What was it about Sampson that didn’t seem right? Was it his blue Oxford shirt in a sea of red sweaters? His olive skin of Native American heritage? Kelvin and not Kevin? Stealing Eric Gordon from under the nose of Lou Henson? His players not majoring in Rocketry?
Lou Henson was not coaching Illinois when Sampson stole Gordon, that was Bruce Weber.
Oct 13 2006, Sampson's first Midnight Madness.. Eric Gordon.... Eric Gordon...Eric Gordon.... He flipped earlier that day around 2-3pm finally after all summer of flirting with IU.
IU became a rescue plan for Sampson after the dirty dealings at Oklahoma. That rescue plan include responsibility for redemption. Then.....Sampson back-slided. Keep in mind the ethics image at that time which heavily influenced how it dealt with the NCAA. They fell on the sword with enthusiasm. Total disaster all the way around
I forget who wrote it, but I remember reading a post mortem on KS and the writer said he kept insisting on having a window installed in his office where he could see the practice court, despite the fact that that would be an NCAA violation. I'd say that's what made him not seem right for starters. Olive skin NA heritage? Give me a break.
I also remember walking past them at Memorial Stadium on Rose visit. I think it was against Western Michigan. Anyways Rose, and Mccallum Jr as a kid were trying on hats.
Damn, was watching that game and it was a good one, but got sidetracked with shrimp tacos and never went back to it after dinner.
Well, if he insisted on a window he didn’t get his wish because it wasn’t one of his NCAA violations. If true, it seems video surveillance with hidden camera would be less obvious of an infraction. Then again, cell phone technology was new back then and Sampson thought those non-landline calls wouldn’t be monitored.
Sampson had talented guards coming back (Bassett, Crawford, Ellis, A Bud Mackey had no offcourt issuesTu Holloway and Ray McCallum, Jr, in the future fold). Forwards Kevin Jones and Devin Ebanks to play off bangers Pritchard, Thomas and Holman.. Definately would have been a *nice* group to throw against the baby boilers.. during their careers. I know I'm forgetting someome. Matt Roth as a situational shooter.. Brandon McGee at the end of the bench.
What kind of banners?.. Guarantee ?
People that think Sampson was the problem or firing him was the right decision are 100% to blame for this shit show we have now.
You mean like UNC covering up their “ghost” curriculum for athletes, that kind of hammering?
No he didn't get it, but it just illustrated his blatant disregard for rules. He continued to request it, despite being repeatedly told it couldn't be done. Cameras would have been smart cheating, a window wasn't. See how that didn't "seem right"? It was also just a very different IU vibe at the time, and we haven't even mentioned how RMK railed against him, Benson, another former player saying he wouldn't want KS to coach his sons middle school team, etc... Had NOTHING to do with the color of his skin.
Think it was a potted plant- I had hope for Holman- think he followed Ray McCallum
Couldn't remember who it was, but that sounds right. Just dumb to bring it up as potentially a racial thing. The biggest issue was we were still living in the very large shadow of our legendary coach, who hated the guy, and made that clear. That's as far as it needed to go as to why it never seemed like the "right fit".
So was UNC for over a decade. And UK, and KU, and etc, etc, etc. I briefly practiced with a guard (not from IU) who literally took a bag of cash to xfer to UK. $40k back then was a big deal but nothing today. They got away with it.
Dude had standing violations at Oklahoma. Wasn’t even on a ‘next hire’ coaching radar. His Oklahoma record was pretty pedestrian compared to what IU Basketball was looking for. Had about zero history concerning recruiting Indiana, Ohio or Illinois. The hire seemed weird from jump street.
I thought the only thing weird about it was the mismatch between our former legendary coach's reputation for being squeaky clean and hiring a guy who had a reputation as a cheater and I think was still on probation, not to mention the former legend actively calling the guy out. Wasn't our President at the time black and made a comment about liking Sampson because he was a minority? I don't believe his ethnicity was ever an issue with the fanbase.
A ghost curriculum seems a shadier one time offense than two separate illegal phone call “travesties”, an offense no longer applying, until fake classes.
