Band of Brothers
- Thread starter Pryght
- Start date
Smart’s shot is the single most memorable event in all of my sports fandom, and I don’t think anything else is close as far as remaining vivid in my mind even all these years later.
The original One Shining Moment. Forever tied to that.
I was a freshman and just thought that we'd get one every 5 or 6 years for the rest of my life.
That night was the last time I ever attempted a human cartwheel performance. It was on the front lawn of my folk's house. It wasn't pretty, low on style points, but it was dark outside and I was happy...extremely happy as Hoosier Hysteria spontaneously burst into delirious Hoosier Euphoria.
I was a freshman in 81 and felt the same. Figured we'd compete every 4-5 years. Oh the naiveite. Go Hoosiers!
Likely would be is Sampson was our coach.
Not sure our administration had the stomach to compete for kids the Sampson way. I believe Sampson could have done well if the administration had a win at all costs philosophy. Just not convinced Sampson would have received long term support. Good Post.
Kelvin Sampson was never going to end well at IU. Houston is a perfect fit for him as it has a complete basketball history written with no regard for academic performance, player behavior, rules violations in recruiting, etc. For better or for worse, those things are never going to fly at IU. Coaches who cheat or who tolerate low academic performance or bad player behavior are going to be fired. Sampson was headed straight for a reckoning over low APR and criminal behavior of players, illegal texts notwithstanding. There's a reason Eric Gordon got out of the program as quickly as he could. The program was a cesspool and getting worse by the day - ask Dakich ( and he is dead accurate on KS regardless of how you feel about him on other matters).
Big-time college basketball and football make a mockery of the concepts of amateurism and student-athlete, without question. But some institutions - like IU - still have an expectation of competing within the rules. There are still expectations that coaches and athletes not embarrass the university. You may not like it, you may think it stupid or hypocritical (or both). You may believe that sacrificing wins for integrity is moronic - and you have an absolute right to your opinion.
But I am telling you that if you believe or hope that IU will ever operate differently, you are going to be extremely disappointed for years and years to come. You really need to find a different school to root for because it isn't going to happen at Indiana University. The people who drive IU athletics won't tolerate it. Coaches and administrators who cross lines in regard to behavior or rules violations will continue to be fired. Like it or not, that isn't changing.
As for myself, I'm fine with it because I believe it is possible to achieve at the highest level without cheating or selling out. Villanova is an example. Purdue and Wisconsin have been able to compete with the best without becoming Kentucky or Kansas or Louisville. Jay Wright has achieved as much (or more) as Bill Self, John Calipari, Bruce Pearl, Rick Pitino, or Kelvin Sampson, without the stench.
Think of me and others like me what you wish, but I would rather not win if I can't do it with integrity. Those of us with connections to Indiana University beyond having a winning mens' basketball team aren't going to reverse course. We won three national championships and were the best college basketball program in America without bending or breaking rules and I'm extremely proud of that. More importantly, I believe that it can be done again. Maybe I am a fool for thinking that, but when I become convinced it can't happen again I will simply stop contributing to IU athletics and stop paying attention to college sports altogether. I think that is the majority opinion among those who contribute far more than I, and I am glad that is the case.
Don't get me wrong, I desperately want IU to be more successful and nationally relevant again. But I will never get to the point where I can accept cheating or player misbehavior as a shortcut to that success. If you see folks like me as a roadblock to the success you desire or feel entitled to as a "fan", then you really are advised to seek a new team to root for. Folks like myself, which I believe to be a significant majority of IU alums and donors, aren't going away and that will always be a major factor in how IU athletics operates. If I were you, I wouldn't hold my breath thinking it will change anytime soon.
Well if we win 6 in a row......yes. Averages and all. Gotta pan out soon. I'm convinced. Starting that run anyyyyyy day now.
Bravo. And damn Jay looks good in a magazine cover too!!
Congrats.
Best post on this board in a very long time. Well said. I'd add Tony Bennett at Virginia to your list of those who do it the right way.
He had devon ebanks and another guy coming in who made the nba then he got fired. He would have killed it at iu. I dont think he would have needed to recruit deandre thomas types after the second year.
True but it does not always lead to getting fired. Calipari, Roy Willians, Bill Self all never got fired and are total slimeballs.
Don't forget Sampson's other recruit, Bud Mackey. In 2007, Bud was arrested during his senior year for trafficking crack at his high school. In 2011, he was sentenced to 15.5 years for robbery, drug trafficking, etc, but was eligible for parole after three years. After getting out early, he was arrested in January 2021 after cops found 10 pounds of meth in his car.
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Whether he needed to recruit those types wouldn't have mattered to KS. He would have recruited those types because that's who he was as a person. Those are the types he has recruited everywhere he's been. Character has never mattered to Sampson, nor have NCAA rules or players earning degrees. He would have had a lot of on-court success at IU, as long as the university looked the other way because he's a helluva basketball coach. He's also a POS as a leader of young men. We might have won another title, we also might have ended up with the death penalty. Given the profile of IU and the B1G, we certainly would have ended up with a reputation of being a bigger cesspool than Louisville.
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