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SoonerShark
2/22/2008, 11:25 AM
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/23245923/

Reports: Sampson out, players might walk
Indiana officials will announce Friday what they will do with head coach
MSNBC News Services
updated 9:46 a.m. CT, Fri., Feb. 22, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana University officials have told Kelvin Sampson that he will not coach the team for the rest of the season — and perhaps forever — after being accused by the NCAA of five major recruiting violations, FOX Sports reported Friday.

FOX said officials informed Sampson of their decision on Thursday, and will make a public statement Friday.

A meeting between Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan and Hoosiers players Thursday night turned rancorous when players threatened to quit if Sampson was removed, CBSSports.com reported.

Two sources told the Web site that Greenspan met with players to prepare them for Friday's official announcement that Sampson would either be suspended or terminated. Before Greenspan was finished speaking, a player stood up and said, “if Sampson ain’t coaching, we ain’t playing.”

The sources’ account says Greenspan then rhetorically asked if he should just cancel the whole season. The player responded, “We don’t care what you do. But if Sampson ain’t coaching, we ain’t playing. Then the players walked out.

The players declined to comment in front of television cameras outside the meeting.

The sources also said that Greenspan asked Sampson to resign Thursday night, but Sampson refused.

Last week Indiana released the NCAA’s report that accused Sampson of providing false and misleading information to university and NCAA investigators about phone calls to recuits and failing to promote a high standard of honesty and an atmosphere of compliance in the program.

Sampson has said he never intentionally provided false or misleading information to NCAA investigators.

The question was whether Sampson will still be coaching No. 15 Indiana when the team faces Northwestern on Saturday night, and even the university’s board of trustees was unaware of a decision.

“I don’t believe the athletic director has even given the recommendation to the president yet,” trustee Patrick Shoulders said.

Sampson is accused of making improper phone calls, then providing false and misleading information to investigators from both the university and the NCAA.

University spokesman Larry MacIntyre and trustees denied reports all day that Indiana had already decided Sampson’s fate and would make assistant coach Dan Dakich the interim head coach.

Another trustee, Philip Eskew Jr., told The Associated Press he had been notified by e-mail Indiana would have an announcement on Sampson’s status Friday but did not have details. MacIntyre said late Thursday afternoon nothing had yet been scheduled but called an announcement likely.

“We have some plans, but we don’t have a definite time and we don’t have the OK to go ahead yet,” MacIntyre said.

Meanwhile, university officials spent the day deliberating.

President Michael McRobbie had a lunch meeting with university counsel Dorothy Frapwell and faculty representative Bruce Jaffee in the president’s office. Frapwell and Jaffee were two of the three people asked to conduct the school’s second investigation into the allegations. The third, Greenspan, could not be seen through the office’s glass doors, and Frapwell and Jaffee left through a back entrance to avoid reporters.

At Assembly Hall, Sampson spent the morning in his office, presumably looking at tape of Northwestern before leaving the building at about 2:15 p.m. About 45 minutes later, players, who had no practice scheduled, arrived for the compliance meeting that had already been rescheduled.

Last week the school released the NCAA’s report alleging Sampson also failed to promote a high standard of honesty and an atmosphere of rules compliance in the program.

Sampson has said he never intentionally provided false or misleading information to NCAA investigators.

With rumors and speculation floating around campus throughout the day, the images rekindled scenes eerily reminiscent to the prelude and aftermath of Bob Knight’s firing in September 2000.

Reporters spent hours staking out the hallway of the university administration building and the lobby of Assembly Hall, waiting for confirmation of whether Sampson would still have his job this weekend.

“People are saying all kinds of things, maybe suspend him, maybe do this or that, but it’s a big issue to the university,” Eskew said during an interview Wednesday night. “At the same time, it’s about due process and you’ve got to make a decision that’s in the best interests of the university.”

According to the contract signed in April 2006, Indiana pays Sampson an annual base salary of $500,000. The contract runs through the next five seasons.

Sampson’s deal includes termination clauses for violations of university or NCAA rules that eliminate the payments, but two Indianapolis attorneys have told The Associated Press that firing Sampson now could still force the school to pay out at least $2.5 million or face a potential lawsuit.

The second-year coach came under scrutiny for his newest round of alleged NCAA infractions in October when an internal investigation found Sampson made more than 100 impermissible recruiting calls, most of them by assistant coach Rob Senderoff, who has since resigned. At least 10 of them were allegedly three-way calls that Sampson had been patched into, a violation of NCAA restrictions imposed on Sampson for previous telephone improprieties while he was coach at Oklahoma.

