Indiana Atheltic Director Rick Greenspan will resign at the end of the calendar year. The NCAA has basically said he didn’t do his job in administering the athletic department he oversaw. I’m glad to see that Kelvin Sampson won’t be the only fall guy in this case.

In my opinion the NCAA has wasted its time going after some extra phone calls. How about all of the money that changes hands? How about the Final Four ticket scam that the NCAA takes part in? Time to move on and start from scratch.

Groce Hired at Ohio U
Ohio State Asst. John Groce was announced as the new head coach at Ohio University. Let me start off by saying that I am sure John Groce is a good coach and a good guy, at least from my experience.

But new Athletic Director Jim Schaus made a huge mistake in his first official decision at Ohio. He had the best candidate sitting two doors down. Associate Head Coach John Rhodes was the perfect fit for the job, but for some inexplicable reason, Schaus thought that Groce was the better fit. Neither has head coaching experience, but let me give you a little of Rhodes background and let you make your own decision.

Rhodes was ranked as one of the top assistant coaches in the country by Fox Sports and Hoop Scoop. He recruited last year’s conference player of the year and this year’s preseason player of the year. He has served for nine years under two different head coaches. During that time he went to the NCAA tournament twice (once with each head coach).

Rhodes is an alum who had the total support of the Bobcat community. He played on an NCAA tourney team at Ohio and is one of their most beloved players. To throw in a little more ammunition, he served on the St. Bonaventure staff that went to the NCAA tournament the last time the Bonnies were there.

If there is any assistant who deserved a chance at a job at his alma mater, it is John Rhodes. Unfortunately, Jim Schaus who spent the last decade at Wichita State, failed to understand that he had the right man under his nose. Too often, ADs try to win the press conference. At least that is the only way that I can explain why they would take an Ohio State assistant. Little does he realize that most people at OU don’t want to hear about the Buckeyes. Finally, I don’t think this hire is going to help Schaus on the fund raising trail when he tries to explain why he didn’t hire one of their own. Especially one of their own that has tasted such success.

I will make a prediction right now… Schaus’ stay at Ohio U will be short lived and this decision will come back to haunt him.

It is crazy that search firms are being used to hire athletic directors. It is absolutely nuts that search firms are being used to hire coaches. But it is outrageously absurd that new Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins used a search firm to hire his coaching staff.

Why are college administrators allowed to waste money on search firms to do the job they are hired to do. And come on, Coach Dawkins, if you don’t know 5 people well enough who you think could be good assistants you have no business being a head coach. It is not like you were hiring someone to coach at NJIT for a cup of coffee. You were hiring a staff for Stanford with an unlimited budget. What’s next? Hire a search firm to decide what type of defense and offense to run.

Two former Duquesne basketball players are looking to hit the lotteryKojo Mensah and Shawn James left school a year early to put their names in the NBA draft. Seems they were poorly advised by their mentors back in Brooklyn. Neither player will be drafted this week. Now they want to earn the same type of money by suing the school that gave them an opportunity to get a college degree. Another bad idea by their mentors back in Brooklyn. Two wrongs don’t make a right…

In other Court news: Kansas guard Sheron Collins was charged with assault on a woman that stems from an incident that occurred in May 2007. That’s the correct date. I guess the wheels of justice run slow in Kansas.

The NABC has come out against the recruitment of 8th graders in college basketball. The coaches association has said this is not a good thing. What will Tim Floyd and John Calipari do now? Also, how about the recruiting services who rank kids as low as the 5th grade? Like they really know how good a player is going to be 10 years from now.

Unfortunately, this is only a suggestion from the NABC and not a rule. Why not make it a rule and put some teeth in it? Then the public will take the organization more serious. Come on Jim Haney, make it a rule….

In another bizarre coaching move, Tim O’Shea has left Ohio University to become the head coach at Bryant University in Rhode Island. On the surface, it’s strange that a coach would leave a solid mid-major job for a school that will be playing their first year in Division I.

However, when you look closely you will see a couple of good reasons to make the move. First, he would have had a new boss at Ohio University. Jim Schaus was hired as the new athletic director a couple of months ago, which isn’t a good thing for a coach who only has a couple of years left on his contract. Also, he is a New England guy who has a home in Newport News, Rhode Island.

