Tragic Hero?

Say goodbye to Coach Kelvin Sampson.

ESPN is reporting the obvious: that Sampson is almost inevitably gone before Saturday's game with Northwestern.

Everyone in Hoosier Nation must realize it at this point. It isn't, nor has it ever been, about wins and losses. It's about lying and truthfulness and character and integrity. All the things athletics, especially collegiate athletics, are supposedly about.

Watching the game tonight got me a bit choked up in the final moments. Here was this man's last game as coach of a top-5 NCAA basketball program? Partially for phone calls, mostly for lying. Perhaps lying about a little "overzealous recruiting" as one of the dumbest announcers in sports, Brent Musberger, put it? He lost because he wanted to stay competitive in the cut-throat recruiting world, and even when caught once, he couldn't quit. He wasn't giving out $100 handshakes, no-show jobs to parents, houses or cars to stand-out players. He just wanted to talk to these kids and get them to play Sooner and Hoosier basketball. You have to feel a bit of sympathy for the guy.

His results are very respectable, but his methods were tainted. Just like frequent reader Young Illiniwek's favorite President: Richard Nixon. Successful, but shady. And for similar reasons, he must go. I think the general sentiment in Hoosier Nation is comparable to that in the U.S.A. during Nixon's resignation, too. General disbelief, pity, anger, but with a strange acceptance, too.

Maybe a baseball analogy is better: some people get crucified, like Pete Rose or Kelvin Sampson, while others get off relatively easy, like Andy Pettite, Bryan Roberts, Jason Giambi, etc. Can you really say that what Sampson has done, events and Oklahoma AND IU considered, is worse that happened under John Calipari's watch at UMass, where their Final Four appearance has an asterisk next to it?

IU will move on, probably with Dan Dakich, maybe, just maybe (but not likely), with Kelvin Sampson. And maybe they'll go far this year. But unless they win it all, and perhaps even if they do, this year will go down as one of the darkest in IU history. Maybe even worse than the year 2000. We just have to stand up and face it like true fans, and support the program. And hope that looking back in a few decades, the Hoosiers regroup from this with a new leader and new purpose, and hopefully minimal NCAA infractions.

"I shall return..."

I know many people are against this, and it has been suggested so many times in the last half-decade that this would otherwise be considered beating a dead horse, but in light of the actions of Kelvin Sampson, it almost seems to me like Divine Intervention has created the perfect scenario for the return of Robert Montgomery Knight.

When Sampson was hired, his resume of Final Four appearances, numerous 20-win seasons, Big 12 winning history, and Coach of the Year awards, not to mention taking us to the tournament, led many to believe that the possibility of Knight's return was dead.

However, this has turned into yet another example of why you should never say never. I truly believe rehiring Knight is the best, and possibly the only, way for IU to avert a serious crisis.

Sampson would never be fired or dismissed for anything other than breaking rules. He is simply too good a coach and gets too good of results. But now he is really, really in deep. Even if he is innocent of the alleged violations, trying to finish out the season under this cloud of doubt is futile.

And because the source of all of these problems is the one thing that Knight had a sterling reputation on: following the rules, dismissing Sampson and bringing in the most untouchable coach in NCAA history in terms of NCAA rules violations would be a step in the right direction.

Not to mention The General isn't coaching anymore, thanks to a well-timed mid-season exit. And he already knows there is some excellent fishing in Southern Indiana. Plus I hear the HPER is looking for some extra people to teach H105: Bass Fishing next fall.

He could come in to replace both Greenspan and Sampson, a la Tom Osborne.

In the immortal words of Princess Leia: "Help us Bobby Knight, you're our only hope!"

Blood in the Water

Right now events surrounding the Kelvin Sampson/Oklahoma/Indiana violations are unfolding too quickly for anything I write to be relovant even twenty minutes from now, but I will quote two very cogent posts from different websites that I have seen today. These are posts from random IU fans and bloggers:

"Alan" in the idsnews.com basketblog says:

"People are overreacting. Let’s put this into perspective. A prestigious football school with a tradition similar to that of IU’s in basketball, Florida State, had a massive cheating scandal in which 30 of the players were ineligible for the bowl game. This was messing with grades; it wasn’t phone calls. Phone calls, a t-shirt, and a backpack are minor compared to messing with grades. Also, let’s look at the Ohio State scandal in 2002. Ohio State got in trouble for a player receiving benefits and commiting academic fraud. The NCAA came down hard, but when you compare academic fraud and benefits to phone calls of POTENTIAL players, it is minor. People are also being too critical of Sampson. He isn’t Bobby Knight; he will never be Bobby Kinght. To paraphrase Rick Pitino, Coach Knight ain’t walking through that door people. Also, if Coach Knight did this, the same people calling for Sampson’s head would be defending the General. Let’s actually unite around our players and team and beat the hell out of Wisconsin tonight.

