Posts tagged Kelvin Sampson at FanHouse

While college football fans across the country await the start of the new season with a drooling fervor there are also some fans who dread it. Why? Because they know their season is already over before it's even started. Oh sure, their boys are still going to go out there every Saturday and play hard for 60 minutes, but it's not going to make a bit of difference.

They're going to lose, and they're going to lose a lot.

No conference can escape from having teams like this, it's just a part of the game. They still serve their purpose because the good teams in the conference need a breather once in a while, and they also need six wins to qualify for a bowl game.

These teams are the conferences dirty little secret. They're the red-headed step child that's told to stay in their room when company comes over. They are the dregs of Big Ten, and they're here to play another set of 12 games whether we want them to or not.

Given the way the 2008-09 season is shaping up, it may be a bad year for Indiana fans to have quit smoking, drinking, amphetamines and sniffing glue. Indiana is down to one scholarship player from last year (and he was a former walk-on). The school just finished presenting its case before the NCAA Infractions Committee. The school has spent a fortune on legal bills from the Kelvin Sampson affair -- to say nothing in terms of buyouts for the former coach, assistants and soon to be former athletic director.

The school already pulled one scholarship for the 2008-09 season as self-punishment for the Sampson stuff -- to demonstrate to the NCAA the sincerity of their shame. Now, they are taking two more scholarships from the 2008-09 season to forestall any possible penalties for next year with regards to the Academic Progress Report (APR).

Since the end of last season, IU has lost seven players with eligibility remaining. Eric Gordon went to the NBA. Brandon McGee, DeAndre Thomas, Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis were dismissed from the team. Eli Holman transferred and Jordan Crawford also left.

Privacy laws prevent disclosures about the players' academic standing, but Crean has described IU's situation as "crisis mode" and said he "inherited a tremendous amount of dysfunction."

There are other reasons to take what appears to be a severe hit this season.

Indiana President Michael McRobbie can't be blamed for the decision to hire coach Kelvin Sampson, who left in disgrace four months ago -- Sampson was already coach before McRobbie got the job of president.

But McRobbie can be blamed for not acting more swiftly to deal with Sampson and athletic director Rick Greenspan, who resigned last week.

When Indiana University President Michael McRobbie made a video conference appearance before the NCAA Infractions Committee regarding the Kelvin Sampson phone call mess he made a bold statement.

As others have stated, Indiana University took a risk in hiring Coach Sampson and giving him a second chance following his problems at Oklahoma. It is now clear that this was a risk that should not have been taken and the university regrets doing so.

McRobbie also added that it was clear that investing in Pets.com based on a sock puppet in the 90s, buying into the Miami real estate market and wearing a meat suit to a dog fight were also risks that should not have been taken and he regrets doing so.

As for the fault, well, he is all about direct accountability.

Some have said that there is a lot of blame to be shared in all of this, suggesting -- and perhaps hoping -- that there can be a dilution of personal responsibility under some notion of collective guilt. I reject that notion completely and I hope this committee will, as well.

That's integrity. That's strong leadership. That's some accountability. Oh, wait, he doesn't mean himself.

Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan announced today that he is resigning, effective at the end of the year, in the wake of additional NCAA charges against the school's basketball team.

The NCAA said today that former coach Kelvin Sampson, whom Greenspan hired, committed five major recruiting violations, and that the school failed to monitor the basketball program.

Former Indiana basketball assistant Jeff Meyer says he's been cleared of any major violations in the NCAA's investigation into the program's infractions under former head coach Kelvin Sampson.

Meyer admits that he broke NCAA rules, but he said he did so only a few times, and only because of a misunderstanding of those rules. A statement he released said:

"In my nearly 30 years of coaching college basketball, I have always tried to do my work well and to do good work within the NCAA rules. ... I acknowledge making unintentional, isolated mistakes, which the Committee found to be secondary in nature. I take personal responsibility for my independent actions. If I have an opportunity to continue my coaching career, I will be better prepared to mentor student athletes and to work with a compliance staff as a result of the lessons I learned from this painful experience."

