This may be one of the single greatest posts in all of ITH. No offense ... the crew puts some great posts and updates out for us fans, but this is another level! It's ... it's ... it's beautiful! Bravo

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HAHA that is great!! i think we can all say that about our last semester in btown!!!

Perhaps Crean's greatest achievement at Marquette was not his W's in the Big East but his team's academic successes. I am not worried about this going forward thank God. Furthermore I would hope TC leads with his academic successes when recruiting.

We see how KS and the athletic dept failed to be effective and intervene with vulnerable kids to counsel them into greater success. When firing KS did anyone think of the impact on the players studies ? We will always have vulnerable kids playing on our teams so our systems and staff must be effective at this.

Also, looks like ND hired a CEO type with sprts experience to be the new AD. Perfect model for IU and today's DIv I sports bbusiness

T.E.A.M. - Together Everyone Achieves Mediocrity.

That's great...How about this one: There's no i in team, but there certainly is in win.

i like: there's no i in team, but there is a "me."

Good catch HoosierSmitty, I think that's what I meant...who knows after sitting in a cubicle for 7 straight hours:)

Ha...Yeah, I can't complain about being a teacher..it's nice to sit on my ass and watch TV all day over the summer...

Nice. I actually wanted to be a high school b-ball coach, but also knew that teaching class wasn't my thing...So long story short, here I am in my cubicle 8 hours a day. Enjoy the weather:)

I wish IU would go after Sampson in some way.......

Maybe the players should since they have the least capacity to recover form the debacle. IU is on its way ............the kids ?...........not so sure

OT, but I just found this video of RMK coaching Neil Reed. I'm not sure if this has been around the site before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyTgcUUvuVw

LMAO

It's pretty bad. i was drunk and stoned at all times and still graduated with a 3.3, and I obviously did not have a student helper. Oh well...guess we don't have to worry about it anymore with these guys. seriously, a 2.13 at IU with athletic department help is essentially a 0.5 for a normal student. terrible.

Yes they have tutors and study halls available to them, but you also have to take into account the time commitment of playing a very visible sport at a major university, and the pressure that comes along with it.

I'm not being an apologist for the players, just saying your inference that it's easier for basketball players to get good grades than regular students is not accurate.

Come on...being an athlete in general studies / rocks for jocks type classes there is no excuse to have less than 2.75...yes for the real student athlete it can tough but not for this last group of basketball players.

That's ridiculous. Many of the guys on the team were underclassmen and most likely taking the same general studies/intro courses as everybody else. I'm not saying we should expect them to have bad grades, but fergrad made the inference that school is easier for athletes than regular students. That's not true, if anything it is more difficult.

that's a good point, but one of my buddies was an academic advisor to student athletes and he made it apparent that they do get a LOT of help to compensate for their time commitment. What should also be considered is that these kids were likely in general studies or other non-challenging majors, not exactly the finance program or anything like that. I did typically note last year when players were shooting free throws and their stats and majors popped up on tv that the majority of them were studying bullshit. I don't think they have any excuse to put up a 2.13 personally, other than they just didn't give a damn.

I'm probably going to get blasted for this, but here goes...

I'm just thinking back to myself and some of the challenges I went through. I played D2 basketball and it was tough sometimes. I lived with two kids that didn't play sports and it wasn't always easy.

I'd wake up at 7:30 and eat breakfast on my way to class (my roommates wouldn't have class until 11 or 12). After 3 straight classes I would grab lunch on the run as I headed to practice. After practice I'd get home around 4:30-5:00 and find my roommates asleep on the couch resting up for a big night of partying. Well I hadn't even done any homework/studying yet or eaten dinner and I still had to go study hall that night (which sounds like extra help from the ath. department but after a long day and knowing your friends are out partying it's tough to get anything done). I'd get home from study hall at 9:00pm, maybe watch a little TV, wishing I could meet my buddies out, but that wouldn't be smart since we had a game the next night. Then I'd usually be woken up by drunken roommates and the rest of my friends at 2am.

I don't bring this up to sound like I'm whining or complaining. I had an awesome experience playing basketball at school, and also did find time for my fair share of partying, but I struggled academically my first two years, before finally adjusting and maturing my final two years. So I try to relate with where these guys are coming from, and they're at a much higher level than I was. I didn't have to deal with media, 17,000 fans/national TV, bloggers and message boards.

I'm just trying to bring a little perspective of what athletes go through sometimes. Again, not specifically the players from last year (apparently they didn't go to class at all, which is sad given the opportunity they had).

You definitely make great points...and I think people do usually underestimate what it's like...One of the reasons I turned down athletic opportunities at smaller schools was because I didn't know if I could handle the extra load..or wanted to...

the echo seems to be that an athlete's "college job" i.e. the sport they play, comes with academic help, people checking up on them etc....and it's hard not to be jealous...

For those of us who had to work normal jobs during school to help pay for it, there were days waking up at 5 am to stock shelves before class, then going in to the sports department to write a preview or go to a game and write the wrap afterward, maybe at a second job on off days, or traveling with the team on the road....and no one was making sure I finished my research paper or did my assigned reading.

It's not easy to be a student....athlete or not...but anyone can succeed if they put forth a little effort. Bottom line, it's apparent that these guys weren't really trying...and the "support" didn't seem to be doing it's job of monitoring and motivating these guys.

Geez.....Screw KS...

Totally agree. And people like the student athletic trainers and like you said student journalist had it almost as difficult as far as a time commitment.

One of my points is that sometimes the academic support from the athletic office is a detriment. When I had to go to study hall it wasn't productive. I usually ended up killing the time staring at the clock because I viewed it as just another mandatory thing I had to attend. My grades actually skyrocketed once I didn't have to attend study hall anymore (at my school only the underclassmen athletes had to go).

But, like you said, for the most it seems like the guys under Sampson couldn't have cared less about school, that's on them.

Well put B_MD. I'm sure your perspective is much more reliable than mine on the subject. Props to you for playing ball while maintaining a family and your school work. I'll keep your comments in mind next I time I discuss the subject.

Don't know if it's any more reliable, just bringing a different perspective.

I just take it a little personal and tend to relate with the athlete a little when I read people on some of these boards totally writing these players off with the "don't let the door hit you on the way out, good ridance" attitude. I don't condone skipping classes for two straight weeks or anything like that, but I think some people are so harsh toward college athletes when they don't always know the real situation.

You did not do that, but your original post just seemed like a place where I could state my case. Good discussion fergard...Sites like InsidetheHall are why it's fun to be a sports and IU fan!

Good grades and good basketball were achieved in the past, why can't we expect that same result now?

Exactly! I am sick of all the excuses for these kids, they just did not give a DAMN! Period, that is painfully obvious now. Dakich knew it, Crean found out, and now here we are! ..... starting over, and I for one am thrilled about it!

That was hilarious....ahh...memories of drinking binges and still somehow squeezing in a smattering of As and Bs....oh to be a liberal arts major ...sweeeeet

And just imagine how much lower it would be without ahlfeld, fink, and taber.

The associate AD for compliance...who was coming from the Big Ten...has left before even starting the position...this should get you there....it's on the IndyStar...

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...

nice. whats up with him?

Basketblog has some good stuff on Pritchard.

Is the NCAA still on track for a Aug 4 or 5 announcement re IU ?