There’s no shortage of reaction to today’s announcement from the NCAA Infractions Committee. As always, the guys over at The Hoosier Scoop are right on top of it.
– Kelvin Sampson’s official statement
– Audio: Tom Crean reacts to NCAA ruling
– Greenspan and McRobbie reaction
– Kent State backs Senderoff
You can also listen to the entire NCAA teleconference that took place this afternoon by clicking here.
IU Media Relations just sent out the following release:
IU President McRobbie will a make major announcement regarding the IU Department of Athletics Tuesday at 10:15 at the Virgil T. DeVault Alumni Center at 1000 E. 17th St.
No word yet on who will be announced, but speculation is running in the direction of Fred Glass. Sigh.
Depending on who you believe (coverage here, here and here), the replacement for lame duck Athletic Director Rick Greenspan could be announced as early as tomorrow.
The three candidates: Oregon State’s Bob De Carolis, IU Associate AD Scott Dotson and Indianapolis lawyer Fred Glass. De Carolis has done a stellar job out in Corvallis, Dolson has the IU ties that some supporters of the program covet and Glass has experience working with the NCAA and is a superstar lawyer.
De Carolis had the buzz last weekend, but Glass is the name with momentum if you believe John Decker of Hoosier Nation. He’s got an impressive resume, but I’m not sure the AD position in Bloomington is the best place for a man who has never led an athletic department. The same can also be said for Dotson. De Carolis seems like the safest bet (and most intriguing) of the three, but Oregon State will probably do its best to keep him.
With that said, I post this question to you: Of these three candidates, who would you like to see IU hire and why? Bring it in the comments.
The Indianapolis Business Journal has an excellent piece this morning on the search for a new athletic director and it includes a list of candidates that could potentially fill the opening:
Former IU basketball player and current Senior Associate Athletic Director Chris Reynolds, IU Varsity Club Director Scott Dolson, former IU football star Harry Gonso, former IU basketball player and TV commentator John Laskowski and well-known Indianapolis sports attorney Jack Swarbrick are the names with the strongest local ties that have surfaced. Tom Jurich, the highly regarded University of Louisville athletic director, is the first and most prominent within the AD fraternity to surface. He certainly won’t be the last.
Not a bad list to kick off the search with, but the chances of Jurich leaving Louisville for Indiana are zero unless IU is willing to pay upwards of $750,000 (or more) annually. And given the financial packages that are currently on the books, it would be hard to justify that kind of cash for a guy who would likely want to come in and get his own guy to head the football program.
McRobbie, who departed the country for a planned trip shortly after Greenspan’s resignation was announced, is expected to make the final decision himself. He hasn’t said how the candidates will be identified, but sources within the university’s athletic department expect him to take one of three routes.
The most likely process would mirror the one McRobbie used to hire Crean. He formed a search committee to identify two or three finalists and made the hire after conferring with IU’s nine-member board.
Hopefully this will be the route used in the hiring as it would put McRobbie’s accountability front and center and give him a chance to put his stamp on the athletic department going forward. If he makes the right call, he solidifies himself as an important figure in the rebuilding process following the Kelvin Sampson fiasco. If not, well, you know the story.
The final point of interest from the piece is the debate on whether IU needs to hire an AD with “Indiana ties.” Mike Pegram, who runs Peegs.com, feels it’s a necessity while former IU cross-country and track runner Bob Kennedy isn’t so sure:
“I didn’t formerly subscribe to hiring an IU guy,” said Pegram. “But now I do. I just think now it’s so important to nurture the Indiana culture—emphasizing playing by the rules, graduation, doing things the right way. I think having the kind of sensibility that will come from someone with Indiana ties is now more important than ever.”
“We have to keep our horizons broad and get the best possible person,” said Kennedy, who was recently elected to the IU Varsity Club board of directors. “It’s up to the president and trustees to define a culture and hire people best able to nurture the culture you want.”
I’m going with Kennedy on this. If we subscribe to the “we need an IU guy” theory, Tom Crean is still in Marquette and we’re left with Steve Alford or Dan Dakich. The necessity is to hire best candidate out there, regardless of previous affiliations.
So, ITH’ers: A couple of questions for you to ponder and then discuss. What do you think of the early list of candidates? Any names that intrigue you? Do you want McRobbie making the final call on Greenspan’s replacement? And finally, do we need an “IU guy” in the role of athletic director?
Indiana University President Michael McRobbie, who might be finally starting to figure out the importance of the basketball program in Bloomington, told the NCAA infractions committee in a hearing last month that hiring Kelvin Sampson was a mistake. Who knew?
“Indiana University took a risk in hiring Coach Sampson and giving him a second chance following his problems at Oklahoma. It is now clear that this was a risk that should not have been taken and the university regrets doing so. These coaches were entrusted not just with the success of our men’s basketball program, but with the good name of Indiana University. I am not just saddened, I am angry, that they betrayed that trust.”
As more and more information from the hearing starts to become public, you’re going to see a trend. IU stance: We should have never hired Sampson. Please don’t hurt us, NCAA overlords. We’ll never misbehave again! Sampson and the coaching staff were rogue actors who we could not control (despite the fact that we had their phone records; hence the failure to monitor charge).
You know, I could almost get on board with the rogue actors theory, but the fact that IU wasn’t on top of this whole fiasco from the beginning leaves me with little sympathy for any carnage that might ensue. Luckily for all of Hoosier Nation, IU has the right man in Tom Crean to rebuild the program. Unfortunately, it’s going to be a rough couple of years.
{Thanks to HoosierGirl for the tip on this one.}
Indiana University President Michael McRobbie announced earlier this afternoon that the school has ordered an immediate investigation into the NCAA allegations involving the basketball coaching staff and Athletic Director Rick Greenspan will report back in a week with his recommendation on the next step the school will take. (This pretty much concords with what we reported yesterday.)
“Today I am announcing that I have directed the athletics director to oversee an immediate investigation of these new allegations and make an assessment as to whether they are credible and accurate. I have given him seven days as of now to complete this task,” McRobbie told the media.
McRobbie continued, “When this investigation is completed, the athletics director will use the findings to guide him in making a recommendation to me as to what our next steps will be. I want to make it clear that all of us are going into this with no presumptions. I do not know what conclusions the investigators will come to regarding these new allegations.”
In other words, Greenspan has a week to get to the truth and provide accurate information to McRobbie. He’s also got a week to do his best to save his own job, which will be no easy task.
You can be sure about one thing: the end game of where this is going seems perfectly clear to me. At the least, Sampson will be suspended while the university gets its ducks in a row to terminate him shortly after the season. If Sampson is found to have lied to the university and the lawyers sign off, he could be gone before that time. Either way, we can all agree there’s no way he lasts beyond this season.
Here are some links to coverage from the presser from around the Web along with a word from Rob Senderoff:
Update: Full text of McRobbie statement (The Hoosier Scoop)
Those of you who wish to watch the press conference, both WTHR.com and WISHTV.com will have streaming coverage.
Here is the official release from IU:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2008BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University President Michael McRobbie will respond today (Friday) to the notice of allegations received last week from the NCAA. He will preside over a press conference scheduled for 3 p.m. in the moot courtroom at the IU-Bloomington School of Law, which is located at the corner of Third Street and Indiana Avenue. He will take questions afterward.
Those of you who have questions you’d like answered, The Hoosier Scoop is offering an opportunity to submit your inquiries for McRobbie.
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