The university called those secondary violations. The NCAA, however, used the term major when it accused Sampson of lying.

If Sampson isn’t coaching Saturday, the likely successor for the rest of this season is Dakich, 45, a former Indiana player and assistant coach and former head coach at Bowling Green who was once considered a possible successor to Knight. Dakich took Senderoff’s spot on the coaching staff in early November, prior to any of the alleged rules infractions.

Dakich, who was hired as Indiana’s director of basketball operations in June, is subject to the same restrictions the university imposed on Senderoff, who was banned from calling recruits and making off-campus recruiting visits for one year.

The university has until May 8 to respond to the NCAA, and a hearing has been set for June 14 in Seattle. A decision is expected sometime in July. Proven major violations come with penalties that can include teams being excluded from postseason tournaments.

“I fully understand the desire for us, by many people, to move quickly in bringing this situation to resolution,” McRobbie said. “We intend to do just that.”

SoonerShark
2/22/2008, 11:27 AM
Good for the players. I hope they follow through. That would be interesting.

Ton Loc
2/22/2008, 11:57 AM
I don't know if it would be good for the players. But it would be entertaining as hell.
I can't possibly imagine the crap that would spew from the ESPN blowhards.
Dick Vitale's head might explode.

tulsaoilerfan
2/22/2008, 12:41 PM
I don't know if it would be good for the players. But it would be entertaining as hell.
I can't possibly imagine the crap that would spew from the ESPN blowhards.
Dick Vitale's head might explode.
That would be a bad thing? :D

BarryBnds
2/22/2008, 12:46 PM
The inmates don't run the asylum. Let the spoiled brats walk off.

Dio
2/22/2008, 12:52 PM
That's a switch- usually players leave because Kelvin's staying.

SoonerShark
2/22/2008, 01:11 PM
I still want Kelvin to do well even though him bolting when he did meant Scotty Reynolds and Damian James opted for other places after Kelvin left. Add Texas' James and Villanova's Reynolds to our line-up and we are pretty darn good. We might have even beaten Stephen F. Austin! We maybe beat USC, probably UT in Norman, definitely A&M in College Station, CU in Boulder, and KSU in Norman. Heck, we beat KSU in Norman without those players if the refs called the KSU charge into Blake and he hits one free throw rather than it ending up as an assist and score to Beasley at the end of the KSU game.

SoonerShark
2/22/2008, 01:15 PM
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080222/SPORTS0601/802220423

INDIANAPOLIS STAR AT NOON 02/22/2008

IU coaching situation 'fluid'
Officials continue to discuss fate of embattled coach Sampson
By Terry Hutchens
[email protected]
February 22, 2008

Indiana University administrators continue to discuss Kelvin Sampson's fate, a person close to the situation said today.
The person described the situation as fluid as of noon.

No news conference has been scheduled.

President Michael McRobbie announced last week that athletic director Rick Greenspan had until today to decide whether he is suspending, firing, or retaining Sampson.

The NCAA said Sampson and his staff committed five major rules violations regarding impermissible phone calls to recruits. Sampson has denied knowingly misleading investigators -- one of the main charges against him.

Several members of the basketball team left Assembly Hall around 12:35 p.m.
Eric Gordon and D.J. White were not in the group that walked past reporters. No players commented.

It is unclear with whom the players met or how many players attended.
Indiana University athletic director Rick Greenspan met with basketball players late Thursday at Assembly Hall, but it was unclear whether he revealed to them the fate of Sampson.
Greenspan is expected to announce today his decision to suspend, fire or retain Sampson.
The players left Greenspan's office about 7:30 p.m. Brian Stemler said his son, IU senior forward Lance Stemler, told him the meeting centered on the team, not who would coach them Saturday at Northwestern, or beyond.
"He said it was nothing about what was going to happen," Brian Stemler said. "He said it was about the season going forward. He said nothing was said about anybody taking over, that a decision was going to be made (today)."
Greenspan left his office at 11:50 p.m. but refused to acknowledge reporters' requests for comment.
The meeting with players capped a whirlwind day at IU that included closed-door meetings and numerous Internet reports that Sampson had learned his fate and that assistant Dan Dakich would become interim coach.
IU denied each report as it appeared.
.
Attempts to reach Greenspan, Sampson and Dakich on Thursday were unsuccessful.
Sampson is accused in an NCAA report released last week of knowingly participating in impermissible telephone calls and later of lying to IU and NCAA investigators. Sampson has denied knowingly providing misinformation. The NCAA detailed five major rules violations in the report, and university President Michael McRobbie commissioned Greenspan to do a seven-day investigation.
Mike Sample, IU's vice president of public affairs and government relations, said McRobbie won't make the decision to fire or keep Sampson.
If Greenspan fires Sampson, the coach has 10 days to appeal to McRobbie.
"The process works like this so that the president can't be both the decider and the appellate process," Sample said. "Otherwise, he would be considering an appeal to his own decision."
"The process works like this so that the president can't be both the decider and the appellate process," Sample said. "Otherwise, he would be considering an appeal to his own decision."
Sample added that if Greenspan lets Sampson continue to coach, McRobbie wouldn't be involved. IU would present its case at the June 14 hearing of the NCAA Committee on Infractions in Seattle.
If Greenspan announces today that Sampson has been fired, an interim coach would be appointed.

