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.
