Ten years ago this month, after Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson was accused of making impermissible phone calls to recruits, the No. 12 Hoosiers allowed Sampson to coach on a “game to game basis” as it investigated the charges.
Fans booed Sampson in a close loss to Wisconsin, and then, after rallying to beat No. 10 Michigan State and No. 14 Purdue, stormed the court, shouting “Kelvin Sampson! Kelvin Sampson!”
Two days later, IU accepted Sampson’s resignation and paid him $750,000 to leave.
“There wasn’t a great appetite on either party’s side to be involved in potentially contentious litigation,” IU athletic director Rick Greenspan said. “We are going to move forward.”
The Hoosiers then went 3-4 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Unless UA President Robert C. Robbins was unexpectedly granted access to FBI records over the weekend — clearing up any doubt — the future of Sean Miller as Arizona’s basketball coach has similarly been reduced to attorney versus attorney. Miller has been away from the program since Saturday in a decision the UA and coach said was mutual.
It comes down to two things: Does Robbins believe Miller? Is he willing to accept the consequences of keeping Miller — potential NCAA sanctions and a two- or three-year recruiting storm in which the Wildcats lose their basketball relevance, and potentially millions of dollars in ticket sales and donations locally?
The outcome of this legal showdown makes an Arizona-UCLA game come off as Go Fish.
It has become a Don Henley song:
“Offer up your best defense
“But this is the end
“This is the end of the innocence.”
Can the UA and Miller continue their partnership when there is so much uncertainty?
Beyond Deandre Ayton’s eligibility, does Sean Miller truly wish to remain Arizona’s basketball coach beyond March, at which time the UA roster seems certain to take on the look of Cal and Washington State? Or does he just want to get paid, try to clear his name, and then take a job at, say, UConn or Pitt?
Does the UA believe Miller did not engage in a conversation about paying an agent $100,000 to help recruit Deandre Ayton?
Does it believe he doesn’t associate with those in the “underbelly” of recruiting?
Does it believe he isn’t hiding anything about possible NCAA infractions?
And, finally, does Robbins believe Miller’s support in the community has fractured to the point that it’s better to move on and start over with a new coach the way Indiana did by hiring Tom Crean in 2008?
The only thing that makes Arizona’s basketball program work is winning. It wasn’t Lute Olson’s good looks that filled those seats.
Fred Snowden was a historic figure in Tucson, the first to fire up McKale Center.
He had a TV show, starred in TV commercials, put Arizona on the map. But when the winning stopped, the UA ran him off the stage.
Given the likely exodus of those Wildcats with eligibility remaining, it’s not inconceivable Arizona could go 0-18 in the Pac-12 next season.
You can’t put a price tag on the public relations damage done to Arizona’s athletic program during Saturday’s UA-Oregon game on ESPN. Analyst Bill Walton said the only thing he’d seen worse in basketball was the NBA’s 2005 Detroit-Indiana brawl. ESPN’s “GameDay” analysts reduced Miller and his program to rubble.
A typical Saturday night ESPN college basketball telecast draws about 2.3 million viewers.
The UA also came off poorly by not immediately rallying to Ayton’s defense. Ayton’s family, through an attorney, declared he was not part of a $100,000 illegal payment. An outside counsel hired by Arizona sent a statement to the Star and others on Sunday, vouching for the freshman.
Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Kentucky’s John Calipari and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo all spoke out, defending their players mentioned in connection to the FBI investigation.
Can you imagine what parents of UA recruits and future recruits, such as Shaquille O’Neal, thought? The UA didn’t testify on Ayton’s behalf. It was in the lead-up to the UA-Oregon game that Shaq’s son, Shareef, withdrew his commitment to play for Arizona.
The UA didn’t control the story, Bill Walton and Shaq O’Neal did. That was far worse than losing to the Ducks.
Now it’s down to the attorneys and to the intuition of Robbins. At some point, soon, Arizona has to make a stand.
Since September’s FBI bust, the UA has been playing defense, playing not to lose. It’s time for the school to play to win again.