With O’Shea’s departure, Schaus should just walk over to the office right next door and hire Associate Head Coach, John Rhodes.

Rhodes is a former OU player who has been an assistant for both O’Shea and Larry Hunter. He has played in the NCAA tournament and coached in them while working for the Bobcats. He is one of the top recruiters in the country and an excellent teacher of the game. The current players and people in the community would rally around such a choice. But most importantly, he would produce championship teams both on and off the court.

Here’s hoping Schaus makes the right decision.

It appears that North Carolina and Arizona are the two big winners in the early draft sweepstakes. With the rule change allowing players to test the waters and have the NBA teams pay for the workouts, more and more players are sticking their foot in the waters hoping to make a splash. This rule change really leaves the college coaches in a bit of a pickle. Do you sign his replacement or do you hope he comes to his senses? Now there are some sure bets, like Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose. I am not talking about those guys, but a player like Bill Walker from Kansas State or the three players from UNC who tested the waters. Those are the “flip a coin” type guys.

However, before you shed a tear for Roy Williams remember he still has Tyler Hansbrough back for another year. Today Roy Williams can go back out on the golf course for another month with the knowledge that Ty Lawson, Danny Green and Wayne Ellington will be back in Chapel Hill. Coaching just got a little bit easier for ol’ Roy. He has another year with more talent than anyone he plays against.

The other big winner is Lute Olsen. With the return of Chase Buddinger and Jordan Hill (and if Brandon Jennings can make grades) the Wildcats will be in the hunt out west again. And it looks like all his distractions are gone (marital problems and staff issues) and that magic 800 mark is in sight.

The big losers are UCLA and Kansas State. Both Bill Walker and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will stay in. With Walker’s new knee injury and Moute’s lack of polish both players would have been better served to come back one more year. Then again they will make big money overseas even if the NBA doesn’t come calling.

Also, George Hill of IUPUI and Paul Graham of Florida Atlantic are staying in. The thought is their value may never be any higher. At least in Hill’s case he is close to graduating so he will have something to fall back on.

Once again, it begs the question of who are some of these guys listening too? Oh, that’s right, they listen to an advisor who only gets paid if they leave school. Let’s see, I will be Bill Walker’s advisor for the moment. If I tell Bill to go back to school I get nothing, however, if I tell him to come out, then I get paid a percentage of what his first contract is. So I get nothing or 10% to 20%? Pretty easy decision. Come on guys, listen to the people who know - not someone you think knows.

Once again the NCAA has shown why it cares more about the turf it holds as a giant bureaucracy than the welfare of one of its student athletes. They have lost touch with the people who make their jobs possible. The young men and women who want to compete.

In a recent ruling, Kenny Simms was denied a waiver to transfer and play at Francis Marion University. I guess the schools involved weren’t big enough to warrant any publicity, good or bad, to make a decision in what was in the best interest of the student athlete. Not like a year ago, when they approved Tyler Smith to play right away for Tennessee, which was a school he had turned down the first time they recruited him.

All Kenny Sims wanted to do was play for a coach that recruited him, but the ARS committee refused his request based on the grounds that he could have appealed to stay at UMKC. It seems UMKC had withdrawn his scholarship at the end of the academic year.

Let me get back to the beginning so you hear the whole story. Kenny was recruited out of high school by Donnie Marsh at FIU. He elected to sign there in the fall of his senior year in high school. Unfortunately for Kenny, Coach Marsh was fired that spring. Since he had signed the letter of intent he was bound to FIU. He ended up going there and playing for the new coach. After a year, his scholarship was not renewed. No reasons were given. A school doesn’t have to give a reason. It was just a case of the new coach wanting his own players.

He then transferred to UMKC. While sitting out a year in residence (as required by the NCAA) the coach that recruited him there was fired. Once again he was playing for a new coach. At the end of that year the new coach decided not to renew his scholarship.

Now Kenny wanted to finish his career playing for someone he knows and, more importantly, going to a school that would give him a scholarship. You see, he had no financial resources to stay and pay his own way at UMKC the additional year so that he could graduate.

