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Very Shameful
February 23, 2008
Indiana University has cut ties with head coach Kelvin Sampson, who took over the team for the 2006-07 season. Probably for good reason. Sampson accepted the $750,000 buyout of his contract just a week after Indiana president Michael McRobbie announced that the school will conduct an investigation into NCAA accusations that Sampson had committed five major rules violations including making improper calls to recruits. He was also accused of providing false information to NCAA investigators, failing to promote a high standard of honesty in the program, and not promoting an atmosphere of compliance.
An investigation in 2007 showed that Sampson and his assistants made more than 100 improper calls while already on probation for making 577 improper calls between 2000 and 2004 while he was coaching at Oklahoma. It’s pretty clear he became familiar with what were improper calls while he was at Oklahoma. Then he made over 100 more after he took over at Indiana. A few calls might be written off as a mistake, but that many calls is a little tough to believe.
Sampson’s bad behavior is reminiscent of another troublesome coach. Bobby Knight had more than his share of scrutiny for his conduct on and off the court. The biggest difference in this case is that Knight has never had a team given a recruiting violation by the NCAA. Knight may be a “monster” to some people but no one can say that he doesn’t run a clean program. The same can’t be said about Sampson.
The sad thing is that Sampson may have had a bright future at Indiana. He led the Hoosiers to the NCAA tournament in his first season. Also, he now has the highest winning percentage in Indiana coaching history at .741. True, that’s only through 58 games but the fact remains.
Sampson may have been an Indiana University legend like Knight or Branch McCracken. Now we’ll never know solely because he couldn’t follow the rules. Very shameful.