Do It For the Sake of the Program

My semester began last week and it has been non-stop. Teaching three different courses on three different days, two of which I’ve never taught any version of before, has been a stressful and hectic endeavor. Some days I enjoy it and some days I’m dead tired and wishing it was over. But at the same time I’m hearing from students in all three classes about how much they’re enjoying themselves, so I guess I’m doing something right.

But that’s why I haven’t had the time to comment on the biggest scandal to hit Indiana University athletics in years. I’d say that it even rivals the firing of Bobby Knight because anyone that was living in Bloomington at the time, such as myself, saw it coming a mile away. But now IU men’s basketball is rocked with controversy and possible NCAA sanctions for the first time since 1960.

And it’s all thanks to Coach Kelvin Sampson.

I just had a feeling that it was a mistake when IU hired him two years ago. He had a history of making illegal telephone calls and NCAA infractions from his days as the coach at the University of Oklahoma. But IU took a chance on him. I now wonder if they’re regretting the hiring.

Today Sampson’s fate will be revealed. If he’s kept on a program that has been noted for it’s clean and fair play will now have a sullied reputation. The IU men’s basketball program will be thought of as cheaters, and that is something that will be difficult to shake. Chants of cheater will be heard from the stands at every away game. Is that what the players need to hear?

I don’t want to take away the fact that the Hoosiers are having a great season, but Sampson is going to end up taking them down. He needs to go. Be it by firing (which all signs are seeming to point to) or resignation, Sampson should no longer be leading this team.

Fire him now in order to save IU men’s basketball in the long run.

Home vs. Away

Indiana University is a basketball school. It’s the home of the Hoosiers. It’s where Bobby Knight made a name for himself (both good and bad). It’s a place where a good number of undergraduates enroll only because of the basketball team’s reputation.

I’ve been in Indiana now for nearly 10 years. I was here at the tail end of Bobby Knight’s tenure, at a time when he was losing as much as he was winning. I was also here for all of the Mike Davis years, which had a lot of bad (missing the NCAA men’s tournament, missing any postseason play) and some good (runner up in the NCAA men’s tournament in 2002). This season is the first with new head coach Kelvin Sampson, and they are finding some success.

Currently the men’s team has a record of 17-8, with a record of 7-5 in Big Ten division play. All of the team’s losses this season have been games played away from Bloomington.

That got me wondering. How can a team play so well at home but lose 2/3 of their games played away? And how can you teach your players to play well away?

If anyone has any ideas about how to do this, I’m ready to listen. And I’m sure the Hoosiers would be too.