The Next IU General

What do UNLV, Michigan, and Ohio State all have in common? All schools were found guilty of severe NCAA violations and their punishments included the removal of both Final Four banners and player records.

According to the NCAA, Michigan’s Fab Five – which added style, flare, and a brand new breed of basketball player – never existed.

Although nothing is official, Indiana can now be tossed into the notorious group of universities who have committed major NCAA infractions.

Rules were broken and one concise action needs to happen.

Kelvin Sampson must go. No excuses. He simply must go.

Sampson has infested a squeaky-clean basketball program with lies and deceit and now he must pay the price.

Whenever IU decides to kick Sampson to the curb for inviting major NCAA violations into the Assembly Hall, one question will linger.

Who will take the IU coaching reigns?

Dan Dakich – current IU assistant coach, former player & assistant coach

The obvious – but not sexy – choice is Dan Dakich.

Dakich comes from the Indiana family. The Merrillville, IN native graduated from Indiana in 1985 and then spent 12 seasons on Bob Knight’s coaching staff as an assistant coach.

During his initial tenure at IU, Dakich assisted in graduating every four-year player to go through the program. Dakich was the academic monitor of the IU basketball staff during his final seven seasons.

Dakich returned to IU in 2007 after a 10-year stint as head coach at Bowling Green, where he finished tied for third all-time in victories.

Based on his overall record at Bowling Green (156-140), the man knows how to coach and win.

Along with his aforementioned academic accolades during his first stretch with IU, he saw 20 of his 23 seniors earn degrees at Bowling Green.

The hiring of Dakich would alleviate the fear of future NCAA infractions because Dakich learned his coaching morals from Knight, who graduated his players and eluded any NCAA infractions.

Assuming he would still be eligible, Dakich should be high on the list. If Indiana president Robbie McRobbie decides to clean house and remove all of Sampson’s assistants, than obviously IU would have to look outside the box for their next general.

Dane Fife – current IPFW coach, former IU player

Dane Fife graduated from IU after leading the Hoosiers to the 2002 NCAA championship game. He led the team past heavily favored Duke in the Sweet Sixteen. He led them again over a favored and Sampson-coached Oklahoma team in the Final Four.

Notice a pattern? Fife is a leader. Fife was the heart and soul of the Hoosiers during his career, both on and off the court.

Fife led a distraught and heartbroken team after Knight was abruptly fired in 2000. Instead of being a follower, he chose to be the leader of the team and assisted with the transition under first-time coach, Mike Davis.

IU alums and administration should take a hard look at Fife to lead the Hoosiers again, although this time from inside the coaching box.

Fife is the current head coach of the IPFW Mastodons (Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne). In 2005 at the ripe age of 28, Fife was named head coach of the Mastodons and at the time of his hiring was the youngest coach in Division I.

Fife is in the middle of his third season at IPFW and has posted anything but an impressive record. He has posted a career record of 27-46, but the Hoosiers should look past his coaching record and more at his morals, personality, and leadership abilities.

Is he too young? Yes. Does he have the experience? No. Does he deserve the job? Not yet.

Those negative responses would turn away most to the next coaching candidate. But, one should not turn their attention away from Fife that fast.

Fife is a Hoosier. He bleeds cream and crimson. He is part of the Indiana family. He is one of Knight’s boys as he was recruited by the General.

Perhaps the biggest upside to Fife is his youth and enthusiasm. Despite his lack of experience, his leadership during IU’s miracle NCAA run of 2002 is still fresh in the minds of IU fans and alums across the nation.

Assuming the NCAA comes down hard on IU for their violations, Fife – as head coach – would probably be given more leniency and patience based on his Hoosier background.

Fife would not be a front-runner for the opening, but he definitely deserves a second, third and even fourth look. He led the Hoosiers to the Final Four as a player; he deserves the same opportunity as their coach.

There are other candidates out there that surely will get their opportunities to talk with the IU administration. Both Gonzaga’s Mark Few and Memphis’ John Calipari turned down offers before the Sampson hiring, and perhaps they will be approached again.

Another potential Sampson successor is also part of the Indiana family. In fact, he started the Indiana family. He recently resigned from his coaching post at Texas Tech. He is the all-time wins leader in men’s college basketball?

Give up? Need more clues?

No, Bobby Knight will not return to coach at IU, but perhaps he should replace the spineless and incompetent Rick Greenspan as athletic director.

Sampson’s firing needs to be done sooner rather than later to prevent further suffering and humiliation.

President McRobbie can sum it up in four words:

“Kelvin, you are fired.”

Time to roll out the red carpet for a new general.

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.

IndyCar Preview for 2008: Question after Question......

There are just over 46 days until the 13th IRL season kicks off from the Homestead-Miami Speedway, but the series is already abuzz with both hope and questions.

Tony George, chairman of the IRL, spent this past weekend in Japan in hopes of switching around several dates of some already-scheduled racing events. If George has it his way, the moving of several races would pave the way to an eventual unification of the IRL and the Champ Car.

Since the open-wheel split of 1995, there have been numerous breakthroughs, such as major teams Penske, Andretti-Green, Ganassi, and Rahal-Letterman jumping ship from Champ Car to the IRL.

This most recent breakthrough – George traveling across the globe to Japan – is not the first major breakthrough in hopes of a series unification.

