You kidding me…we’re talking about phone calls, phone calls? No matter how simple it sounds, former Indiana basketball coach Kelvin Sampson isn’t above the rules.
Three years ago Sampson received his punishment from the NCAA, a five-year show-clause until 2013. Fact is, he ignored the rules while at Oklahoma and again at Indiana.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports wrote this piece that produced some interesting quotes from Sampson.
“There was a lot of cheating going on at the time, not just with phone calls,” Sampson said. “Looking back, the NCAA had to set an example. But there are no excuses. I screwed up.”
At least he admits his mistakes…and when you compare it with recent events, it’s not even close to the severity of booster and agent involvement. But it wasn’t legal or right.
One of the most fascinating parts of Goodman’s piece was that an NCAA official told him that this type of thing is so minor now, the organization can’t even spend much time on it.
I asked one high-ranking member of the NCAA where the illegal phone calls violation currently stacks up.
“We don’t even care about that anymore,” they said. “We aren’t even wasting our time and resources with it.”
So much so that the rules, in fact, are likely to change this year. There will almost certainly be more communication permitted between coaches and recruits, potentially even unlimited calls, and the NCAA is also set to allow text messaging in the recruiting process.
“These days kids dictate the calls and they choose whether to talk to you or not,” Sampson emphasized. “It’s good for coaches because it’s hard to build relationships with kids….I’m glad the rule’s going to change because it’ll put a lot of coaches’ minds at ease about the phone-call rules.”
The Sampson era produce nothing and put a bigger hole in a program that needed a new man to lean on since the days of legendary coach Bob Knight. So much talent and the team didn’t produce, especially after reaching a settlement to leave on February 22nd, 2008.
“People calling me a cheater is what hurt me,” Sampson said. “I made mistakes, but I’m not a cheater.”
Um, okay. Sure coach. A mistake is calling the wrong play, not having the right players on the court, or being called for a technical foul. Whether little to no advantage was taken, it was wrong and he’s paying for it…kind of.
I still don’t understand how a coach can ignore the rules, defame the university, be fired, and still collect a $750,000 settlement check like Sampson did. IU paid him to go away after discovering the problems.
Kelvin Sampson will be out of college coaching at least until 2013. But he has moved onto the NBA where there is no recruiting. After a couple years in Milwaukee, Sampson signed onto Kevin McHale’s staff in Houston as the top assistant.
While at Oklahoma, Sampson and his staff had over 500 impermissible calls to recruits. The same continued at Indiana with the inclusion of three-way calls and more. Two times is not only careless, but it was intentional. He may take responsibility, but I still don’t think he understands the problem.
“When I look back now, I think to myself about how careless and stupid I was. I screwed up, it’s my fault and I have to take responsibility.”