This is a big catch for a program that needs a big boost...IU Illini rivalry should become very interesting in the next few years. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061013/SPORTS0601/61013028 Interesting times ahead for the Hoosiers! Matt in INdy
Wow a big time recruit like that changing commits from one conference member to another...that doesn't happen very often. I'll be Illinois fans are pissed.
Matt, Glad to see you back at the Skybox! Nice catch indeed. What is your take on Sampson? (Obviously he can recruit) Don
Don, As a Hoosier resident, I'll try to answer that. There seems to be excitement, despite his spanking by the NCAA. I'm mildly surprised that the media is so non-judgemental. In any case, he is charismatic, and you can see by listening to him how he can motivate his players. Indiana fans have been starved for the consistent success they enjoyed under the General until his last 5 or so years. They had flashes under Davis, a la the final game a few years back, but overall the program has not lived up to IU standards. IU has pinned its hopes on Sampson and the fans are following suit.
Boy, I don't know much about these things, but the Purdue boards are lit up over this...they feel that Sampson has violated some unwritten recruiting policies in the B10 by stealing this guy, and though legal, this was unethical and they are thinking that this may make Sampson a pariah among B10 coaches...
Purdue complaining about IU. What a surprise. I cheer for both schools. Dad was a Purdue alum, and Purdue was my favorite team as a kid. However, my wife and one daughter are IU alums, and my son got his law degree from IU, so I lean more in that direction. I don't know what the facts are, but until I hear that story from an objective source, I won't give it much credibility.
Don, While I try and finish watching Michigan finish PsU...they believe they can come up with one more big play...won't happen! My feel with Sampson is that he was not the right hire, they could come up with a couple of decent seasons but I think he will be run out just like Davis. Although, now that he grabbed Eric Gordon, this will certainly help him capture in-state talent that has Hoosier fans really grumbling because of what has left this state the last couple of years. Now the word out of North Central High School and the local radio is that when Sampson was named head coach, it was the Gordons who contacted IU and re-opened those lines of communication, and the unethical argument goes right out the window...but the ones who really know what happened with Eric changing his mind are the Gordons themselves. Well it looks like Michigan...with the loss to Florida should be move to #2. The Tigers going back to the World Series, not a bad day! Matt in INdy
Sid & Matt, Thanks for your thoughts. It will be interesting to see how this all pans out over the next several years. Looks like the Hoosiers will be competitive again though in my mind. Don
IU <r>Purdue complaining about the recruiting process for an IU recruit! LOLROTF!!!!!! <E>:lol:</E> I love it! Go Hoosiers!</r>
Tim (and Sid)...thanks for the kind comments. Please list out all of the unethical recruiting that Gene Keady and Matt Painter have done...it will be a pretty fricking short list. I posted that for informational purposes because that's what I'm reading. Getting away from the Purdue fans perspective, since that seems so biased to you totally objective Domers, here is an article from the Sun Times regarding the whole slimy affair. Please note that Mr. Sampson has hired Gordon's father's former college coach and possibly is also hiring Gordon's AAU coach. To the slimy go the spoils Indiana's Sampson better at game than Illini's Weber October 15, 2006 BY GREG COUCH Sun-Times Columnist The saga of Eric Gordon, one of the consensus top three high school players in the country, is finally over. He has backed out of his commitment to the University of Illinois and made a new one to Indiana University. And we all know what they say about a man and his word. This is devastating for Illini coach Bruce Weber. You have to wonder whether he has what it takes to land a major big-time player. And it's going to be life-altering news to the Illinois fans who have filled the chatrooms for months, calling Hoosiers coach Kelvin Sampson dirty names, Gordon a liar and the people from Indiana the great unwashed. Indiana fans have fought back in their own chatrooms in a modern recruiting rumble. I want to give my take on this thing, but first I have to wash my hands. This story does that to me. Weber wouldn't talk about Gordon as Illinois opened practice Friday. NCAA rules prohibit him from talking now about specific recruits, so he said he would ''talk about recruiting somewhere down the road.'' He equated the start of practice with ''having a real life.'' Yes, this Gordon thing was surreal. It was about two grown basketball coaches and thousands of grown basketball fans fighting over a child, begging him, pleading, praying. We know it's wrong to go so overboard about our kids, and we get this message all the time when the kids crumble. Really, though, how are the Illini going to survive without him? While at dinner once with the late and legendary college coach Jack Hartman, I asked him why he had retired when he