohio State.)

Not exactly a plum job.

And as much as I hate to say it (but I will say it, because it was pretty well known in university staff circles -- though I'll stress that just because it was "known" doesn't necessarily mean that it's "true"), IU was very sensitive to the precedent of firing a black coach who had been relatively successful on paper. Hiring another black coach to replace him would put a damper on rumors that Davis was fired because he was black. In case you don't remember, Davis himself somewhat frequently raised the issue that he felt he was criticized unfairly in the local press because of his race -- which did absolutely nothing to endear him to the administration, the community or the alumni.

Again, I don't know how much "truth" there is in that assertion, but I'm passing it along because it was very much on the minds of those of us who work in the university and know its internal politics.

[miami_fan]

I had read about those rumors on a couple of college basketball boards I post on. I just think it is a bit of revisionist history for Indiana fans to wonder Kelvin Sampson. He was a big name coach who could return IU to national basketball prominence. Ethics were less of a priority with that hire than it will be with the next hire. That is for sure.

[Drake]

*shurg*

I don't know any IU fans who considered Sampson a big name coach. A good coach, certainly, but there were many voices raised at the time who thought that we'd aimed too low, Sampson's ethical baggage aside.

Personally, I objected to the ethical baggage but thought the caliber was just about right given the program's problems at the time.

And honestly, Sampson's cheating aside, he *did* return the program to at least a semblance of national prominence. The pool of realistic candidates will be vastly improved this time around. So, if nothing else, he did accomplish that...though whether or not it ends up being worth the damage to IU's squeaky clean reputation remains to be quantified.

[Kodos]

Please see my response from back when he was first hired:

Originally Posted by Kodos

And hasn't he been investigated for NCAA infractions. WTF?

[dime]

as I said at the time, most IU boosters/fans think of their program as the creme de la creme but that view is not shared by anyone else. sampson was the "biggest" name they could grab, and the fact that he was available because of his ethical misplays was not important at the time.

they should have done it right and gotten a promising mid-major coach like todd lickliter, but such a hire would have been met with howls and hysteria from the deluded boosters and fans.

mike davis was in over his head and was generally an embarassment; if jason williams didn't choke on his free throws no one would think davis can coach at all.

[Drake]

most IU boosters/fans think of their program as the creme de la creme

Indeed. There are plenty of IU fans that would have been disappointed in anything short of nabbing Coach K from Duke...and a whole other set who would have said that *he* wasn't good enough.

I enjoyed the Mike Davis era if for no other reason than that it taught us to better appreciate what a great program we've historically had.

[Johnny93g]

Originally Posted by dime

if jason williams didn't choke on his free throws no one would think davis can coach at all.

It was actually just one free throw, and it would have only tied the game. Carlos Boozer got the rebound, and missed the shot that would have won the game for duke. If that free throw goes in, i think IU still wins. They were dominating in the 2nd half. Coverdale, Jefferies, Hornsby, Fife, Newton, Leach, Odle. I love that team.

My trip down memory lane is now over.

[Ryno]

From Gary Parrish on CBS sportsline
hxxp://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10659277

" According to the sources, Greenspan asked Sampson to resign Thursday night but Sampson -- who was alleged in a report released last week to have committed five major NCAA rules violations -- rejected the request. The sources said it now appears Sampson is daring the school to fire him and that such a move would almost certainly lead to a lawsuit because Sampson still insists he is not guilty of lying to NCAA investigators or IU administrators, and that if the school was going to fire him for impermissible phone calls it should've done that when it learned of the calls in October.

Stay classy, Coach Sampson. The funny thing is that I agree with him. My impression is that the fans and adminstration weren't at all concerned with the charges until the NCAA declared them major and it looked like they might actually get punished. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Drake

And as much as I hate to say it (but I will say it, because it was pretty well known in university staff circles -- though I'll stress that just because it was "known" doesn't necessarily mean that it's "true"), IU was very sensitive to the precedent of firing a black coach who had been relatively successful on paper. Hiring another black coach to replace him would put a damper on rumors that Davis was fired because he was black. In case you don't remember, Davis himself somewhat frequently raised the issue that he felt he was criticized unfairly in the local press because of his race -- which did absolutely nothing to endear him to the administration, the community or the alumni.

Again, I don't know how much "truth" there is in that assertion, but I'm passing it along because it was very much on the minds of those of us who work in the university and know its internal politics.

Minor correction. They didn't technically hire another black coach. Kelvin Sampson is Native American.

