Indiana Basketball Embraces Recruiting Hurdles

The NCAA Committee on Infractions yesterday issued a ruling that: (1) bans new Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson from calling recruits and visiting them off-campus for one year, (2) requires Indiana to adopt the restrictions Oklahoma placed on Sampson, where he coached before Indiana hired him earlier this year, and (3) disciplined Oklahoma by adopting its self-imposed sanctions.

Sampson was identified as making 233 of 577 "impermissible" phone calls while at Oklahoma from 2000-04, in which the NCAA concluded those calls constituted a recruiting advantage. Of 17 recruits who received impermissible calls, five enrolled at Oklahoma and another signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the school. The infractions committee chair, Tom Yeager, noting that some of the violations were committed while Sampson was president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and presided over an Ethics Summit, had some harsh things to say about Sampson:

"The former head coach created and encouraged an atmosphere among his staff of deliberate non-compliance, rationalizing the violations as being a result of 'prioritizing' rules. The former head coach [who, it is reported, acknowledged the violations but did not take them seriously compared with material inducements to recruits] preferred to think of what he and his staff were doing as 'hard work' rather than cheating. At a time when the NABC identified impermissible phone contact as a serious issue and the organization was calling on its membership to be accountable, the former head coach and his staff were engaged in a pattern of willful and significant recruiting violations."

Last week on the Blog, I discussed a provision in Sampson's new contract that permits IU to fire him with no financial obligations if the NCAA "imposes more significant penalties or sanctions than the University of Oklahoma's self-imposed sanctions." Apparently, IU is not going to terminate Sampson under this clause, as athletics director Rick Greenspan publicly stated: "We felt the self-imposed penalties were significant, but we knew that there could be further sanctions and we accept them. . . . While these sanctions do present an immediate challenge, we are excited about the future with coach Sampson at the helm of the Indiana basketball program." Despite the "willful" violations committed at Oklahoma by its new basketball coach, Indiana President Adam Herbert and Greenspan went even further and stated that Sampson is a man of "highest integrity" who simply made an error in judgment.

Jeff Rabjohns of the Indianapolis Star summarized the penalties imposed on Sampson ("IU's recruiting faces hurdles"):

Things he can't do:
• Call recruits on the phone.
• Attend summer recruiting camps such as Nike's in Indianapolis or tournaments such as Reebok's in Las Vegas that typically feature hundreds of top prospects in one place.
• Attend a recruit's game.
• Make a home visit to a recruit.

Things he can do:
• Take phone calls from recruits.
• Initiate text messages, instant messages, e-mails or letters with recruits.
• Talk with players during on-campus recruiting visits.

In today's highly competitive recruiting environment, being visible and seen is extremely important. According to Rabjohn, "The biggest practical impact of the NCAA penalties announced Thursday against the Indiana University men's basketball coach is that Sampson won't be able to personally show recruits how interested the Hoosiers are." Electronic messaging is simply not a replacement for in-person appearances.

Is IU underestimating the impact of yesterday's ruling? But aside from the practical impact on Sampson's ability to effectively recruit, which Indiana is willing to accept, does it seem odd that IU would hire a coach knowing at the time that he willfully violated NCAA recruiting rules and knowing that NCAA sanctions would soon be imposed, and also tell the world that he's a man of "highest integrity"?

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