Collier11
2/22/2008, 01:22 PM
The inmates don't run the asylum. Let the spoiled brats walk off.


I dont see that as being spoiled brats, I see it as them sticking up for KS. I personally think he should be fired but I can see the players point of view, many of them came to Indiana and DJ White stayed at Indiana because of KS.

badger
2/22/2008, 01:31 PM
Indy's denying that the player walkout and mutiny ever happened. They called it like "science fiction" or something.

SoonerShark
2/22/2008, 01:40 PM
If schools were loyal and actually adhered to qualities to be admired and the administration falsely claim to espouse, people who have had seats watching OU football games for 50 years would still be able to get OU-Texas tickets. Didn't I read a couple of years ago that KU and IU booted long time basketball loyalists from their arena seats in past years in order to give the same seats to Big Butted Big Bucks donors? I am sure other school's have done the same. Profits, not prophets, make the world go round. My sister-in-law's company donates substantial services to OU amounting to a value of tens of thousands of dollars. OU tried to move all of the company's 20 yard line seats to the endzone. My sister-in-law asked how she should deal with it. I reminded her to remind them that the value of what was donated would equate to what the company was actually receiving. Nearly all University ledger watchers are a greedy pack of weasels.

humblesooner
2/22/2008, 02:13 PM
This should be a short conversation. The administration should explain to the players that KS had broken rules that he was fully aware of after his issues over the last 7-8 years, and he has to pay for breaking the rules - regardless of what KS might have told them

It is no different for KS than for any one of them. If they repeatedly break the rules, they will be dismissed, as well. If they decide not to show up for a game because they want a blatant cheater on their bench, then that would have to be their decision. But KS is still walking.

The NCAA BB world will continue with or without them.

OUmillenium
2/22/2008, 02:18 PM
I like the player unity but if Kelvin truly is a coach of integrity, he would advise them not to walk out (he might have already?).

If they all walk out then fine. IU can deal with it like they want. The players will transfer and life will go on.

Will be fun to follow this situation.

Collier11
2/22/2008, 02:25 PM
Same report on SI.COM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/luke_winn/02/22/indiana/index.html

Salt City Sooner
2/22/2008, 03:18 PM
I still want Kelvin to do well even though him bolting when he did meant Scotty Reynolds and Damian James opted for other places after Kelvin left. Add Texas' James and Villanova's Reynolds to our line-up and we are pretty darn good. We might have even beaten Stephen F. Austin! We maybe beat USC, probably UT in Norman, definitely A&M in College Station, CU in Boulder, and KSU in Norman. Heck, we beat KSU in Norman without those players if the refs called the KSU charge into Blake and he hits one free throw rather than it ending up as an assist and score to Beasley at the end of the KSU game.
No free throws are awarded on a charge. Ball out of bounds.

crawfish
2/22/2008, 03:47 PM
Sampson always was able to inspire loyalty among his players. That is one of his chief talents.

yermom
2/22/2008, 03:55 PM
Good for the players. I hope they follow through. That would be interesting.

i might agree if it wasn't for breaking NCAA rules. if it was for losing a few games or something, maybe

Rock Hard Corn Frog
2/22/2008, 03:58 PM
I dont see that as being spoiled brats, I see it as them sticking up for KS. I personally think he should be fired but I can see the players point of view, many of them came to Indiana and DJ White stayed at Indiana because of KS.

Normally I wouldn't side with the players but in this instance I'd like to see the players stick it to Indiana and it really doesn't have anything to do with Sampson as much as the school is saying "your coach is gone, get over it" and the players giving the school administration a collective "suck it".

