Is IU guilty of “failure to monitor”?
The Indianapolis Star continues their stellar coverage of Indiana’s upcoming hearing with the NCAA infractions committee this morning with a look at whether or not IU was guilty of “failure to monitor,” which would likely bring a stiffer penalty if past hearings are any indication. Mark Alesia explains:
IU is accused of five potentially major rules violations in its men’s basketball program. Those do not include failure to monitor, a serious offense in the eyes of the NCAA, one that would increase the likelihood of scholarship cuts or recruiting limitations beyond what the school has already self-imposed. (A postseason ban is possible for major violations but it appears unlikely in IU’s case.)
The infractions committee could determine that because IU hired Sampson, in March 2006, while the coach was under self-imposed sanctions for major recruiting violations incurred at Oklahoma, IU should have monitored him and his staff more vigilantly.
The committee chairman at the time, Tom Yeager, told USA Today earlier this year that IU could be held responsible for Sampson’s subsequent violations.
“I think the institution’s accountability will run to things like monitoring. (IU officials) were on notice with the hire. They were at the Oklahoma hearing. I think the committee will look at it very closely, at institutional responsibility as well as individual responsibility.”
Essentially, this is going to come down to Indiana’s word against Kelvin Sampson’s word. IU will argue that it had procedures in place to monitor Sampson and staff properly, but the coaches knew about the rules and broke them anyway. Sampson, on the other hand, will say that IU waited too long to let him know of any wrongdoing.
I will say that a year-end review of phone call records by an intern is a bit on the laid back side when dealing with a coach that came with baggage. IU should have been more proactive in this regard. This is, after all, why you employ a compliance department. Monthly audits would have been a nice start.
We’ll see how this all shakes out three weeks from tomorrow when IU and Sampson meet with the infractions committee in Seattle.
Filed to: NCAA allegations