Even for those supporters in staunch denial or disbelief early this year, one thing has become painfully apparent over the past couple months: IU messed up. Big time. And the athletic department, basketball program, coaches, faculty, and fans are all going to end up paying a steep price.
While it's usually not a good thing to just give up a fight, now seems like the right time for us to throw in the towel and try to roll with the NCAA's punches. In fact, it already appears that the university is moving in that very direction.
From the
addition of the “Failure to monitor” allegation and
Rick Greenspan’s abrupt announcement of his resignation to
President Michael McRobbie’s public admission of the grave misstep by the university, it is fully apparent that IU is in a desperate back-pedal to try and cut any losses it can.
Whether it was wrong of the trustees, former President
Adam Herbert, or Greenspan for selecting Sampson, wrong of the athletic department for failing to monitor, wrong of the fans and supporters for rallying behind their school with a coach that they may or may not have liked, or wrong of Sampson to violate the rules in the first place, the end result is all that the NCAA needs to infer wrongdoing.
Yes, IU has said that it will “vigorously defend” against the latest allegation, but it’s fairly obvious that a flawed compliance system was at fault when the compliance department was re-organized, a new compliance director was "promoted," and the AD decided to get out while he can.
The fact is that IU has few (read: none) cards left to play, and the best we can do is to buckle down and brace for the heavy punishments that the NCAA will almost surely hand down in the next month or two.
This means getting ready to see quite a few blowouts (perhaps against bitter rivals still antsy about a
certain LA Clipper), biting your nails in an unusually close game with UNC Pembroke, and maybe most important of all, taking the high road and just ignoring all the nay-sayers trumpeting that IU is a goner and a has-been, because that’s just not true. These next few years are going to be rough,
as even Eric Gordon can tell you, but we will be back.
The only evidence needed is the remarkably solid (given the circumstances) recruiting class that Coach
Tom Crean deftly secured for this year and 2009 as well, as well as Crean’s
inspiring track record at Marquette. If he revived the Golden Eagles, leading them to seven postseason appearances and their first Final Four in 30 years, think about his potential with IU’s program and resources. He's already fielded a full roster of D-I caliber players and is adding considerable talent in 2009 in the middle of an apocalyptic (basketball-wise) situation.
Give IU three years, to allow Crean to gather some recruits and win back some fans, McRobbie and the university to establish a new AD and win back some deep-pocketed but deeply disappointed alumni, and this year’s freshmen to develop into veteran leaders. By then I think it will be very clear that IU is well on its way back to the top, even though it had to smash rock bottom first.
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