Indiana poised to announce Sampson's fate as coach

[BOURBON TOWN CAT FAN]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3258506


Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan has made his decision on whether Kelvin Sampson will continue to coach the Hoosiers and is discussing it with university president Michael McRobbie this morning, as well, a high-ranking IU official said.
Greenspan will then meet with Sampson and a statement from the university will be issued later Friday. The official said Sampson is not privy to his fate. Sampson spent Thursday preparing for the Hoosiers' Big Ten game on Saturday at Northwestern.

The IU official would not comment on the school's decision.

"No decision was made until this morning, I cannot stress that enough," the official said in reference to various reports Thursday that claimed a decision to fire Sampson already had been made. "All those reports about it being made yesterday and of the players being told and of the team threatening not to play were not true. It's pure science fiction.

"The content of the meeting with the players was to keep them focused on the season and to [allow them to] ask questions at that time.'"

IU officials said the players attended a regularly scheduled compliance meeting Thursday afternoon. The Hoosiers did not practice Wednesday or Thursday after beating Purdue on Tuesday.

Last week McRobbie set a Friday deadline for Greenspan to give him a recommendation on what to do regarding Sampson's job status, based on a Feb. 8 NCAA notice of allegations that accused Sampson of five major recruiting violations over improper telephone calls to high school players.

The NCAA gave Indiana 90 days, under policy, to respond to the allegations. A hearing in front of the NCAA's committee on infractions is scheduled for June 14 in Seattle.

Greenspan's options include suspending Sampson without pay, which would lead to a likely 10-day appeal process as called for in Sampson's contract, and such a decision would likely lead to the coach's termination. Greenspan also could elect to give Sampson the 90-day period to respond to the allegations.

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

Sampson is in his second season at Indiana.

[RP_McMurphy]

Call him with the news.

[cumberlandredskin]

Greenspan should do a conference call with the mediato announce the decision. Wouldn't that be a hoot!:icon_mrgreen:

[UFWildcat]

Just said that he will be suspended for the rest of the year and fired at years end.

At least thats the universities plan.

[crazzedcats22]

Just said that he will be suspended for the rest of the year and fired at years end.

At least thats the universities plan.

Link?

I hope his cheating a$$ never coaches again!

[flacat22]

Link?

I hope his cheating a$$ never coaches again!


http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10661089

[ChrisB60]

Ding Dong, Sampson's gone!

[BOURBON TOWN CAT FAN]

The Hoosier Scoop

http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/

Source: Sampson out (http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/?p=1648)

• By Doug | Friday, February 22, 2008 at 1:11 pm | 7 Comments » (http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/?p=1648#comments)

2 p.m UPDATE: I just spoke with the same trustee again. He said it’s not clear what exactly is being discussed regarding Sampson right now, but that he’s been told that discussions about Sampson’s situation are still ongoing.
1:40 UPDATE: I just spoke with an IU trustee who said he doesn’t know if and/when an announcement will be held, but it’s his understanding that negotiations regarding Sampson are still underway. That possibly implies that a resignation and buyout of his contract are being discussed. The trustee thought this was a possible reason for no announcement being made yet.
———————
As we did last night, we are hearing early this afternoon from a source very close to this situation that the decision has been made to end Kelvin Sampson’s tenure as IU basketball coach. We are seeking clarification on whether this means he will resign or be fired.
Meanwhile, CBS Sportsline.com is now reporting that Sampson will be suspended for the rest of the season as part of a termination process, and that an announcement will come soon. You can read that story here. (http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10661089)
We will continue to seek further details on this difficult situation for the Hoosier basketball program.

[BOURBON TOWN CAT FAN]

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-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.

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.

Asked if the players would actually not play with games left in the season, Heiar said, “As stubborn as some of them are, I’m sure they won’t.”
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080222/SPORTS04/80222031

[crazzedcats22]

Andy Katz adds his input....

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3258506

[ukwebfan]

I guess for IU, changing someone's life is a quick decision in regards to Sampson after having turned a blind eye to Knight's mental and physical abuse for decades. Isn't it possible that their timing is just wrong in both cases?

[crazzedcats22]

I guess for IU, changing someone's life is a quick decision in regards to Sampson after having turned a blind eye to Knight's mental and physical abuse for decades. Isn't it possible that their timing is just wrong in both cases?

maybe in the Knight case but not this one. IU has been clean for decades and Sampson has cheated before and knew what was expected of him when he got to IU. He cheated again, got caught again, and now it's going to (as it should) cost him.

[Ukosumu]

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/23274393/

So Sampson continued these “calculated violations” and refused to abide by the NCAA laws, and the more I hear about what Sampson was busted for, it bothers me on a personal level. It bothers me because Sampson is a smart man who once served on the college coaches ethics committee, and he should have known that rulebook by heart. Breaking the rules was no mistake. It was a calculated recruiting strategy.

It also means that Sampson is a deceitful hypocrite. At the same time he was making all those illegal phone calls at Oklahoma, the NCAA was hot on the trail of former Missouri basketball coach Quinn Snyder for the same thing. Yet Sampson was one of the folks leading the whispering campaign against Snyder. I vividly recall a few casual conversations with Sampson back then where he acted like Snyder was as shady as they get. His conversations were full of eye rolls and shoulder shrugs and holier-than-thou gossip that turned out to be true about what illegal methods Snyder and members of his staff were doing to gain recruiting advantages.

It definitely appears that Sampson thought he was above the law.:eek:

[blue35]

Presser between 3:00 & 4:00 cst. "ESPN NEWS"

[leroybyrd]

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-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.

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.

Asked if the players would actually not play with games left in the season, Heiar said, “As stubborn as some of them are, I’m sure they won’t.”
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080222/SPORTS04/80222031

Greenspan said the players threatening to walk out was " pure science fiction." I guess he is a liar too.

[Dwight Schrute]

You just get the feeling that because IU is winning right now, that they're just looking for any plausible reason they can find to let Sampson continue coaching.