Sampson replaces Davis at Indiana - Andy Katz at espn.com
Congratulations to Andy Katz for finally getting a scoop through the OU AD office. He had been trying for days by throwing every name in the book at the wall hoping one would stick.
So what do I think of the Kelvin Sampson hire...
The way Greenspan was playing this one, I figured all the names we were hearing were diversions and I expected one out of left field. This one was out of left field. I thought it would be Pitino... but now that I have thought about it a bit, Sampson makes sense for Greenspan. After the Davis fiasco, Greenspan needed a proven X and O's coach and a guy that can communicate with the media. In Sampson he gets exactly that. However, by eliminating the risk, I think he also eliminated the reward... but that shall play out over the coming years.
The Good:
1) Coach Sampson can coach. His 1-3-1 motion offense and intense in your face defense is a blueprint for success. His record backs it up. PERIOD.
2) Coach Sampson is passionate and committed and is media savvy. That will go along way in repairing the divide between the fan base and keeping the pressure OFF his players.
3) He wants to coach at a Basketball school... IU IS A BASKETBALL SCHOOL!
The Bad:
1) Graduation Rate. I'm still looking for the exact numbers but I have heard everything from 1 player in the last 11 years to 10%. Either way... that is AWFUL and should not be tolerated at IU.
2) The NCAA is currently investigating 550+ illegal phone calls to recruits under Coach Sampson's watch at Oklahoma. This is not a good thing. The fact that OU responded to the NCAA with a 194 page document and a host of internal imposed penalties means this was not minor. The fact that the NCAA is investigating "Lack of Institutional" control is very concerning. I hope Greenspan investigated this thoroughly, because if the NCAA does rule against Sampson and sanctions follow him to Bloomington, this could all blow up very quickly.
3) JUCO Recruiting. I don't have any problem with the occasional JUCO recruit... without Smart and Garrett, IU has one less banner. But in this day and age of the NCAA penalizing schools whose graduation rates and academic success fall below certain levels, you can't have entire teams of JUCOs. Coach Sampson is known for having more JUCOs than any other coach in the country. This will not fly in Indiana.
The Future:
1) Davis alienated the former players. Coach Sampson must extend an olive branch and get them ALL back in the fold supporting the program... IMMEDIATELY.
2) Coach Sampson MUST get Vaden and DJ to stay with the program, or next year could be a VERY LONG year.
3) Davis burned all bridges with the Indiana HS coaches. Coach Sampson MUST regain the confidence of those HS coaches and start getting a pipeline of 4 year players to Indiana from Indiana. Ray McCallum on the staff could go a long way in helping him.
Bottom line I will give Coach Sampson a clean slate at Indiana. I hope he is successful and brings more Banners to Bloomington while running an above board operation!
11 comments:
Okay I'll admit it I was pissed off when I heard this today and after reading Peegs I just kept getting more pissed off. But you make a thoughtful post and now I am questioning whether I should have been pissed or not. Damn you for making a good argument for Coach Sampson being successful.
Now I need to sleep on this.
I think this is a big mistake. Why did Arizona State back off and IU didn't?
And didn't Davis beat Sampson in 2002?
As much crap as you gave Davis, I can't believe you aren't all over this.
"According to information produced last year, 10 of men's basketball's Sweet 16 teams failed to graduate more than half their players within a six-year span. Oklahoma took the cake with a mind-bogglingly whopping graduation rate of zero. Sooners coach Kelvin Sampson's attempts to defend his program's record were emptier than the diploma frames in his players' houses." (source the Yale Daily News)
Dude... did you read The Bad: section of my post???
Piss! Crap!
I'm delighted with the choice of Sampson to coach IU basketball. I now know I can look forward to many months more of this enjoyably anguished blog about a subject I don't care about at all.
Keep up the good word, folks.
AZ
Here's the view from NW Indiana. Bob's dad called about 9pm last night, and I answered the phone...
"Hello?"
