Big Ten
Coaches, style of play
Tuesday reading, with an eye on the Vols vs. Commodores and Hoosiers vs. Buckeyes. But first, another Kelvin Sampson update.
Former Indiana University president Adam Herbert, who approved the Sampson two years ago, commented on the Sampson fiasco, telling the Jacksonville Times-Union that he thought the coach’s previous NCAA violations were “an aberration.”
Ex-squeeze me? Baking power?
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If this is it for Kelvin Sampson, it was a helluva exit.
A 77-68 victory against in-state rival and Big Ten leaders Purdue surely left an impression upon Indiana fans. Tuesday’s win – maybe Indiana’s best performance of their season – came under the klieg lights from TV, reporters and fans, all wanting to know what would happen to the coach, and when.
The exceptions: Sampson and his players.
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If the speculation is correct, Kelvin Sampson can forget about taking D.J. White and Eric Gordon to the Final Four. He’ll be lucky if he gets to face in-state rival Purdue.
Indiana University has seven days to decide Sampson’s future. A three-person committee will weigh the NCAA allegations of five major violations, and then recommend to the University by Friday what action it should take. Then again, it may be sooner.
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Indiana players may not say it, but it wasn’t surprising the Hoosiers lost to Wisconsin on Wednesday. Their coach provided a supreme off-court distraction.
Kelvin Sampson’s alleged lying to the NCAA was the talk of college hoops on Wednesday – and would’ve dominated the news if not for Roger Clemens’ trip to Capitol Hill. Instead, after a well-played game with its share of on-court drama, it figures that a banked three-pointer would win it for the Badgers. Such was the Hoosiers’ luck on Wednesday.
So what did the Web say about Sampson?
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First it was Kelvin Sampson’s 577 impermissible phone calls made between 2000 and 2004 while coaching at Oklahoma.
Then Sampson, shortly after becoming Indiana’s new coach, violated telephone recruiting restrictions when he and assistant Rob Senderoff made approximately 100 impermissible phone calls to recruits.
Now, it’s come out that Sampson lied about the violations to Indiana and the NCAA. In an NCAA report, Sampson is accused of five major violations and failed “to deport himself ... with the generally recognized high standard of honesty.”
In short, the NCAA isn’t happy.
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I hope Tubby Smith has enjoyed Minnesota’s surprising start. The next 10 days could be rough.
The Gophers (12-3) have been one of the nation's best stories, but with Indiana, Michigan State and Ohio State coming up, we may soon forget about them.
It could be worse. You could be Arizona State (13-2) and have road game at Cal, Stanford, UCLA and USC in the next 17 days. Ouch.
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Everything old is new again. And by old, I mean seven years old.
Technically, Michigan State’s win against Texas Saturday was on a neutral court. Not sure playing in Auburn Hills, Mich., counts as a neutral court (since the campus is about 80 miles away), but that doesn’t take away from a nice, nice win for Tom Izzo’s team.
That should officially log the Spartans as national title contenders.
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Some things in life are certainties. Like the ACC winning the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, for starters.
What else is certain? That John Gasaway writes an article that makes sense, then comes true. Like in North Carolina’s win over Ohio State.
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Some things never change. Another year, another stumble for the Big Ten to start their Challenge against the ACC.
The good news? The rest of the games should be better. Should, because of the talent on the courts.
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For the moment, pardon my indulgence.
Never been the biggest fan of Big Ten basketball. Whether it was downplaying Illinois’ remarkable 2004-05 season, ignoring Michigan State’s chances to beat Duke in the 2005 NCAA Tournament or bemoaning the ACC-Big Ten Challenge each season (win some games, then!), the league has never appealed to me.
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