The NCAA is expected to announce sanctions against Indiana, Sampson and former assistant Rob Senderoff next month.

The second day of an NCAA hearing into recruiting violations committed by former Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson is underway right now, and in six to eight weeks the NCAA will hand down penalties based on what it learns at this hearing.

But whatever punishment Indiana gets, it has already paid a heavy price. In a Q&A for the Indianapolis Star, Mark Alesia tallies the cost:

How much has this cost IU? Legal fees have topped $200,000, and the school hasn't received the bill for work done during most of this calendar year. The final tab is likely to be much larger.

The school spent $750,000 for a resignation settlement with Sampson, $550,000 of which came from a donor who wanted to remain anonymous. Senderoff received $66,000 for his resignation.

Former assistant Dan Dakich, who was not involved in the charges, received a $185,000 resignation settlement after taking over as interim coach late last season.

There also have been travel expenses for NCAA hearings, including Sampson's in 2006, and the many man-hours of work by the university's general counsel and other employees.

Add it all up, and we're talking well over $1 million that Indiana is spending, all because Athletic Director Rick Greenspan hired a guy with a track record of flouting the rules, and then failed to put any safeguards in place to prevent Sampson from continuing to flout the rules. How can Greenspan keep his job?

This is Kyle Taber. If you've never heard of him, you shouldn't feel bad: He's been on scholarship for less than a year, and he only averaged 1.3 points a game last season.

But if you're an Indiana fan, you should feel bad, because he's the best player returning to the Hoosiers this year. After Jordan Crawford announced yesterday that he will not return, there are now 12 players who were on the team in November and aren't anymore.

The Indianapolis Star has a great chart detailing just how bad the exodus has been for Indiana: The players who have left averaged 81.0 points per game last season, while the two players coming back averaged 1.6. (Those two are Taber and a walk-on named Brett Finkelmeier.

Tom Crean is a good coach, and I have no doubt that he'll eventually have Indiana playing good basketball. But for now, Kelvin Sampson has left him a mess.

He was once a jewel in a top recruiting class at Indiana. Then the Kelvin Sampson stuff started hitting the fan. Devin Ebanks became one of the hottest late signees out there after being released from his scholarship. Memphis, Texas, UConn and other top schools came calling for the 6-8 forward out of New York City. A consensus 5-star, top-15 player nationally available in the late signing period. Ebanks narrowed his choices to Memphis, Texas, a local choice in Rutgers and West Virginia.

After Tyreke Evans signed with Memphis, many expected Ebanks to join John Calipari's crew. Instead, he chose Bob Huggins and West Virginia.

The Mountaineers were the last team to jump into the Ebanks second-chance sweepstakes, but Huggins quickly impressed the youngster.

"He visited me, and he was in the right places," Ebanks said. "(Saturday night) he told me he'll really take care of me."

Huggins has the perfect role for Ebanks. After leading the Mountaineers to a surprise Elite Eight spot in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, [Joe] Alexander declared for the NBA draft, although he hasn't hired an agent and could potentially return.

Joe Alexander increasingly looks to be a top15 pick in the NBA Draft and most don't see him coming back at this point. Getting Ebanks now is a huge coup for Huggins and fills a big void in the middle. It also rekindles old recruiting battles between Huggins and Calipari that go back to the days when Calipari was at UMass and Huggins was in Cinci.

Sure Kelvin Sampson may be heading to the NBA and Milwaukee as an assistant coach, but you know he wants to be head coach. Maybe in the pros or more likely back in the college ranks where he has excelled. Of course, to do that, he has to withstand the NCAA scrutiny for his second go-round of NCAA phone violations.

Well, it appears that he hired plenty of lawyers to write his response to the NCAA allegations and cover letter (Word documents) ahead of the June hearing. The response by Sampson -- probably not surprisingly -- is that it's not his fault.