Not only did Coach Kelvin Sampson and his Indiana Hoosiers lose to Wisconsin last night, but the NCAA has come out with their report and he could lose his job. Brian Butch banked in a three point shot to give the Badgers a two point lead with just under 10 seconds and a three point attempt by Jemarcus Ellis bounced off the rim as time expired. One might think that was the most important thing to happen to the Hoosiers last night, however, think again.
A program that Bob Knight came in and cleaned up in the late 60’s has been free of NCAA scrutiny since then is now under a dark cloud due to Sampson’s excessive phone use. After commiting the same violations at Oklahoma prior to his hiring at Indiana, he has now commited the same violation.
The catch this time is that the NCAA has alleged that he provided false information during the investigation. If this is true he could be done at Indiana. Right now however, the university is not in position to jump the gun. If you will remember a couple of years ago when Ohio State jumped the gun in firing Coach Jim O’Brien it came back to cost them millions. O’Brien won his court case and was awarded over $2 million because Ohio State did not follow due process. I don’t believe Indiana wants to do the same thing with Sampson.
This could stretch on until the summer in which case both parties could be severely damaged. It doesn’t look good for Sampson at the moment. But then again the NCAA has a habit of jumping to conclusions. Ask Jerry Tarkanian who sued the NCAA and won over $2 million for their vendetta against him.
In America you are innocent until proven guilty. Also, I love the fact that the NCAA is going after phone violations when there are a lot of more serious problems being overlooked.
