Everyone's dirty, Sampson is just foolish too

by Jason Whitlock

Updated: February 21, 2008, 2:17 PM EST

It's just not true. Bobby Knight has too much intelligence to have any respect for the NCAA and its outdated regulations. I've never met a coach with a modicum of intellect who had any real regard for the NCAA and its laws.

You do what you think is fair and what you think won't get caught.

I mention this because there's great hysteria in the Hoosier state. The NCAA declared in a recent report that Kelvin Sampson, the man who replaced the man who replaced Bob Knight at Indiana, lied to NCAA investigators and school compliance administrators about phone calls to recruits.

Mr. Telephone Man and his three-way recruiting offense are about to be run out of Bloomington based on allegations that he circumvented NCAA policy.

Despite considering Kelvin Sampson a friend, I'll have no problem with his dismissal. He violated the second tenet of the coaches' NCAA rulebook. After fleeing Oklahoma amid allegations of improper phone use, there was no reason for Sampson to believe he wouldn't get nabbed at Indiana for virtually the same violation.

Fire Kelvin Sampson for a lack of common sense. Do not dispose of him under the false pretense that he is unethical, immoral, dishonorable or unprincipled.

Short of academic fraud or the kind of criminal activity that transpired at Baylor under Dave Bliss, it's nearly impossible for me to believe any college coach is a cheater.

Coaches are stretchers of NCAA rules that they don't believe in. They make fathers and street agents assistant basketball coaches to land recruits. School boosters move entire families across country and close to campus, so that the families can easily attend home games and magically cri$$cro$$ the country attending away games. Once many of the economically disadvantaged kids land on campus, they somehow manage to drive SUVs and move into wonderfully furnished apartments.

I grew up in Indianapolis, went to college at Ball State, worked as a sports writer in Bloomington (Ind.), Charlotte (N.C.), Ann Arbor (Mich.) and Kansas City. I've covered college basketball at every stop and have spent time on nearly every big-time college basketball campus in the country. I've seen the exact same thing at every stop.

So I'm offended when Kelvin Sampson is labeled some sort of despicable cheater. If he is, he's in very good company, a circle that includes every coach who has legitimately attempted to win a national championship during the last 30 years.

Again, this is not a plea for Mr. Telephone Man to keep his job. He screwed up. He allowed arrogance to interfere with common sense. He knew when he pursued and accepted the job at Indiana that many Hoosier fans were under the delusion that Indiana basketball was a beacon of NCAA integrity.

Sampson's apparent stupidity might cost Indiana scholarships, and a shot at the Big Ten crown and national title. Yeah, it's a fire-able offense. When you toss in the fact that this controversy has ruined Eric Gordon's lone college season and D.J. White's terrific senior campaign, then it becomes even more difficult to muster sympathy for Sampson.

I don't know what Sampson's defense is. I haven't spoken to him.

The only explanation that would make sense is: "It's not my voice on the phone calls. Someone hired an impersonator. I've been framed."

Seriously, given the situation, Sampson should've never picked up a phone in an effort to recruit any Indiana basketball player other than Eric Gordon, the only prospect Sampson needed to land in order to justify his hiring.

Whether or not Sampson misled NCAA investigators or his employer about the calls is irrelevant to me. I'm sure he'll make a strong case that he misled no one. The crime is not realizing that he had active enemies at Indiana who would be looking for an opportunity to get him entangled in an NCAA mess. The best way to dodge that trap is to avoid playing that game, elude even the appearance of impropriety.

Smart coaches hire loyal assistants to take all the chances.

As for bringing Bobby Knight back to Indiana?

When he quit at Texas Tech and stories began circulating that he would coach again, it crossed my mind that Knight was tipped off that there was major trouble brewing at Indiana.

I initially defended Knight for "retiring" at Texas Tech. But if he returns to major college basketball next season (or really at any time) after walking away from a team at mid-season, it would constitute an act of cowardice and hypocrisy that we've never really witnessed in major college sports.

As a longtime, casual Bob Knight defender, I would be embarrassed.