Every couple years George finds himself in the midst of discussions with Champ Car owners Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi, and Kevin Kalkhoven, but the discussions fizzle due to minor details such as money, scheduling, sponsors, and cars.

In other words, do not get your hopes up.

So, that is just one of the storylines that will be closely followed in the upcoming weeks and months, but the 2008 IRL season has many more questions that demand answers.

Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr. decided to test their talents in NASCAR this season, which left two huge voids in the series.

Franchitti won the 2007 series championship to go along with his Indy 500 victory for Andretti-Green Racing. He will be driving for Chip Ganassi’s in NASCAR this year.

Sam Hornish Jr., the poster-boy for the IRL, joins Roger Penske’s NASCAR stable and will team with Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman. Hornish Jr. leaves behind quite a racing legacy. In 116 starts in the IRL during the past 8 years, he captured 19 wins, 12 poles, 3 series championships (2001-02, 2006), and narrowly won the 2006 Indy 500 over Marco Andretti in the second-closest finish in the history of the great race.

To say finding Franchitti’s and Hornish Jr.’s replacements were easy is an understatement. Both seats were quickly filled, but will the success come as fast?

AGR team owner Michael Andretti chose Hideki Mutoh as Franchitti’s replacement. Mutoh’s hiring can be described as questionable at best. Mutoh finished second in the Indy Pro Series in 2007 and finished eighth in his first and only IndyCar race at Chicagoland in the series finale.

Nothing against Mutoh, but AGR could have hired a more marketable driver. Franchitti won the Indy 500. He won the series championship. He is married to actress Ashley Judd. Franchitti screams marketability. Where does that leave Mutoh? Is he already a lame duck? Does AGR already have a future replacement in mind? Was Mutoh hired simply to bridge the gap until next season? We will soon find out.

Roger Penske also raised eyebrows when he hired Ryan Briscoe to team with Helio Castroneves at Penske Racing this season.

Briscoe came to the IndyCar series in 2005 with Chip Ganassi Racing and finished 19th in the driver’s standings. Briscoe showed real inconsistencies during his rookie campaign. He crashed in 7 of 15 races and had a season-best finish of eighth at Nashville. These inconsistencies led to Briscoe being fired in favor of Dan Wheldon.

Briscoe completed in just four races for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in 2006 with a best finish of third at Watkins Glen.

So far, Briscoe has not posted a Penske-worthy resume, but that is why it helps to know the right people

In 2007, Briscoe was hired to drive for Luczo-Dragon Racing in the Indy 500. Luczo-Dragon Racing was co-owned by – ironically enough – Jay Penske, the youngest son of Roger Penske.

When Briscoe was hired to drive for the youngest Penske, the rumors already began to swirl that Briscoe – based on his finish at Indy – would be the front-runner to replace Hornish if he got the NASCAR itch.

Briscoe finished fifth in the Indy 500, and as soon as Hornish said bon voyage to the IRL, the elder Penske had Briscoe on the phone and the deal was done.

So, what does this do for the state of IndyCar racing? The IRL did not only lose the two defending Indy 500 champs and a combined four series championships. The IRL lost experience. Gone from the upcoming season are a combined 183 races started, 27 wins, 19 poles, and 4,983 laps led.

Those stats will be replaced by a combined 20 starts, zero wins, 1 pole and 59 laps led.

So, with Franchitti and Hornish Jr. off making millions in NASCAR, who will be around to carry the IRL torch for the upcoming year?

Despite the free agent losses, the IRL will not be struggling that much for talent. 2005 series and Indy 500 champion Dan Weldon will once again team up with defending series runner-up Scott Dixon at Ganassi Racing. This talented tandem will surely be a pair to reckon with.

As mentioned before, two-time Indy 500 champion Castroneves will continue to drive the familiar and famous orange and white machine for Penske in hopes of capturing his first series championship that has eluded him since his arrival in the IRL.

AGR, despite losing Franchitti to the good ol’ boys down south, still has plenty of weapons that are ready to attack.

Tony Kanaan, the 2004 series champion, will lead a four-team stable of Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, and the aforementioned Mutoh.

Just as many questions are swirling around AGR as there are around the rest of the IRL.

Is this the year that Kanaan can overcome adversity and win the Indy 500? After several close calls, one would think he is running out of chances.

Can Marco continue to distance himself away from his father’s shadow and create a legacy of his own? Despite winning at Watkins Glen as a rookie, he has completed a mere 18 or 31 career starts. Not to mention a pair of rocky Indy 500s. He was dusted at the finish line by Hornish Jr. in 2006 and finished last year’s race upside down in the grass in turn three. How much more patience does the elder Andretti have for his son?

And finally, it is hard to believe that after 1,000 words, we are just now bringing up Danica Patrick. Now, why is that? Perhaps her fad has ended. Perhaps she has been overshadowed by the success of her teammates, Kanaan and Franchitti. Perhaps Patrick’s dream has finally come true where the rest of the racing community views her as just another regular driver as opposed to the beautiful mid-20s woman with long, dark hair.

No matter the reason, the question must still be asked. Is this the year when Patrick picks up her first victory? With Hornish and Franchitti out of the mix, her chances just increased immensely.

There are many more questions that will arise during the course of the season with answers hopefully to come soon after.

So, until then, good luck to all the drivers, crew members, and fans in 2008.