Unfortunately, this week he was told by Matt Bergmeister of the NCAA that he would not be granted his waiver and would not be allowed to play. When explaining this decision, Bergmeister cited two things. First, it didn’t matter that coaches had changed. What world does he live in? Oh yeah, the fantasy world of the NCAA!
Secondly, that he could have appealed his scholarship non-renewal at UMKC. He is correct about that, but by the time the committee would have met and ruled he would have risked not having another school to go to.

Once again, the NCAA has taken away a young man’s future by taking away his economic wherewithal to graduate. It is time for the NCAA to stop burying its head in the sand and do what is right for the student athletes.

One final note, if there are any lawyers out there reading this blog who would be interested in trying to fight this injustice please contact me.

It’s official, Kyle Taber will be the captain of the basketball team at Indiana. Well, not quite official. Although, with the news of Jordan Crawford’s departure, Taber is the only scholarship player left on the roster.

Tom Crean’s recruiting ability will be tested to the max the next two years. The question is - can he pull another Dwayne Wade out of his hat? With only one returning scholarship player, Crean will have to use newcomers and his coaching wits to avoid the basement in the Big Ten.

My money is on Crean. If I had to use one word to describe him, it would be “relentless.”

A report surfaced today that a high school coach whose player was involved with the investigation into Kelvin Sampson’s illegal phone calls has sent in his phone records to refute the charge. The phone records show that the call was made from the high school coaches phone and not an Indiana assistant (which would have made it illegal).

That knocks it down to 9 phone calls in question. Are you kidding me? The NCAA is off it’s rocker spending so much money to invesitgate this matter. That is why Jerry Tarkanian received $22.5 million dollars from the NCAA for their abusive investigations of him at UNLV.

Sampson has moved on to the NBA. The AD still has his job and Tom Crean is rebuilding from scratch. Let’s give it a rest and worry about something more important.

BROWN HIRES AGEL
Assistant Jessie Agel has been hired as the head coach at Brown. After Craig Robinson was hired at Oregon State (not sure why), his assistant was left to hand in the wind for close to three months. Finally, they did the right thing and hired a guy who has paid his dues. After a stellar run as an assistant at Vermont, he was bypassed for that job and landed on his feet at Brown.

Glad to see him get an opportunity. Go Bears!!

LAWSON ARRESTED FOR DUI
Ty Lawson was arrested for DUI and underage drinking in Chapel Hill over the weekend. Must have been partying with Tyler Hansbrough. I wonder who can jump the farthest out a window.

He was supposed to work out for the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. Obviously, he missed it. Lucky for him George Karl is an ex-UNC player so he probably knows a little bit about the partying going on in Chapel Hill. Do you think they will still take him with their 20th pick as was rumored? Why not, he is a perfect fit with Iverson and Anthony. Both on and off the court!

My only question is why didn’t he wait until after the draft?

Florida Atlantic announced this week that Mike Jarvis will be their new basketball coach. This is the same Mike Jarvis whose St. John’s program deteriorated to the bottom of the Big East. The same Coach Jarvis whose program was put on NCAA probation for paying players. The same Coach Jarvis whose George Washington program detriorated in his last copuple of years to the bottom of the Atlantic 10.

Not that I don’t believe in second chances, but give me a break. Once again college administrators have proven that if you have a successful record on the court (Jarvis did have good seasons early in his tenure at both schools) then what happens off the court doesn’t matter. After a two-year stint working with Athletes in Action (Christian organization), his image has been rehabilitated. But come on! Isn’t it time that college presidents walk the walk?

Until these college presidents stop hiring coaches who have broken serious NCAA rules, the whole system will remain a sham. Remember the president of Georgia when he hired Jim Harrick after his rules violations at UCLA? He extolled how Harrick had learned his lessons. Obviously, he didn’t learn them well enough because he was part of the biggest scandal in Georgia basketball history.

Now I am not saying that Jarvis has not learned his lessons or doesn’t deserve another chance, but there are too many coaches out there with proven integrity who should be given the same chance. However, there is one thing that Jarvis has proven and that is he can win games. And that is all that matters to most college administrators!