[Kodos]

I think they were more concerned with going "cheap" when they hired Sampson. IU didn't want to shell out the bucks for a top-shelf coach. They thought they could get a bargain with Sampson having some baggage. He turned out to be a pretty good coach (judging from their record this year), but a man utterly without ethics.

And for the record, I wanted him fired when they first disclosed his violations. I may have been in the minority... or the KS supporters at Hoosier Nation are just much more vocal than the detractors.

[dime]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

It was actually just one free throw, and it would have only tied the game. Carlos Boozer got the rebound, and missed the shot that would have won the game for duke. If that free throw goes in, i think IU still wins. They were dominating in the 2nd half. Coverdale, Jefferies, Hornsby, Fife, Newton, Leach, Odle. I love that team.

My trip down memory lane is now over.

You are right...boozer was the guy who missed four free throws in that game. They blew a 13 point lead and after the game Matt Christenson "cocked his fist to punch" the official for not making a bail-out call on Boozer's putback. Christenson later was presented with an award for "exemplifying the values and honor of Duke basketball". Seems perfect to me!

[Kodos]

Is there any college b-ball team that is more hated than Duke? Not for me.

[BigDPW]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Is there any college b-ball team that is more hated than Duke? Not for me.

Only UNC.... But maybe that is because I am NC State Wolfpack through and through!!! UNC is public enemy #1 for me and Duke is #1b...

The biggest problem with Duke from my standpoint is that it is a school in NC and has students primarily from NJ... Also while I respect Coach K alot his constant working the refs/scowling despite always having a top5 team drives me nuts...

UNC on the other hand I could go on and on about the things I dislike about the university, athletics programs, fans attitiudes, Dean Smith, etc...

[Ksyrup]

Local rumor has it the interim coach may be Ray McCallum now instead of Dakich?

[Kodos]

Reportedly, a group of players said they won't play unless it is McCallum. Now there is a rumor that Sampson will accept a buyout. Basically, nobody seems to know what is actually going on.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by BigDPW

Only UNC.... But maybe that is because I am NC State Wolfpack through and through!!! UNC is public enemy #1 for me and Duke is #1b...

You guys need to get good again. I miss having great games every year with Duke AND NC State. :/

[Drake]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Reportedly, a group of players said they won't play unless it is McCallum. Now there is a rumor that Sampson will accept a buyout. Basically, nobody seems to know what is actually going on.

I've heard the thing about McCallum as well, but haven't seen it confirmed. He's definitely got his supporters around campus.

On the other hand, things didn't work out so well in the long term the last time we essentially let the will of the players pick the coach (i.e., Mike Davis over John Treloar).

[JonInMiddleGA]

AP is reporting that Dakic has been named interim coach and that Senior captain D.J. White, Armon Bassett, Jordan Crawford, Jamarcus Ellis, DeAndre Thomas and Brandon McGee skipped Dakich's first practice Friday afternoon. It is unknown if they will play when the 15th-ranked Hoosiers travel to Northwestern on Saturday.

[tarcone]

Holy Crap. Bobby Knight has to be chuckling.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Holy Crap. Bobby Knight has to be chuckling.

I know I'm chuckling on his behalf.

[Kodos]

Yep. The IU administration have looked like total buffoons throughout this whole thing. I liked the AD before this because he brought in Coach Hoeppner and seemed to actually care about football, but I think he needs to go now.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

AP is reporting that Dakic has been named interim coach and that Senior captain D.J. White, Armon Bassett, Jordan Crawford, Jamarcus Ellis, DeAndre Thomas and Brandon McGee skipped Dakich's first practice Friday afternoon. It is unknown if they will play when the 15th-ranked Hoosiers travel to Northwestern on Saturday.

Not just AP. Local Indy sports was saying the same thing. They're also reporting that Sampson will accept a 750,000 buyout.

[Drake]

Eh. Let them skip, quit or sit for the rest of the season. The program is bigger than a few disgruntled players, and they need to accept that.

(Which isn't to say that I won't cheer for them if they come around, just that I see them as kids who have had their feelings hurt acting like kids with this stunt.)

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Drake

Eh. Let them skip, quit or sit for the rest of the season. The program is bigger than a few disgruntled players, and they need to accept that.

(Which isn't to say that I won't cheer for them if they come around, just that I see them as kids who have had their feelings hurt acting like kids with this stunt.)

Exactly. Players have an impact 2 or 3 seasons past their commit date. The school will be around long past their impact dates.