Plus I'm all for Dukie V's head exploding.

Ultimately the school probably holds the cards but Gordon and White are gone after this year anyway so they make things interesting. Greenspan is on life support at IU as well.

Besides it is flat out entertaining.

SoonerShark
2/22/2008, 06:51 PM
Sampson wants team to play Saturday
By Terry Hutchens
[email protected]
February 22, 2008


BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Kelvin Sampson will meet with his team tonight and encourage them to play in Saturday's game at Northwestern regardless of his situation, a person close to the team said today.

Six players, including D.J. White, Armon Bassett, Jamarcus Ellis and Jordan Crawford, did not show up for a scheduled practice today at Assembly Hall.

Another person close to the team said players have threatened to boycott Saturday's game if Sampson is not the coach, and the team will follow D.J. White's lead on whether to play.
Earlier: Players threaten boycott

Indiana University men's basketball players walked out of a Thursday night meeting with athletic director Rick Greenspan, refusing to play the rest of the season if coach Kelvin Sampson is dismissed, a person familiar with the situation said today.
During the meeting, Greenspan told players about what course of action the school might take regarding Sampson, the source said. The source was told Jamarcus Ellis walked out of the meeting.
IU plays at Northwestern on Saturday. The source said players will follow the lead of D.J. White.
"As far as them playing, it depends on D.J.," the source said. "He's the leader. He's the cornerstone. Whatever D.J. does, they're all going to do."
The players met again today. Afterward, WTHR (Channel 13) asked White if the players were planning a boycott.
"The only thing I will say is, 'I will not say it's not true,'" the station quoted him as saying.
Asked if the players are still planning to walk out after today's meeting, the source said, "I know they were. I don't know if they are now."
The players want assistant Ray McCallum to take over if Sampson is going because McCallum was involved in recruiting several of them, the source said.

McCallum met with Greenspan 20 minutes before a scheduled practice today. It is not known what they discussed.
Assistant Dan Dakich joined the staff this year as an administrative assistant before being promoted following the dismissal of Rob Senderoff, who was involved in many of the recruiting violations, according to IU's initial internal report.
Earlier in the day, Chipola junior college coach Greg Heiar, who coached Ellis and DeAndre Thomas, said the players were firm in their desire to play for Sampson.
"I talked to Jamarcus about four days ago. Jamarcus went there to play for coach Sampson. I think the players' point is, they went there to play for coach Sampson. It's not fair to the players. You can see if they do it at the end of the season, but it's not fair now. They want to play for him," Heiar said.
College basketball analyst Jay Bilas -- while stressing that he didn't know the specifics of the IU situation -- said that in general, player boycotts are a bad idea.

"That's fine to flex their muscles. But kids only have so much time to play," Bilas said. "I don't think that's what Kelvin Sampson would want. They can quit or leave after the season, but don't do it now."

PDXsooner
2/22/2008, 07:54 PM
please. these players will give in as players always do. they have no leverage. what are your options? transfer and sit out a year or become a regular student? they'll all be back by the next game.

the_ouskull
2/22/2008, 08:22 PM
That's a switch- usually players leave because Kelvin's staying.

Maybe Indiana just has smarter players...

the_ouskull

the_ouskull
2/22/2008, 08:40 PM
please. these players will give in as players always do. they have no leverage. what are your options? transfer and sit out a year or become a regular student? they'll all be back by the next game.

Armond Bassett, Jordan Crawford, and Eric Gordon are sophomores and freshmen. If they transfer (or in Gordon's case, just leave) it hurts Indiana greatly. Also, there are 5 seniors on the team, and 3 more juniors. Of those juniors, 2 of them have no basketball-related future ahead of them, and the 3rd, Jamarcus Ellis, has a slightly worse chance than Longar Longar. He's only scored in double-digits 9 times this season, and he's only hit that number 6 times in the rebounds category. He's a college player at best. He's big enough to get away with being a player without a position in college, but, in the NBA, he'd either be a 6/5, 200 pound guard who can't shoot or play defense; or he'd be a 6/5, 200 pound forward who couldn't bang or play defense.

I'm not saying that they're going to stick to their guns, but if they DID, it'd make sense to me. I hope that they do. If they players feel like the school is railroading their coach to try to save face on something that they may or may not be overreacting to in the first place, then sure... good for them for protesting.