Crazy Coaching Move, Part 2: Kansas State announced today that they have signed Associate Head coach Dalonte Hill to a five-year contract worth $420,000 per year. Are you kidding me? That’s more money than what 90% of the head coaches make in Division I. And for what? He delivered Michael Beasley. The one-year wonder who helped Kansas State make the NCAA tournament, where they won a single game.

His salary is more than the the combined salary of the entire assistant staff at Kansas. And they won a National Championship. And they have reloaded with NBA talent. Meanwhile, K-State is left without a single potential NBA player on their roster or incoming recruit with any buzz of a NBA future. Couple that with an irresponsible DUI charge during the season and it makes you wonder what the new Athletic Director at K-State was thinking. That type of money should be left for proven coaches who are the whole package. For a great cost comparison check out the article by Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star.

Every day you read about this college athlete getting into trouble and that coach with the big contract, but today I would like to give you a story that needs to be told. Ron Hunter at IUPUI has made putting shoes on the feet of the children of Africa his humanitarian cause. Take a look at the attached article and you will see a coach who understands that is not just about wins and losses. Now if we can get some college administrators and the money people to understand the same thing.

Last year, they changed the NBA draft rule to force young men to go to college for one year before putting their name in the draft. A player can get drafted into the Army, but he can’t play his trade in the NBA without a year of college. Who are you kidding? David Stern is so self serving. And for what 12 players? That’s how many freshman put their name in the draft this year. This rule brings on a whole new set of problems for guys who don’t really want to be in college. Ian O Connor wrote a great article on the potential problems.

Reports have surfaced that O.J. Mayo took $30, 000 from a friend who was paid by an agent to deliver him. Fox Sports is reporting that agent Louis Johnson told “Outside the Lines” that the money was given during Mayo’s freshman year.

Tim Floyd knew exactly what he was getting himself into when he signed Mayo. He even knew the runner, Guillory. Doesn’t seem like a new occurrence at USC when you factor in that Reggie Bush was given housing for him and his family by an agent while he was there.

Should Floyd have signed him? Why not? He is trying to win games and I am sure that Mayo didn’t tell him about the money. The big question is what will the NCAA do to USC now? AD Mike Garrett has an athletic program that is winning in its two major sports, but at what cost? Besides, both Floyd and Carroll worked in the pros where the players get paid. Has anybody asked them about paying college athletes?

It should be an interesting summer for the Men of Troy.

Lute Olsen is back in charge at Arizona and has cleaned house to prove it. Besides losing Buddinger and Bayless to the pros he has also dismissed his entire staff.

Kevin O Neill, who was supposed to get the job when and if Olsen ever retires, was pushed aside and reassigned within the department. That won’t last. O’Neill didn’t come to Arizona to be an administrator. Miles Simon, who helped Olsen get a championship ring was pushed out the door as well. Olsen showed a lot of gratitude there.

Now word has it that Josh Pastner and all of his father’s connections - his father runs a Houston AAU team and a couple big time tounaments each year - are leaving for Memphis. This might not be a big loss for Arizona since Pastner really didn’t deliver as many players as he was supposed to. But at Memphis, I guarantee Coach Cal will benefit from the paternal ties.

It looks like Mike Dunlap will fill his shoes. The former NBA coach realizes that won’t get a head coaching job in the NBA and needs to get back to the college level to strengthen his chances of getting a head coaching job in college. The big question is - how long will it take before Olsen gets tired of Dunlap and his ideas? It didn’t take him long to tire of O’Neill.

Mark my words - Arizona will not have the success it had in the past until Olsen calls it quits. Check out Bowden’s and Paterno’s recent record in football. It’s a young man’s game.

The following is a list of early entries into the NBA Draft. Obviously, some won’t keep their name in, but I am sure there are enough kids on this list who will listen the wrong advice and stay in. Testing the waters is a good thing, but if you aren’t getting guaranteed money by being a first round pick then go back to school. I have got to admit some of these guys I have never heard of. If I haven’t heard of them then I doubt the NBA will think they are good enough. I just hope these guys are still doing their school work.
One guy on the list I hope comes back is Bill Walker. Another year at KState and he will be guaranteed the world.