"Hey! What's wit dis Kevin Sampson guy?"
"Oh, you mean KELvin - you know, like the temperature scale?"
"Yeah, Calvin. What's up wit him?"
"It's actually Kelvin - you know, like the Kelvinator refrigerator."
"Oh, OK - da article I readt said his name is 'Kevin'. Anyways, what's up wit him?"
:)
Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic about this choice. I'm not going to get carried away - after all, I was optimistic about Davis and was burned.
The recruiting violations and the graduation rates are a big concern. Coach Knight was exceptional in the way he stressed student success and having a clean program, so I think we naturally expect the best. I'd hate to think we have to settle.
On the plus side, I'm thrilled that we'll be getting back to REAL defensive basketball play. The three words I've most heard to describe Sampson are "hard-nosed," "intense," and "defensive-minded." Music to my ears! I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
The best thing about all this is that it was a surprise. It would be boring if the speculation about Alford, Few, etc. turned out to be true.
The graduation rates do concern me. According to the most recent report, OU basketball graduated 33% of its student-athletes. However, as a whole OU only graduates 56% of its total students (same for its student-athletes) where IU graduates 71% (63% for student-athletes). I think it is more of a university level problem.
I wasn't giddy about this hire at first. However, after learning more about Sampson I became more and more impressed. I'm sure Greenspan talked to Brand about the NCAA problems.
Did anyone listen to Mike & Mike this morning on ESPN? Greeny said that IU would prove to be a "bad choice" for Sampson b/c he would still have to deal with living up to the standard of RMK (duh?). Greeny went on to echo Mike Davis in alluding the only way to please IU Nation was to hire "one of their own." I disagree with Greenberg -- I think that if IU had hired Alford or another alum, IU Nation would still hold that coach to the high standards set by RMK.
Greenberg went on to say that IU Nation would scrutinize any non-alum replacement just because they would be walking in the Coach Knight's long shadow. I agree, but for a different reason -- the scrutiny would happen not just because Coach Knight is Coach Knight, but because Coach Knight is a brilliant basketball tactician and strategist. Furthermore, he is college basketball's best teacher. We fans of IU Nation will hold ANY coach (not just non-alums) to those high standards. Moreover, the fans of IU Nation are intelligent, extremely knowledgeable and passionate about our game. So whether the coach is Alford or Sampson or even Coach Knight, IU fans hold their coaches to the toughest scrutiny in the country. Any comments?
Actually, I would argue that the environment is BETTER for a coach not connected to RMK in any way.
Half of my problem with Davis was that I kept thinking, "You sat on a bench next to one of the greatest basketball strategists alive, and THIS is all you can execute? Were you asleep?" The fact that Davis hurt RMK's Indiana HS recruiting connections and didn't execute (or even ignored) the motion offense was made all the worse because Davis should have personally known better. He was exposed to better basketball coaching than that.
Sampson stands or falls on his own merits. I don't think anyone can be another RMK, but at least Sampson didn't work with RMK and ignore, forget, or bungle all of the good things that RMK stood for.
I do hope that Sampson will learn and respect Hoosier basketball culture (from HS on up). But at least he's got time for that, because he's an outsider.
Don't misunderstand - every IU coach is NOT expected to be a photocopy of RMK. But there are certain lessons to be learned from RMK's coaching style (both on the court and off) that should be, in my opinion, emulated by all coaches. You can't argue with a coach demanding academic excellence, discipline, respect for rules, technical prowess, and passion for the game.
If an Indiana coach rejects the most important of RMK's lessons, we in Hoosier Nation have a right to be put out by that, because RMK is a damn fine coach. We can be doubly put out if that Indiana coach worked with, or was coached by, RMK.
Press Conference on www.wnde.com right now.
Good comments... too many to even comment on... thanks all.
AZ... I'm afraid I may be out of material. I need a new topic... How about DST... now I gotta change my clocks Saturday night :-(
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