Farewell Sampson

IU basketball coach Kelvin Sampson has not been at the helm of one of the most prestigious programs in the county for two full seasons and he has already been involved in numerous investigations and controversies that should warrant his dismissal.

Breaking news out of Indiana University late Tuesday night reports that Sampson knowingly lied about excessive and impermissible phone calls he placed. These restrictions were placed on Sampson from previous violations while he was the coach at Oklahoma.

According to the Indianapolis Star and the NCAA, Sampson “failed to deport himself…with the generally recognized high standard of honesty” and “failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance within the men’s basketball program.”

In other words, he knowingly broke the rules, tried to lie about it, and got caught.

IU must respond in writing by May 8 with a possible hearing to follow on June 14 in Seattle at a hearing with the Division I Committee of Infractions.

Nevertheless, IU is facing its first major NCAA violation since 1960, thanks to Sampson.

Before Sampson’s arrival, IU had its fair share of publicity problems. Bob Knight, any publicists’ dream, was fired from IU in Sept. 2000 for violating a “zero tolerance” behavior policy.

Mike Davis was named interim head coach for a season and was named permanent coach after the 2000-01 season. Despite leading is team to the NCAA championship game in 2002, the program dwindled under Davis until his resignation in 2006.

Enter Sampson, who arrived to Bloomington already under a blanket of scrutiny after multiple NCAA rule violations that stemmed from excessive phone calls to recruits.

Sampson was already under a microscope before he coached his first game for the Hoosiers, and then he started to leave his dirty fingerprints all over the program.

His judge of character has become an issue, starting with the recruitment of Bud Mackey of Kentucky. Mackey led his high school team to a state championship last season, but was arrested on Sept. 28, 2007 after possessing and intending to sell crack cocaine within 1,000 yards of a school.

He was carrying the crack cocaine in his shoe, nonetheless.

Did Sampson fail to do his homework on this one? How can Sampson look at himself in the mirror after a recruit was busted for carrying crack in his shoe? One finds it difficult to see the reasoning behind Sampson’s decisions.

Mackey, he will never wear an IU jersey. The criminal justice system will be sure of that.

The list of other Indiana athletes who have struggled with issues outside of Assembly Hall continues to grow.

A.J. Ratliff was suspended for IU’s first 13 games due to academic ineligibility. When he finally returned to the court, his presence was hardly noticed. He averaged just 11.3 minutes per game and scored 1.7 points a game.

On Tuesday, the 2001 Indiana Mr. Basketball from North Central High School announced he would end his basketball career at Indiana due to personal reasons.

The next off-the-court distractions came in the pair of sophomore point guard Armon Bassett and freshman guard Jordan Crawford. Bassett and Crawford were each suspended for three separate games due to a violation of team rules.

So, let’s recap Sampson’s tenure at IU. A high school recruit arrested for selling crack from his shoe on school property. A 13-game suspension for academics. Another pair of 3-game suspensions for violation of team rules.

Oh, and have we forgotten the trouble Sampson has gotten himself into with his lying, cheating, and cover-ups involving the phone calls?

Sampson, you better think about your final meal, because your execution is rapidly approaching.