Clean or Dirty?

So, the headlines here in Bloomington, Indiana do not favor IU Athletics this week. Check them out:

1. Monday 2/11: 5 Football players arrested in three separate incidents
2. Tuesday 2/12: Aj Ratliff leaves IU Basketball
3. Wednesday 2/13: Sampson accused of NCAA Violations
4. Thursday 2/14: More on Sampson NCAA Violations

I can't saw much, but maybe I told you so! I think most of the sentiment around here is that IU should fire Sampscum (thanks to my friend Tracy for that hilarious reference). I think they will wait until the ruling from the NCAA Infractions Committee in June, but it should make for an interesting summer around here. Some fans want Bobby Knight back and others just want a clean program with good recruits.

I'm posting the following for my Illini friends. The local newspaper, The Herald-Times (www.heraldtimesonline.com), has an online sports chat each week. Of course, today's chat mainly focused around the basketball team and Sampson's NCAA violations. I found this question from the online transcript to be most entertaining!

"QUESTION: Painter looks established at Purdue and IU could be looking at a third coach since Knight left Bloomington. IF we get more sanctions, just how rough a time is a potential new coach going to have?
Fred, Bradley, SC

CHRIS KORMAN: Fred,
Rick Greenspan could run to Kelvin Sampson's house right now, pick him up and carry him to the state line (the Illinois boarder would probably be a friendly place to leave him) and there still wold be no way that Indiana escapes this whole thing with sanctions that inhibit future coaches and teams. The NCAA will punish the school for hiring a coach with a shady past and failing to watch over him. (If, of course, it decides Sampson acted the way its letter of allegations says he did.)

At the very least, I expect the recruiting restrictions to continue and possibly become more severe. It wouldn't surprise anyone to see Indiana loose another scholarship. As for what else might happen, I hesitate to speculate.

There's also going to be some level of stigma attached to the program moving forward that will make it difficult for the Hoosiers to snatch players from Duke/North Carolina/Purdue and what not. "

Go Illini!