Kelvin Sampson Contracts Bad Case Of The Whines
Hoffman's status with NCAA in limbo (George Schroeder, Daily Oklahoman)
Bob Hoffman's status at Oklahoma remains in limbo. More importantly, so does his reputation.
Hoffman, an OU assistant basketball coach, doesn't know whether new coach Jeff Capel will retain him. But according to those who know Hoffman, that's a secondary issue at the moment.
On Friday in Park City, Utah, Hoffman will face the NCAA infractions committee. He faces the prospect of being listed in the NCAA's "pink files" -- the records of coaches who have committed major rules violations.
Hoffman is one of four OU coaches who combined to make more than 550 impermissible phone calls to 17 recruits from 2000-04. But in documents submitted to the infractions committee and obtained by The Oklahoman under terms of the state's open records act, OU and Hoffman contend he should not be listed.
Hoffman declined comment this week. But Toby Baldwin, Hoffman's attorney, said he believes Hoffman could be cleared of wrongdoing at the hearing.
"We're very hopeful because of the mitigating circumstances and the limited number of calls," Baldwin said.
Sampson: OSU turned us in (George Schroeder and Mike Baldwin, Daily Oklahoman)
Bedlam extended into the NCAA’s investigation of the Oklahoma basketball program.
Former Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson told NCAA investigators that Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton once called out Sampson for the actions of an assistant coach. And Sampson said he first had an inkling his program was under NCAA investigation when recruits said OSU coaches had told them that.
“Every kid that we were recruiting... Oklahoma State told them that we were going to be banned from this or put on probation for that if we were getting investigated,” Sampson told NCAA investigators during the second of four interviews. “Every kid that we recruited, they had told them that.”
Sampson said he heard similar stories from recruits over the course of several years. The NCAA investigation began in 2001; OU did not receive the official notice of inquiry until May 2004.
Sampson, who took the Indiana job last month, is scheduled along with OU officials to meet with the NCAA committee on infractions committee on Friday in Park City, Utah. There, they will be questioned about allegations of more than 550 impermissible telephone calls to 17 recruits from 2000-04. According to transcripts of interviews obtained under terms of the state’s open records law, Sampson said Sutton approached him in an airport and informed him that then-assistant Ray Lopes had made an improper phone call to speak to juniors in a hotel room during a summer tournament.
Sampson also said then-SMU coach Mike Dement had informed him of a rules violation involving then-OU assistant Jim Shaw.
Eddie Sutton, who has taken a leave of absence while facing DUI charges related to a car accident, was not available for comment. But his son, OSU interim coach Sean Sutton, acknowledged his father’s conversation with Sampson.
“We had some concerns what was going on with some phone calls that had been going on during the summer,” Sean Sutton said Wednesday. “I know my dad had a conversation with Kelvin to address those concerns. We were told Kelvin was not aware of those things taking place, that he would address it and it would not be an issue in the future.”
Although Sampson said Eddie Sutton approached him only once, he said “Oklahoma State turned us in on a bunch of stuff, I know that.’ And he said OSU coaches routinely engaged in “negative recruiting” against OU, saying among other things, they told recruits OU was a football school and OSU was a basketball school.
Sean Sutton declined comment when asked if OSU turned OU in to the NCAA. He denied OSU coaches told recruits OU was going on probation - “We never said that,” he said - and said the OSU staff had not engaged in negative recruiting.
Quick thoughts:
When did Kelvin Sampson turn into such a whiner? And why is Sampson so concerned about OSU's Drunk. (Yeah, I know, these are just documents from the investigation, and presumably Sampson must tell investigators all that he knows, but still).
The Drunk's son is absolutely not believable when he says that OSU coaches don't engage in negative recruiting. Come on now. Everyone does.
That said, Oklahoma is a football school, and the women's basketball program outdrew the men at points last season at OU. That's not negative recruiting. That's just reality.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/20/06 08:39 | Sports | Technorati
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