On the basis of letters received prior to midnight April 27, 2008, the following basketball players from the listed U.S. colleges and post-graduate institutions have applied as “early entry” players to be eligible for selection in the 2008 NBA Draft:

A.J. Abrams, Texas
Josh Akognon, Cal State Fullerton
Joe Alexander, West Virginia
Antonio Anderson, Memphis
Ryan Anderson, Cal
Darrell Arthur, Kansas
D.J. Augustin, Texas
Derek Bailey, Providence Christian Academy (KS)
Jerryd Bayless, Arizona
Michael Beasley, Kansas State
Jason Bennett, Tallahasee CC (FL)
Keith Brumbaugh, Hillsborough CC (FL)
Chase Budinger, Arizona
Derrick Caracter, Louisville
DeMarre Carroll, Missouri
Charles Carter, Oklahoma Baptist
Josh Carter, Texas A&M
Mario Chalmers, Kansas
Lee Cummard, BYU
Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis
Robert Dozier, Memphis
Wayne Ellington, North Carolina
Alonzo Gee, Alabama
C.J. Giles, Oregon State
Eric Gordon, Indiana
Jamont Gordon, Mississippi State
Paul Graham II, Florida Atlantic
Danny Green, North Carolina
Donte Green, Syracuse
Kalen Grimes, Missouri
Richard Hendrix, Alabama
J.J. Hickson, N.C. State
George Hill, IUPUI
Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin
Reggie Huffman, UAB
Stefon Jackson, UTEP
Shawn James, Duquesne
Davon Jefferson, USC
DeAndre Jordan, Texas A&M
Kosta Koufos, Ohio State
Ty Lawson, North Carolina
Brook Lopez, Stanford
Robin Lopez, Stanford
Kevin Love, UCLA
Leo Lyons, Missouri
O.J. Mayo, USC
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, UCLA
JaVale McGee, Nevada
Jerel McNeal, Marquette
Kojo Mensah, Duquesne
Jeremy Pargo, Gonzaga
Courtney Pigram, East Tennessee State
Trent Plaisted, BYU
Bruce Price, Tennessee State
Anthony Randolph, LSU
John Riek, Winchendon School (MA)
Derrick Rose, Memphis
Brandon Rush, Kansas
Walter Sharpe, UAB
Josh Shipp, UCLA
Kiwan Smith, Redlands CC (OK)
Marreese Speights, Florida
Ronald Steele, Alabama
Robert Vaden, UAB
Lorrenzo Wade, San Diego State
Bill Walker, Kansas State
Gordon Watt, Houston Baptist
Russell Westbrook, UCLA
Raymond Wright, Arkansas-Monticello

David Stern and Myles Brand have no idea what a high school basketball player, who is trying to make a name for himself, needs to get noticed. Nor do they care. They only care about the best of the best, making money and protecting their turf.

That is how I interpret the new proposal just passed that will go into effect August 1. The proposal prohibits college coaches from viewing events that are not sponsored by state high school associations, prep school or junior college associations or the National Federation of High Schools. It means that all of the high exposure AAU events will not be seen by college coaches.

Stern and Brand did this to try and eliminate the AAU coach, but the events will still go on because players want to play. Brand said that it was important that all the key stakeholders be involved. What about the players themselves? I am not talking about the top level players who this is targeted for, but rather the guys who are still on the rise. Now they won’t be seen.

I am surprised that more mid-level and low-level coaches haven’t shown their outrage. Eliminating this valuable time means missing out on potential recruits and spending extra money that they may not have in the budget.

Sonny Vaccarro said it best, “who says they have the wisdom to make this decision? Suddenly the NCAA will pick and choose who to invite to camps and entities like the AAU won’t have a say at all.” This is similar the the NCAA Clearinghouse that was set up a few years ago. It was set up to take the burden off each individual’s admissions department and make academic guidelines consistent across the board. This in itself is a fallacy. Each school has it’s own mission. If a school like St. Francis College in New York has a mission to accept students from families that are first-timers in college, how can you make that the same as North Carolina that has a completely different mission?