[Huckleberry]

If I were Dakich I would accept them back onto the team, but I would strip White of his captain status and name one of the players that didn't skip as the new captain.

[bhlloy]

If your first act as a coach is to lay down in front of a few kids that skipped practice in protest at your appointment, you might as well just throw in the towel. If I was an IU fan, anything less than a 3 game suspension for each of them would be a complete slap in the face. I'm sure White is crying himself to sleep over the prospect of losing his captaincy.

[kurtism]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

If your first act as a coach is to lay down in front of a few kids that skipped practice in protest at your appointment, you might as well just throw in the towel. If I was an IU fan, anything less than a 3 game suspension for each of them would be a complete slap in the face. I'm sure White is crying himself to sleep over the prospect of losing his captaincy.

Respectfully, reading this post I assume you are either out of touch with the world, a fan of a different Big Ten team, or an IU hater. Regardless, your proposal is beyond asinine. These kids, particularly DJ, have been put through the proverbial wringer because they listened to a coach who clearly has difficulty with truth and honesty. If they want to show some loyalty, who are we to fault them?

While a number of kids skipped the afternoon practice, reports show that everyone was at Dakitch's walkthrough that night and getting ready for tomorrow (now today). I'd say that giving these players one "Get Out of Jail Free" card for the day is about the perfect response. Now, if they had continued the boycott after one afternoon, and missed any additional practices or game time, cutting ties might have been appropriate. That didn't happen.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by kurtism

Respectfully, reading this post I assume you are either out of touch with the world, a fan of a different Big Ten team, or an IU hater.

That's what happens when you make assumptions.

I'm none of the above but believe those who skipped practice showed a distinct lack of character & a high degree of selfishness at best. They most definitely should be subject to disciplinary action as the rules permit. But anybody paying the slightest bit of attention also had to know that any discipline directed toward them would almost certainly be very mild at most.

[st.cronin]

While I agree skipping practice is a weak move, nobody really knows enough about why they skipped practice or what they might have been promised/told by various people, including Sampson. I assume they'll rejoin the team and the missed practice will be forgotten by everybody before too long.

[Swaggs]

My immediate response to the players sitting out was, "Can Indiana take their scholarships away?"

But, after thinking it over, this is not a professional team and these kids are not professionals. It would be nice if they acted like it, but they are probably hurting and grieving over losing a mentor, their go-to guy, and, quite likely, a father figure. They should be allowed to have a day or two to grieve before getting back to business.

Even though Sampson appears to be a slimeball, I can see how his players and he could feel that he was wrong, since everything he did was on the table months ago and seemed to have been resolved until the NCAA decided to get involved. I'd guess the players were both grieving and protesting (in the way that an 18-20 year old can) a somewhat questionable decision by the AD.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by kurtism

Respectfully, reading this post I assume you are either out of touch with the world, a fan of a different Big Ten team, or an IU hater. Regardless, your proposal is beyond asinine. These kids, particularly DJ, have been put through the proverbial wringer because they listened to a coach who clearly has difficulty with truth and honesty. If they want to show some loyalty, who are we to fault them?

While a number of kids skipped the afternoon practice, reports show that everyone was at Dakitch's walkthrough that night and getting ready for tomorrow (now today). I'd say that giving these players one "Get Out of Jail Free" card for the day is about the perfect response. Now, if they had continued the boycott after one afternoon, and missed any additional practices or game time, cutting ties might have been appropriate. That didn't happen.

Yeah, it now appears that the kids skipping practice wasn't as bad as the media was making it out to be. My bad for commenting on the situation without knowing the full facts.

[kurtism]

To be fair, I think the administration did a terrible job of managing the situation yesterday. With the limited info getting out, anyone with an interest was bound to speculate, including the kids. I would have preferred if the kids had been better kept in the loop - it might have avoided anyone skipping anything...

[watravaler]

Indiana is going the route of Nebraska in football...

j/k...sorry for the low-blow

[hoopsguy]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...0601/802250367

Of course he did.

[Logan]

I'm not sure what kind of plan he has, but since he can afford to send at least 7.5 million texts with his settlement money, I'd tell the players to keep their phones on vibrate.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Kentucky is currently listed as 'low' interest. Last I heard he's not even considering them. Cousins was initially considered a big lean to UAB because Mike Anderson had recruited him for some time there. With Anderson now at Mizzou, Cousins is considering Mizzou because of the coach, but I think he's still leaning towards UAB because it's close to home. Indiana was another consideration, but the probation likely will kill that interest.

And we have a winner

[Kodos]

God forbid.