Recently, Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson fell into a world of trouble with the NCAA, prompting the university to buy out his contract. Sampson is being accused of committing five “major” violations according to the NCAA, making over 100 impermissible calls to recruits as well as providing false and misleading information to the NCAA. (
Before taking over the Indiana program two years ago, Sampson built his coaching legacy at the University of Oklahoma. He owns the highest winning percentage in the history of Sooner's basketball at .721. Named National Coach of the Year in 1995, Sampson built Oklahoma into a stable basketball program, distinguishing them from the successful football program. He took his teams to the NCAA Tournament ten of the eleven years that he coached there, and reached the Final Four in 2002 (one which I attended) losing to, coincidently, the Indiana Hoosiers.
Although Sampson has accolades and achievements in his basketball career, that all but seems to be over. He will be forever be remembered for his failures. Before taking the helm at Indiana, the NCAA launched an investigation against Sampson and his staff. The results are startling, 577 impermissible phone calls.
Indiana released their former head coach, Mike Davis, around the same time and decided to hire Sampson amid all the allegations and future restrictions against him. They gave him a second chance to redeem himself. Sampson received a one-year ban from contacting recruits, relying on his assistants and scouting directors to do most of the work, but he received a five-year $2.5 million contract from Indiana.
In 2007, all of the NCAA sanctions were lifted from him, allowing him to continue doing his job. Sampson continued doing what he felt his job was, recruiting players no matter what it took.
With everything in life that goes wrong, there will always be a purpose and lesson to be learned. Sampson was obviously not phased by the allegations, investigations, sanctions and ban. He did not learn from what he did wrong the first time. He did not fulfill his promise that he was a changed man, one he made at his opening press conference at Indiana. Sampson destroyed the second chance that he was blessed to receive, a second chance that many people in the world today go without. While Indiana tries to dig themselves out of turmoil that will certainly last for a few years, Sampson walks free with $750,000.
While the sports world is filled with stories of goodness, love and passion there will always be deterrences. Sadly for every Skip Prosser that college basketball has the pleasure of having, there will be multiple Kelvin Sampsons.
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