Fast forward a few years and you see a huge money making bureaucracy built by the NCAA and sustained by kids and their families. The same will happen with recruiting camps and tournaments. Look for the NCAA to get more involved and dig into people’s pockets more. (Already, event organizers have to pay to have a coach certified as well as the event certified. Tell me why it should cost money.)

As a former coach who never coached at the highest level I can tell you that most rules are made for the top 5% by the top 5%. It’s the old golden rule, whoever has the gold makes the rules. In the end the ones who will be hurt the most are the kids - players looking for a scholarship that won’t get seen. Also, it means that coaches will make decision based on less information. That is not a good thing, either.

I believe there should be one dead month a year. August. Let all the other times be open to recruiting. Just like the old days.

Note: If the NBA is going to continue to use the NCAA as a farm system then the owners should pay to support it, just like they do in Major League Baseball.

As reported here last week Kelvin Sampson has signed on to be an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks under new head coach Scott Skiles. Follwing his dismissal from Indiana he was hired by Greg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. Sampson is a tremdous coach and someone who can really relate to players. Look for him to be a head coach in the NBA in a very short time. Now he doesn’t have to worry about how many times he calls a player….

Speaking of Indiana: The list of defections just keep getting longer. Today Eli Holman told Tom Crean that he was transfering. Holman did not play much last year, but the 6′9 forward would have seen a dramatic increase in playing time following the departure of Mike White and DJ White.

Also, Tom Crean has upheld the suspensions of JeMarcus Ellis and Armon Bassett. Both players will not be returning to the Hoosiers next season. Crean also announced that DeAndre Thomas has left the team. These departures will help Tom Crean in the long run. They may struggle next season due to lack of talent, but after a couple of recruiting classes Crean will have totally remade the team in his image. Better to bite the bullet now and reap the benefits later. The only question is will the Indiana faithful accept this thinking.

It looks like Ohio State seven-footer Kostos Koufos is going to sign with an agent and stay in the NBA draft. He is projected to go in the middle of the first round. Even if he doesn’t sign with the NBA his Greek passport will enable him to get over a $1 million in Europe. This is bad news for the Buckeyes since the quarter had already started and they will get hit by the APR. Once again, a rule that penalizes a coach and his program when he has no power over a player’s decision. If Myles Brand could sign for a couple of million I think he would leave school as well.

I still remember seeing pictures of President Bill Clinton in the Arkansas cheering section when they won the national championship, but Barack Obama has gone one better. He got to play in a pick up game against some of the North Carolina players. Check out the video - even Bill Clinton couldn’t do that.

It’s too bad that the first basketball playing president could be Obama when it should have been Bill Bradley a couple of years ago.

Are you kidding me? Who’s next for the NBA draft? I hear there is a back up guard at New Jersey Tech who is putting his name in the draft. Not really, but that’s how cheap the list of underclassmen entering the draft has become. The NBA needs to do something to fix this before it becomes even more of a joke.

Take for example the fact the Tyler Hansborough, the collegiate player of the year, is coming back for his senior year. However, three of his teammates have put their name into the draft. I can’t blame the players. They don’t listen to their coaches anyway. And most coaches just say go ahead. It gives them a little publicity for their program. Why shouldn’t the players get free trips to work out for teams all across the country. It’s just like being recruited again.

David Stern you need to either step in and close the loop hole or better yet. Allow players to jump to the NBA right out of high school. LeBron James has done pretty well for himself. Even Darius Miles, whose playing career has been a bust, still banked more money than most people can only dream about.

Here’s my suggestion. Let the players put their name in after their junior year. Make it closer to the baseball rule. You can be drafted out of high school, but once you are in college you can’t look at the NBA until after your third year in college. Forget about age. A lot of kids go to prep school and are 19 or 20 by the time they get to college.

Close the loophole and give acedemics more than just lip service.

Speaking of Tyler Hansborough: His little brother Ben has tranferred from Missisippi State to Notre Dame. Ben averaged, 10 points a game for the Tigers last year. Give Rick Stansbury credit he was the only one who thought he was good enought to play at that level coming out of high school. And this is how Ben repays him.