February 22, 2008
Winner Take All
I've been watching with one eye the travails of Kelvin Sampson, coach of the Indiana men's basketball team. Sampson has been tripped up by the pharisaical system of NCAA rules, which pays close attention to who pays for a player's meals, but scrutinizes less closely whether the player ever receives an education. In Sampson's case, he transgressed rules about when recruits can be telephoned, and when questioned, the NCAA says he lied about it. What fascinates me is that when he was receiving the National Coach of the Year award at Oklahoma in 2002, his team's graduation rate, averaged over four years, was zero. That's right, you had a greater chance of winning the Oklahoma lottery than securing a college degree under Kelvin Sampson.
Even though its own team's graduation rate stood at a respectable 70 percent, Indiana University saw fit to lure Sampson away from Oklahoma, which had no problem with his mockery of the NCAA's widely touted moniker for players, "student athletes," so long as he was winning games.
Despite luring kids to a school they had no hope to graduate from, when they might have received scholarships as well as degrees from smaller schools, Sampson was awarded one of the NCAA's highest honors for a men's basketball coach. But now that he has made too many calls on consecutive second Tuesdays, he's going to be suspended without pay.
Why not fired? Isn't Indiana University's motto, after all, "Light and Truth?"
Yes, but Sampson's team is, you see, 22-4 this season. So they'll slap him on the wrist, and hope it's good enough penance to satisfy the NCAA. At the very worst, they'll fire him later, but only after the NCAA tournament. No need to get crazy with this whole "consequences" thing, after all. It's not like their motto is "Light, Truth, and Consequences." And as the famous Roman once asked, "What is truth, anyway?" That's the enlightened approach to things in today's modern universities.
I still insist that if the NCAA were serious about its "student-athlete" notion, it would require the team with a lower graduation rate to spot the differential to its opponent in games. This would mean that if Davidson met Memphis in the NCAA tournament, it would start the game with a lead of 67 points. And perhaps alongside the won-loss record posted under a coach's face when he's on television, networks could also start posting his graduation rate.
Maybe then more schools would ask not only, How many points can he score? but also, Is this the best place for him to receive an education? If they're really student-athletes, after all, it seems we ought to be asking the latter.
As for Kelvin Sampson, I wouldn't worry about his job future; there's always a Cincinnati or a UNLV — or an Indiana University, if they can get away with it — willing to place a higher imperative on winning than on integrity. Sampson should have no problem finding employment. Too bad we can't say the same for the kids who have been unfortunate enough to play for him.
Update
Looks like Indiana gave Sampson cash to go away, and several of their players are having a hissy fit. Pat Forde has it right:
"Here's my suggestion: Any player who doesn't make the trip to Northwestern is cut. Kelvin Sampson should not be made a martyr for breaking NCAA rules. College players aren't in charge of personnel decisions. Period.
If need be, grab six walk-ons who would donate an organ to play for the Hoosiers and suit them up. Indiana basketball is bigger than the players who walked out."
Posted by Woodlief on February 22, 2008 at 02:00 PM
I believe you've underestimated the concern in the IU community about having a "clean" program. Among other things, good and bad, Bobby Knight was well-known for (a) running a clean program and (b) graduating his players. I didn't know about the Oklahoma graduation rate, and I doubt many others here did -- it would have sparked a good deal of opposition. There was already quite a bit, due to Sampson's NCAA problems.
I can't get through to the actual story, but a headline on the Bloomington Herald-Times website indicates Sampson has been "suspended". The betting here has been that he's out, one way or the other.
I suppose Sampson may have assumed that if IU was willing to hire him, they would be content with plausible deniability about future violations. That was a miscalculation. Ironically, the desperation that drove them to hire him has probably abated due to the improvements he has wrought.
Posted by: Karen A. Wyle at February 22, 2008 2:22 PM
amen and amen.
Pharisaical. good one.
Me, I'm a smug Vanderbilt fan. My teams GRE scores can confuse your teams..
Posted by: karen at February 22, 2008 2:23 PM
Tony,
Indiana has a long tradition of this; in fact Kelvin Sampson (if fired) could follow in the foot steps of another Indiana coach and go to Texas Tech - I understand there's an opening.
There's even speculation that the "retiring" BK might go back to Indiana.
Talk about screwed up priorities...
Posted by: Tom at February 22, 2008 2:43 PM
Brilliant post!
And-hear, hear!
You've hit a tender spot with this one. I'm a Fresno State alumnus-home, until a few years ago, to post-UNLV Jerry Tarkanian, a basketball coach whose team's graduation rates rival those of Mr. Sampson (I'm embarrassed to say).
We're also the only school in the nation (I think) to seriously consider building an on-campus correctional facility so that our basketball team members could all make it to all practices...
Hear him, Mr. NCAA commissioner; hear him, please.
Posted by: PJ at February 22, 2008 6:35 PM
I agree with all comments regarding the NCAA, however there are three things that should be pointed out:
1)Sampson was fired today, and hadn't been fired yet because the allegations were just that, allegations.
2)While his graduation rate is abysmal, there are a couple of things that affect that which should be mentioned. Players who go to the NBA for millions of dollars do not graduate and as a coach if you can get one of your players to that point then great. Not everyone needs a college degree to be successful in their field. Also, I imagine many of these students may take more than four years to finish their degree, which is common even among those not in athletics. But if these students run out of athletic eligibility they may be forced to transfer in order to finish their degree since they lose their scholarships. That said, his graduation rate is still very low.
3)The cheating scandal at FSU was far worse than any of this and the school and NCAA have yet to take any, in my opinion, serious action. That is far worse than anything Sampson has done.
Posted by: Stephen at February 22, 2008 8:44 PM
1. The NCAA rules are capricious and silly, for the most part.
2. It is almost impossible for a Division I athlete to get a degree in four years.
3. So they don't even try.
4. Because no one cares.
5. The school that offers a degree in "Basketball; practice and theory" will be able to boost their graduation rates through the roof.
6. Nothing will change.
Posted by: MLP at February 23, 2008 1:28 PM
It really doesn't matter in what division the school plays; collegiate athletics is a snake's nest. One of my direct reports has the err...honor? of detail tracking our Athletic Dept.'s spending, as well as being responsible for much of our NCAA audit. Let's just say we all agree that what is spent on the program could be better used in other areas.
At least our graduation rate for student-athletes is about 74% - ave. 2.47 GPS for Men's BB.
Posted by: diane at February 25, 2008 7:11 AM
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