Kelvin Sampson is in big trouble and, if there's any justice, so is Indiana University:
Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff violated telephone recruiting restrictions imposed because of his previous violations at Oklahoma, then lied about it to the school and NCAA investigators, according to an NCAA report released Wednesday.
The report sent to the university Friday accuses Sampson of five major violations, including the allegation of providing "false or misleading information" to university officials and NCAA enforcement staff. The school contended in its initial report that all violations were secondary infractions.
But the NCAA accused Sampson of failing "to deport himself ... with the generally recognized high standard of honesty" and failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the men's basketball program, categorized as major infractions.
Nothing's going to happen until summer, so this season is safe, but who knows about next year? Penalties could even include a ban on post-season tournament play. Does IU deserve anything that harsh, since (the allegation goes), its officials were lied to? Yes. The school hired a coach everybody knew was a risk, just because everybody wanted a return to the old winning ways. And, as the NCAA report shows, those who conducted IU's own investigation did not exactly go out of their way to find all the dirt. The school permitted this for the same reason it permitted Bob Knight to stay on long after he had become a state embarrassment. College sports have become the tail wagging the education dog.