did. Turned out, he couldn't bring himself, a grown man, to go into a kid's living room to beg anymore. It was just too demeaning. In the 10 years or so since then, times have changed, and the begging has taken in modern technology. Here's what it came down to with : This is a dirty, slimy, scummy business, and it takes a dirty, slimy, scummy coach to succeed. Sampson won the battle. And when I said Weber might not have what it takes for this stuff, that wasn't entirely an insult. Weber is going to have a hard time getting past this. He has been fighting this whole hayseed thing ever since he got to Illinois. He spent too many years as an assistant at Purdue and as the head coach at Southern Illinois to be seen as a big-timer. Illini basketball is always one step behind the true elite. It's frustrating. And while I never understood the infatuation with Bill Self, the Illini nation thought it had a hero in him because of his smooth image and ESPN appearances. It seemed devastating when he left and worse when he was replaced by a guy from Carbondale. Stupid stuff, but fans didn't believe in Weber and players didn't listen. It helped when he got to the national championship game in 2005, but he was doing it with Self's players, right? Self, by the way, never would have taken those players that far. Weber still can't entirely get past this. He needed a statement, and that was Gordon. Land the biggest of big fish, and others would follow. Gordon's commitment to Illinois was Weber's ticket. But it was a non-binding, oral commitment. And then Indiana hired Sampson, who immediately ran to his phone to ask Gordon to reconsider. The fight was between Sampson and Weber. And Sampson proved to be the better man. When I say ''better,'' I'm saying he was more effective in the dirty, slimy, scummy world. I'm not sure Weber has the inner dirtbag for this kind of stuff. And if he doesn't, then Illinois will suffer. Weber is a good man and a good coach, and that just doesn't sell. I have to wash my hands again. These early oral commitments have developed over the years as a way of helping kids get through all the daily phone calls, e-mails or text messages -- 50 a day, 100 a day -- and get back to the usual teenage stuff to worry about. And in came Sampson, fresh to a new job after leaving Oklahoma in trouble for his dirty recruiting scandal. There is no battle with the inner dirtbag for Sampson. While with the Sooners, he had been busted by the NCAA for making phone calls to recruits when rules prohibited it. How many calls? Not five. Not 10. Two hundred thirty-three. He built his teams -- and his name -- on cheating. His success at Oklahoma led to the Indiana job, one of the truly elite jobs. The Hoosiers knew what they were getting. They know he knows how to play the game. This is what he said when the NCAA ruled against him: ''I have learned an invaluable lesson, and I hope that this reinforces to other coaches the importance of every aspect of NCAA compliance.'' I have to wash my hands. Sampson was punished, too. He can't make phone calls to recruits or make off-campus visits. How long do you think it took him to realize that text messages were the way around the ban? So he hired Gordon's dad's college coach as an assistant. Then he is said to have hired Gordon's AAU coach in some capacity that allowed him to slip around rules limiting contact with players. Sampson earned this. You know, Gordon apparently has found this whole thing upsetting. And if Weber thought about it, he would realize the official signing date hasn't actually come and Gordon's ''commitment'' is still soft. Meanwhile, the kid is a little vulnerable. But I doubt Weber will think that through. He's not the right man for that.
Whoa hiring the kids Dad and AAU coach? Who is this kid Danny Manning? I'm going to go wash my hands. Terry
Whoa, Stu. What did I say that warrants your sarcastic response? I said nothing disrespectful toward Purdue. I never would. I said it was no surprise that Purdue people were complaining about IU, which is a "insert two state rival schools here" kind of comment. And I characterized the Purdue assertions as not objective. I did not say they were untrue. I simply said that I needed to hear more from an objective source. The Chicago sportswriter hardly qualifies. Let me reiterate my respect for all that Purdue stands for, including the legacy of Gene Keady and the new coach, Matt Painter. Maybe you should dip your rear end into a bucket of ice water to take out some of the redness.
Sid, It was more of a gut response to Tim. Shoulda left your name off it. I apologize for including you but I'm staying out of the ice water for now. Maybe I misread it, but it seemed like he was saying the pot was calling the kettle black. I didn't really expect to get two separate comments about Purdue bias, one of which seemed to maybe imply recruiting misdeeds...I don't really spend a lot of time thinking anti-Indiana thoughts. Matt brought this topic up and others commented on it, without mentioning any contraversy. I happen to know that there is quite a bit of contraversy so I posted about it. I also mentioned the source as a sort of qualifier. Myself, I couldn't care less if the guy plays against us as an Illini or a Hoosier. If everybody thinks this is hunky-dory it's ok with me.
