Sampson's "Major" Infraction

[50's PONY]

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Posted on Tue, May. 30, 2006



What constitutes a major infraction?

WENDELL BARNHOUSE
In My Opinion

Perhaps the jurors in the Enron trial have a future with the NCAA or in college sports administration. Their crystal-clear choice of guilt over innocence could be a valuable resource on the campus scene.

The same day that Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling went down for the (25 of 34) counts, the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions announced its findings in the investigation involving Oklahoma and Kelvin Sampson, its former basketball coach.

The NCAA basically accepted OU's self-imposed penalties. Sampson, now the coach at Indiana, was harshly criticized by the COI.

"[Sampson] created and encouraged an atmosphere among his staff of deliberate noncompliance, rationalizing the violations as being a result of 'prioritizing' rules,'" committee chairman Thomas Yeager said in the official NCAA news release.

Nothing ambiguous with that statement. The rest of the Sampson situation, though, is colored with various shades of gray.

The COI punished Sampson by prohibiting him from making calls to recruits or recruiting off-campus for the next year. Recruiting phone calls was his transgression at Oklahoma. Over four years, the Sooners' staff made 577 impermissible phone calls to prospective players; Sampson made 233 of those calls.

The COI noted Sampson's "complete disregard" for NCAA rules. Sampson's defense when testifying before the committee was that his staff was simply working hard, and he believed violating the phone rules was not a major infraction.

Five-hundred and seventy-seven "minor" infractions would seem to add up to a "major" infraction. You get caught for speeding once or twice, OK. You speed 577 times, you'll be riding a bike to work (considering gas prices, that might not be considered punishment).

Sampson's new contract with Indiana called for his dismissal if he was found guilty of "major" infractions in the case against OU.

"Obviously, we anticipated some type of sanction," Indiana trustee Patrick Shoulders said. "And this one seems to fit these minor infractions."

Indiana didn't have much choice but to circle its wagons. Sampson has taken over a program still fractured by Bob Knight's dismissal six years ago.

No matter what Sampson's seven-year, more than a million dollars a year contract says, Indiana couldn't exactly dismiss Sampson now. After Mike Davis' forced resignation, Hoosiers athletic director Rick Greenspan kept swinging and missing during the job search. Sampson was a surprise hire.

During the four-year phonathon in Norman, Sampson served a year as president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. That year, 2003, he was involved with an ethics summit as the NABC responded to a spate of college basketball scandals.

Sampson has long been regarded as an honorable coach. Now it's up to Sampson to prove he can live up to that reputation and live down his self-described mistakes. What will be interesting is how often he jumps through the loopholes in the NCAA rule book.

Sampson can neither recruit off-campus nor call recruits. Sampson can still contact recruits by text message, e-mail or regular mail.

Recruits can call Sampson, but he can't call them. His assistants can call recruits and ask them to call Sampson. Sampson can talk to recruits when they make recruiting visits to Bloomington, Ind. Sampson can call a recruit's AAU and/or high school coach.

Yeager said he expects Sampson and Indiana to follow the "spirit" of the committee's sanctions.

Lay and Skilling tried to talk and maneuver their way out of prison. Sampson is under house arrest, and it's unclear if the doors are actually locked.

I wonder what the 12 Enron jurors would make of that.


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Wendell Barnhouse, 817-390-7760 [email protected]





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© 2006 Star-Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.dfw.com

[Hoop Fan]

so where are the folks on this board who suggested that Tubbs was fired in part because of violations that must have happened at OU constituting some pattern of behavior? Wrong. it is now obvious from public reports that the OU thing was not very relevant to tubbs at all. He wasnt even one of the 3 assistants named. Nor was the whole thing even considered a major violation for sampson.

[PonyGirl]

I remember locking my brother out of the house after school when we were kids. When he cried to Mom or Dad, I called it "a mistake." When I did it again, I got in some serious trouble. I would have been sent to Siberia long before I got to repeat the "mistake" 577 times.

[jtstang]

I'm just glad that investigation is over, so the NCAA will now have time to get to the bottom of those firing violations at SMU.

[mrydel]

I'm just glad that investigation is over, so the NCAA will now have time to get to the bottom of those firing violations at SMU.

Give them a little time to get a bite to eat and do their laundry.

[McClown27]

so where are the folks on this board who suggested that Tubbs was fired in part because of violations that must have happened at OU constituting some pattern of behavior? Wrong. it is now obvious from public reports that the OU thing was not very relevant to tubbs at all. He wasnt even one of the 3 assistants named. Nor was the whole thing even considered a major violation for sampson.

Only by SMU standards can the Sampson NCAA violation report deemed to be "good." These sanctions will hurt their recruiting--if only through negative recruiting. Walking into an elite league with sanctions will be a recruiting nightmare. IU looks ridiculous for bringing him in as their coach--esp. after Brand made all those sanctimonious comments after he fired Knight. Knight might be nuts, but he is not a cheater and graduates all of his players. Sampson should be fired.

I don't really see how Sampson's reprimand is really good for Tubbs. Of course, the Tubbs fan club has already begun to spin away.

[PK]

Crap...here we go again...yada, yada, yada. Give it a rest guys.

[mr. pony]

[quote="Hoop Fan"]so where are the folks on this board who suggested that Tubbs was fired in part because of violations that must have happened at OU constituting some pattern of behavior? Wrong. it is now obvious from public reports that the OU thing was not very relevant to tubbs at all. He wasnt even one of the 3 assistants named. Nor was the whole thing even considered a major violation for sampson.[/quote]

No surprise. Nothing new. Copeland said weeks ago that OU had nothing to do with Tubbs's firing.

[Pony_Fan]

I'm just glad that investigation is over, so the NCAA will now have time to get to the bottom of those firing violations at SMU.

good luck with that ~ TIME TO MOVE ON DUDE

[McClown27]

Crap...here we go again...yada, yada, yada. Give it a rest guys.

Nothing better than endless burger talk though!!!

[PK]

Crap...here we go again...yada, yada, yada. Give it a rest guys.

Nothing better than endless burger talk though!!!

At least the burger talk leads to a good meal...as opposed to endless sour grapes.

[jtstang]

At least the burger talk leads to a good meal...as opposed to endless sour grapes.

Seriously, though, PK, sour grapes or not, the whole truth about Tubbs' firing needs to be told. You must see that. The stated reason was NCAA rules violations, and that is relevant to the situation in which the new regime will begin--ie, what restrictions, self-imposed or NCAA-imposed, will Doherty face right off the bat? You have to know what the violations were in order to evaluate the fairness of those, at the very least.

[McClown27]

I agree with J.T. Maybe we should not get at each other's throat, but this is definitely more important than Burgers or how enamored Stallion is with Rice.

[Damon'sDaMan]

There are very few things more important than a good meal, and a good burger always qualifies as a good meal.

IU couldn't fire Sampson even if it wanted to. The clause in the contract was a PR move, so the school could say "we have an out if we determine he's not the right guy" for whatever reason, but the Hoosiers would have a lot of egg on their faces if they canned him now. Not going to happen.

[PK]

Seriously, though, PK, sour grapes or not, the whole truth about Tubbs' firing needs to be told.

I know patiences is not one of the virtues held by many who post here, but good lord man, let's at least wait until the NCAA report comes out on the subject (and it will) before we get all bent out of shape. Wallowing in it day after day accomplishes nothing...and as such it is b-o-r-i-n-g.