AS THE ugly truth about Kelvin Sampson continues to come light, so does the fact that many Indiana basketball fans, perhaps even most, have lost all perspective on what was once one of the nation’s benchmark programs.
Before, during and after Saturday’s 80-61 win over Michigan State, which might be Sampson’s last win as IU’s coach, some fans held up signs imploring Indiana to “Bring Back Bobby Knight, Bring Back Integrity.”
But most of the 18,200 in Assembly got so caught up in the 19-point win just days after the revelations that Sampson is alleged to have committed five (more) major NCAA violations, they began chanting, “Kel-vin Samp-son!”
Neither Knight nor Sampson should be Indiana’s coach because neither respects the game. Therefore, neither should hold such a prestigious position.
Knight never ran afoul of the NCAA. He was just afoul of common courtesy.
A coach that respects the game and his position doesn’t throw a chair across the court, he doesn’t berate a Puerto Rican police officer who either didn’t know who the great Knight was but didn’t care, he doesn’t grab players by the jersey and butt heads.
Those were not Sampson’s flaws. He worked the public relations game to near perfection. He just couldn’t find an NCAA rules manual that he felt was worth his respect.
Sampson almost surely will coach his final game at Indiana tonight, when the Hoosiers host Purdue in what usually is an incredibly emotional game.
Add in the facts that the Boilermakers are the surprise leaders in the Big Ten and the Hoosiers are the unofficial leaders in NCAA violations and tonight become must-watch reality TV.
It’s also reality check for Indiana fans. Knight is not the answer. Sampson doesn’t even have one for all of his deeds. Every coach should show the common decency Knight didn’t and none should cheat.
You would think at a university with such rich tradition could find a coach that has those qualities and can win. Of course, there’s always the Little 500.
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Kudos to Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg who within hours of learning of last Thursday’s terrible shooting at Northern Illinois University that claimed five lives, called Huskies basketball coach Ricardo Patton to express his concern and offer any support. Greenberg, of course, was placed in a similar situation last April when an deranged gunman opened fire at Tech.
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Syracuse freshman Donte Green was sound asleep on the team charter coming back from loss at South Florida when he was jarred awake by turbulence known as coach Jim Boeheim. Green said Boeheim yelled at him for about 45 minutes, emphatically explaining the level of excellence expected of the program. Green responded with 17 points, four assists and three rebounds in a 77-70 win over Georgetown.
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When Kansas State coach Frank Martin said that Michael Beasley was better than Kevin Durant it was dismissed as the ravings of a coach trying to pump up his player. But after Beasley posted 40 points and 17 rebounds in a win over Missouri, he leads the nation in rebounding, is fourth in scoring and is one double-double shy of tying Carmelo Anthony’s NCAA freshman record of 22.