College Basketball Discussion Thread

[Grandpa Troll]

CAROLINA LOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG

Way to go Maryland!!

[H Tower]

I watched Duke - UNC last night, and Dickie V was back from throat surgery. I didn't think UNC would shoot that poorly from behind the arc. I think they were something like 1 of 10 at one point. You can't do that, not against a good team.

[-Jrabbit]

Coach K did a great job last night, and Duke executed amazingly well on the road. The Tar Heels played poorly -- tons of turnovers, and no offensive threat other than Hansbrough (who is, BTW, the real deal).

[H Tower]

Gah, Indiana over Illinois in double overtime because Shaun Pruit can't hit a free throw to save his life.

Eric Gordon may have a sweet shooting stroke, but he's a flippin idiot. A 10 second back court call when he isn't even being pressured?

[asleepathewheel]

Booing a 19 year old kid for choosing where to go to college for one year.

edit: horribly wrong smiley

[-Jrabbit]

Illinois fans have nothing to cheer, so why not? The team would actually be pretty damn good if they had Sheyer and Gordon.

[reismark]

Originally posted by asleepathewheel
Booing a 19 year old kid for reneging on a commitment and screwing a school over at a particular position

Fixed.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for Gordon. He is reaping what he sowed. If you don't want to get booed, don't make the commitment until you're ready to sign on the dotted line.

[H Tower]

Well put

[H Tower]

What kind of odds does Memphis have of going undefeated this year? All the way to the National Title? They are virtually a lock for a #1 seed, with only one strong opponent between now and the the second round of the tourney against the winner of the 8-9 game.

They had big wins against Gonzaga and Georgetown (both home games)

[Lord Avalon]

NCAA lists five major violations against Sampson, Indiana staff

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana basketball 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 NCAA listed five major violations against Sampson, saying he gave "false or misleading information" to investigators.

Sampson "failed to deport himself ... with the generally recognized high standard of honesty" and "failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance within the men's basketball program," according to the report.

Athletic director Rick Greenspan promised the university would cooperate with all NCAA requests.

"We are extremely disappointed in these new allegations regarding coach Sampson," Greenspan said in a statement. "To say the least, we view these allegations with grave concern."

Major violations of NCAA rules can carry punishments including postseason ineligibility. Indiana already had self-reported violations under Sampson in October, but the new discovery could put the Hoosiers' season, and Sampson's career, under a cloud of uncertainty.

The Hoosiers have had no NCAA major violations since 1960.

Indiana (20-3, No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) has until May 8 to provide a written response, but the matter could simmer late into the summer. The committee on infractions has a hearing in April, but because of the allotted 90-day window for Indiana to respond, the hearing is not expected to take place until the committee's planned June meeting.

Sampson did not return a message left for him Tuesday by ESPN.com.

A postseason ban for the Hoosiers would come into play only if IU decides to self-impose such a measure. Multiple sources told ESPN.com that a postseason ban would occur only if there were an issue with the eligibility of any current student-athletes. ESPN.com has been told this isn't the case at this point.

At Sampson's introductory news conference at Indiana two years ago, then-president Adam Herbert said, "I am fully convinced that he will elevate the program to what you expect. ... He has made clear our players will do well academically and graduate and that he will comply fully with NCAA regulations."

Among the allegations cited in the NCAA's report:

• Sampson, assistant coach Jeff Meyer and former assistant Rob Senderoff failed to comply with sanctions imposed on Sampson for impermissible recruiting calls he made while he was the head coach at Oklahoma. Sampson was under such sanctions when he was hired to coach the Hoosiers in March 2006.

Sampson and Senderoff, who resigned his position Oct. 30, are alleged to have jointly participated in telephone calls at a time when Sampson was prohibited from being present or taking part when staff members made recruiting calls. Senderoff and Meyer are alleged to have made about 100 calls that exceeded the sanction limits.

• Senderoff and Meyer placed "at least 25 telephone calls" to nine potential recruits that exceeded NCAA limits even if no sanctions had been in place.

• Sampson "acted contrary to the NCAA principles of ethical conduct when he knowingly violated recruiting restrictions imposed by the NCAA Committee on Infractions."

• Sampson and Meyer engaged in an impermissible recruiting contact during a two-day sports camp held at Assembly Hall last June 30 and July 1, and that Meyer provided the potential recruit with an impermissible benefit -- at least one T-shirt and drawstring backpack.

The NCAA launched its investigation after Indiana announced in October that Sampson had made 100 impermissible phone calls while he was on probation for illicit calls made while he was the coach at Oklahoma from 2000-2006. During that time, he made 577 impermissible calls.

Sampson was penalized by Oklahoma by not being allowed to travel for recruiting. Indiana imposed the same penalty in his first season as coach. He also was not permitted to make calls or leave campus to recruit for a calendar year. He was not banned from text messaging since it was allowed during that year. But it was during that year that he made the impermissible calls.

Sampson wasn't allowed to take part in three-way calls, originated by anyone on his staff. In October, Indiana made public that Senderoff initiated three-way calls involving Sampson. During the October news conference, Indiana said that Sampson said he was unaware he was participating in three-way calls. Senderoff, who was forced to resign, said he didn't let Sampson know he was on three-way calls, either. Prior to being forced out of his job, Senderoff was told he couldn't recruit off campus for a year or make calls. The same restriction was put on Dan Dakich, who has since been moved up to an assistant's position from director of basketball operations.

Sampson was hit with more penalties by the school, forfeiting a $500,000 raise, and a scholarship was taken away from the team.

Upon his hiring at Indiana in 2006, Sampson said, "It is a little bit embarrassing to stand up here and be asked about NCAA violations, but you also have to realize we're human and we make mistakes. I made a mistake but we've corrected it and moved forward."

In a statement issued through his attorney Wednesday, Meyer said he would continue to cooperate with Indiana and the NCAA.

"I regret that I may have made mistakes that are causing my and IU's conduct to be examined by the NCAA. … I will not comment on this process again before it is completed," Meyer said.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3243793

[asleepathewheel]

Sampson is garbage. I have a ton of friends from IU who were pretty happy about the hiring at the time, and I was like-uh, just wait for it guys, its coming. Hiring a coach who is already on probation (or you know a ruling is coming down in the near future) is....problematic.

but **** if they aren't highly ranked, that's whats important.

[asleepathewheel]

bang up job by IU releasing this info today, though. what a lucky break for them.

[-Jrabbit]

Well, I can certainly see why Eric Gordon decided to go to Indiana after this gem of a human was hired as coach.

[H Tower]

The prohibited phone calls that took place aren't new news, but the NCAA's statements are.

The NCAA listed five major violations against Sampson, saying he gave "false or misleading information" to investigators.

"failed to deport himself ... with the generally recognized high standard of honesty" and "failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance within the men's basketball program,"

Your own school has already hit you with sanctions, and then you lie about the events to the NCAA's investigators?

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
Well, I can certainly see why Eric Gordon decided to go to Indiana after this coach who might give him monetary incentives.

Corrected