But, since the opposite is more likely and they're probably already announcing that they're breaking their strike as I type this since it took me so long to type it (I love you South Park on DVD) I'm just going to stop now.

the_ouskull

PDXsooner
2/22/2008, 10:35 PM
IF they left you'd be right. but they won't. too much hassle to leave and sit out a year. not to mention, are they protesting the firing of sampson after he cheated AFTER already being caught for cheating for the same thing?

i am a kelvin sampson fan, but he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and now he's paying the price.

birddog
2/23/2008, 02:15 AM
anyone think rick barnes will be the next iu coach? he's got to be one of the top coaches in the country.

King Crimson
2/23/2008, 09:35 AM
anyone think rick barnes will be the next iu coach? he's got to be one of the top coaches in the country.

it's hard to argue with his success. he's had success with a lot of different kinds of lineups, early entries to the draft, etc. his first UT team which won the conference IIRC was hardly chock full of LaMarcus Aldridge and TJ Ford types.

tulsaoilerfan
2/23/2008, 11:51 AM
Barnes is a great coach and would be a perfect fit for Indiana; he can go there this morning as far as i'm concerned. :)

Frozen Sooner
2/23/2008, 12:48 PM
Nah. If they don't hire Bob Knight back it'll be Dakich. The IU faithful want someone from the family.

PDXsooner
2/23/2008, 02:20 PM
bob knight ran a program filled with intimidation, ego, anger, tantrums, physical abuse, emotional abuse and downright shame. why would the people at IU want him back?

also, dakich and knight don't speak anymore. knight felt dakich sold him out while knight was listening in to a phone conversation between dakich and another assistant.

Sooner_Bob
2/23/2008, 02:40 PM
The IU faithful want someone from the family.


Did anyone else read that in their best Marlon Brando voice?

Rock Hard Corn Frog
2/23/2008, 10:57 PM
anyone think rick barnes will be the next iu coach? he's got to be one of the top coaches in the country.


I hadn't thought it but it would be a great move if they could get him. I'll all for him leaving Texas.

the_ouskull
2/24/2008, 03:24 PM
If Knight goes back to Indiana, I want Jim Ross to be the PA announcer for his first game.

"Oh my Gawd, it's Knight! It's Knight! The chair-throwin', secretary-threatening, Just-for-Men needin', meanest S.O.B. in the game is back! ONLY at Indiana!"

the_ouskull

ouflak
2/25/2008, 03:09 AM
I have to say, I think Kelvin Sampson handled the departure rather gracefully. Resigning with a modest payout, probably talked the players into sticking with the program and supporting the new coach, and staying away from the media. I don't know if that will count for much, but it counts for something.

Collier11
2/25/2008, 11:56 AM
I have to say, I think Kelvin Sampson handled the departure rather gracefully. Resigning with a modest payout, probably talked the players into sticking with the program and supporting the new coach, and staying away from the media. I don't know if that will count for much, but it counts for something.


Yea, $750k for getting fired for cheating...id be pretty graceful about that as well!

stoops the eternal pimp
2/25/2008, 12:50 PM
So did they all show up to play over the weekend? I thought I saw IU had a game

Collier11
2/25/2008, 01:00 PM
yea they did, they won a close game

Collier11
2/25/2008, 03:34 PM
He just cant stop, this is from SI.com

The first sign that Indiana's problems aren't over, but really just beginning, was a startling revelation Saturday night. Armon Bassett, one of many terrific players on a team in mid-scandal limbo, said he received a text message from an admirer after a tense victory over Northwestern. "He told me he loved me, he's happy for me and good win,'' Bassett said. The texter: Kelvin Sampson. Insert your punchline here about the serial cell-phone monster who can't help himself, but this is neither humorous nor encouraging for the immediate future of a potential Final Four team. Only a day after he was bought out as a repeat rules offender who shamed a legendary basketball program, Sampson still was associating with his former players via the very technological toys that doomed him. It begs the question of how close he'll remain with the Hoosiers as the tournament nears -- and how university officials and the NCAA will view such a bond as IU tries to avoid crippling long-term sanctions.

Frozen Sooner
2/25/2008, 03:38 PM
That's just stupid. What, he's not allowed to even talk to his former players anymore to congratulate them on a win?

Collier11
2/25/2008, 03:40 PM
That's just stupid. What, he's not allowed to even talk to his former players anymore to congratulate them on a win?


Its not that so much as the fact that Indiana probably wants him as far away from their team as possible now

BarryBnds
2/25/2008, 09:41 PM
If I was Dakich I'd bench those little bitches. Reminds me of the loyalty the OU team afforded John Blake when he was fired. It's easy to talk a big game.