I spent most of Friday night trying to figure out who has the moral high ground in the Indiana University vs. Kelvin Sampson divorce settlement.
I’m unhappy to report it’s no one.
It’s not Indiana, which pushed Sampson out as coach Friday in order to lessen the blow when the NCAA presumably finds Sampson guilty as charged for five major rules violations by the formerly clean program.
Indiana will have a tough time framing its actions as “decisive” and “proactive” in the eyes of the NCAA. IU officials can’t claim they fired Sampson. In fact, they’ll have to admit they coerced a resignation with a $750,000 settlement that was reached with the agreement he wouldn’t sue the university. That’s probably cost-effective compared to a lawsuit, especially since an anonymous donor (who badly wanted rid of Sampson) contributed $550,000, but it still leaves a bad aftertaste.
Sampson can’t claim the high ground, obviously, although he can afford some nice digs in exile. If he believed he was innocent, why agree to leave? Why not force IU to fire him, and then sue the school for a couple million for failing to follow due process? On the other hand, if he knows deep down he’s guilty, pocketing $750,000 buys a sweet ride out of Dodge. That shows some savvy and shrewdness, within the context. But it’s not the moral high ground.
Then there are the IU players, six of whom skipped practice Friday and reportedly threatened to boycott the rest of the season. I give them a one-day pass because they’re kids. They may be coddled, overprotected, and unduly worshipped, but most are barely out of their teens. They’re entitled to be a little naive, although Sampson’s slickness surely has stripped some innocence away.
The players, if they’re wise, will rally around each other. They’ve come far enough to know how to handle adversity. D.J. White needs to be the adult here. He should tell his teammates “let’s win this for us” and charge into the final stretch of the season. This IU team is good enough, no matter who’s coaching it, to win the Big Ten and reach the Sweet 16, maybe beyond.
Interim coach Dan Dakich and associate coach Ray McCallum have plenty of head coaching experience for the short term. They can provide the necessary direction if the players are willing.
Indiana and Sampson was a bad marriage from the start because of the baggage the coach brought from Oklahoma. IU athletic director Rick Greenspan, whether he was the true mastermind of the hire or not, took responsibility for it, sold it as workable, and stood up at the long-delayed 9 p.m. news conference Friday to say it was over. His fate may not be tied to Sampson’s, but it should be. And no matter how many times he says how “difficult” this situation has been, he can’t claim any moral high ground.
Indiana’s reputation as a violations-free program ended under Greenspan’s watch just as surely as it did under Sampson’s watch.
The NCAA could still come down later this year with sanctions beyond the ones IU self-imposed. A postseason ban seems unlikely, but it can’t be ruled out. Probation’s a possibility, further embarrassment a certainty. In the meantime, IU must hire a coach clean enough and driven enough to pick up the pieces and rebuild.
When it comes to the moral high ground in this divorce, no one has it. However, there remains one fact that’s hard to dispute: Three-quarters of a million dollars is an awful lot of money to spend on stain remover.