I think it smells, but from what I can tell IU people think it's just sour grapes on the part of Illini fans. But I've got my own problems with the Irish BBall program and it's tribulations and Texas lost their entire starting 5 from last year plus the top backups. Talk about a young squad. ...Yikes. Besides Stu's ass won't fit in an ice bucket! Maybe an ice tub! Terry
hoosiers <t>Stu,<br/> <br/> I didn't mean to imply any anything about Purdue's recruiting, perceived or real. <br/> <br/> My comment was mearly meant as a jab at Purdue fans in general. As an IU basketball fan anything that would get a Boiler fan upset would make me happy. <br/> <br/> Hey, we got a shady coach and Ohio St. stole a couple of the best HS players in the nation who were from right down the road from Bloomington! I gotta find somehting to feel good about.</t>
More on this recruit...I don't totally understand all the stuff Matt Painter says in this article; Fallout from Gordon’s decision hits Big Ten meeting By Lindsey Willhite Daily Herald Sports Writer Posted Monday, October 30, 2006 For the first time since prep All-American guard Eric Gordon switched allegiances from Illinois to Indiana on Oct. 13, Bruce Weber and Kelvin Sampson found themselves in the same room Sunday. Weber, Sampson and the rest of the Big Ten’s coaches kicked around hot issues during an 8 a.m. meeting that preceded the league’s annual media confab. Judging by appearances, Weber resisted the urge to kick around Sampson. However, Weber revealed his plan to make contact with Sampson when Indiana visits Illinois on Jan. 23. “I shake everybody’s hand (before games),” Weber said in an uncharacteristically low voice. Gordon has yet to sign a national letter of intent, so none of the coaches could directly address the Indianapolis senior’s decision to defect to the Hoosiers after being orally committed to the Illini for more than 10 months. But several coaches discussed the issue in general terms, none of them more strongly than Purdue’s Matt Painter. Gordon’s shift served as a double whammy of sorts for Painter. Not only did Gordon ditch Weber, whom Painter considers his mentor, but he hooked up with Purdue’s biggest rival. “Obviously, there’s always going to be kids that make a decision and then change their mind,” Painter said. “Some people would say you have the right to do that. Where if a coach does that to a kid, (the coach) just gets absolutely killed. It’s not right on that end — and I agree with that. “But when (a player) does that and there’s a huge congratulations to me (for luring the player) … so we’re saying congratulations for going back on your word? Now what’s the life skill (we’re teaching)? “If you’ve really had a change of heart and something’s happened, do it. Don’t make it a soap opera. Do it. Just go to the other school. When you’ve known about it for four, five, six months and the whole world knows about it, just do it. “It’s not a big deal. Let that other guy move on. But when you let it linger and you let it hang and you do all that stuff, you just kill that other guy. Now he can’t get another player. Because they’re all gone.” Actually, in this particular instance, Gordon’s departure might clear the way for another top-10 recruit to choose Illinois. Simeon point guard Derrick Rose attended Illinois’ Orange and Blue scrimmage Friday night and stuck around for Saturday’s practice. Reggie Rose, Derrick’s brother and AAU coach, announced that his younger brother makes his college choice known at a Saturday news conference. “Right now the list is Illinois, Indiana and Memphis,” Reggie Rose told reporters Friday. No matter which school Rose chooses, he can’t affect the upcoming Big Ten race that appears to feature two prime-time teams and several others that hope to get into the mix. The media predicted Ohio State and Wisconsin to finish 1-2 in the league. Illinois won a tight race for third. Wisconsin senior Alando Tucker was named the preseason player of the year, but ballyhooed Ohio State freshman center Greg Oden made the first team alongside Iowa’s Adam Haluska, Penn State’s Geary Claxton and Indiana’s D.J. White. Ohio State hopes Oden, who underwent surgery on his right wrist last spring, will join the lineup by Jan. 1. “When he gets back, he won’t have played basketball for seven to eight months,” Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. “Right now, he can run, he can jump, he can use his left hand. He can do strength training. He’s done a tremendous job with that.”