Also for those interested, there is a handful of successful programs that have been put on probation recently, such as Oklahoma football, Kansas basketball, and Ohio State football. All these probations occured during the current coach’s tenure. Bob Stoops, Jim Tressel, and Bill Self all still have their jobs. People need to relax and chill out."

And "Rikki-tikka-tava" on peegs.com says:

Allegation analysis: Emphasis on "Allegations".

1. That Sampson, Meyer and Senderoff failed to comply with sanctions imposed on Sampson for impermissible recruiting calls he made while he was a coach at Oklahoma. Those sanctions followed Sampson to IU when he came here in May of 2006. Sampson and Senderoff are alleged to have jointly participated in telephone calls at a time when Sampson was prohibited from being present or taking part when staff members made recruiting calls. Senderoff and Meyer are alleged to have made about 100 calls that exceeded the sanction limits. Senderoff resigned his position Oct. 30.

- We knew all this already, yes? Nothing new here.

2. That Senderoff and Meyer placed "at least 25 telephone calls" to nine potential recruits that exceeded NCAA limits even if no sanctions had been in place.

- Senderoff & Meyer, not Sampson for what that's worth.

3. That Sampson "acted contrary to the NCAA principles of ethical conduct when he knowingly violated recruiting restrictions imposed by the NCAA Committee on Infractions," and that he "failed to deport himself in accordance with the generally recognized high standard of honesty normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics by providing the institution and the NCAA enforcement staff false or misleading information," and that he "failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance within the men's basketball program and failed to monitor the activities regarding compliance of one or more of his assistant coaches."

- Absent any specificity it seems like this is a reiteration of Allegation #1.

4. That Senderoff "acted contrary to the NCAA principles of ethical conduct when he knowingly violated recruiting restrictions imposed by the NCAA Committee on Infractions," and that he "failed to deport himself in accordance with the generally recognized high standard of honesty normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics by providing the institution false or misleading information."

Senderoff again, not Sampson.

5. That Sampson and Meyer engaged in an impermissible recruiting contact during a two-day sports camp held at Assembly Hall on June 30 and July 1, 2007, and that Meyer provided the potential recruit with an impermissible benefit at least one T-shirt and drawstring backpack.

Big whoop. Sounds like if he'd been given the backpack and T-shirt 24 or 48 hours later no violation would have in fact occurred. yawn...

Sorry boys and girls but I can't see what the fuss is all about other than the fact that the NCAA has alleged 5 major violations against IU for the first in 47 years. This is to say that there doesn't seem to be anything in said allegation that represents new evidence of misconduct beyond what was revealed six months ago. There is language about "false and misleading" which can be variously interpreted to indicate willful and malicious prevarication or imperfect memory depending on one's bent (or the available evidence of which we have none), as well as an allegation that at least some of these improprieties took place "knowingly". Aside from that, and in the absence of any specific detail, hardly earth-shaking news.

I'm sticking with Coach Sampson and IU at least until such time as they indicate they're not sticking with each other and/or I see something that reveals more than a formal rehash of what we already knew, and I've had a chance to hear what Coach and the University have to say about it. And I happen to think that most of you calling for Coach's immediate firing are pathetic...sure many of you will say the same or worse about me, but much as I am disappointed by Coach's problems with staying within the lines regarding phone contacts, to characterize his and his staff's transgression's as "major" violations as compared to paying/bribing players, their families or buying them cars and such, forget it. Condone it, no way, but cashier Sampson over it while bewailing the irreparable harm done to the University - no chance, at least not until Coach and the University respond.

Most important three games of the season this week beginning tonight. IU hasn't abandoned Sampson and neither will I. Go Hoosiers, Go IU!

"Oh, he still plays for IU?"

This is the response most people have when I mention D.J. White. Two broken feet and a Marco Killingsworth ago, D.J. White was the Big Ten freshman of the year and had his own theme song courtesy of Weezy F. Baby. Now, thanks to the much improved coaching of Kelvin Sampson, deciding to ditch the t-shirt under the jersey, and a wisely staying out of last year's NBA draft, D.J. is performing like the stud we all expected him to be. Anyone who doubts the fact that he is an All-American and one of top players, not just big men, in the game can look here:

http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=94

This should answer any lingering questions about Big White's talent, especially for those budding sabermatricians out there.

(Thanks to Chris Engel of the Indiana Daily Student for the heads-up on this link)


IN OTHER NEWS:
I saw a great quote on ESPN regarding the Kentucky players' feelings about the Tennessee Vols last night.

"Kentucky upset the Vols 72-66 and sent the following message: We may be down, but don't disrespect us in a building that has seen more glory than Tennessee could muster in six lifetimes."

I think that message, minus the "we may be down" part, is exactly what the Hoosiers are tattooing on their opponent's foreheads this season, and for the last 29 games (all wins) at Assembly Hall.