IU Recruits Want OUT

[tornado]

Less than 48 hours after Kelvin Sampson is canned.....and here are the reports...

IU's top recruit, 5-Star Devin Ebanks.......
"Indiana signee Devin Ebanks has a clause in the letter of intent he signed with
Indiana which grants his release in case head coach Kelvin Sampson is fired or
resigns, according to a Fox Sports report. The fifth-year senior says he may
exercise that option following Sampsons resignation on Friday. "I did have
something in place that allows me to be released if Coach Sampson wasn't
there," Ebanks said. "I'm going to use that to explore other options and I still
want to wait and see who Indiana hires full-time, but I am going to talk things
over with my mother and my coaches and go from there.

"I'm disappointed," he said.
The 6-8 swingman said he'll decide whether to stay at Indiana or leave in "three weeks or so," after the season."


Their #2 recruit, Terrell Holloway......
"Point guard Terrell Holloway is expected to seek his release from the letter of
intent he signed with Indiana following the resignation of head coach Kelvin
Sampson on Friday, according to a Fox Sports report. A source close to
Holloway indicated that "he is likely to go elsewhere."

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=170#s=170&f=2353&t=2087068&p=1

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2008/02/23/2008-02-23_indiana_severs_ties_with_sampson.html

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/7831220/Sampson's-departure-just-the-start-of-tough-times

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080223/SPORTS0601/802230489

plus both Tom Pritchard and Matt Roth were quoted as saying "as long as Coach Sampson is at IU they are coming",
but now that he's gone we have heard NO SUCH RE-COMMITMENT.

Also, all the players who boycotted Friday's practice were in uniform and allowed to play on Saturday,
with some of them starting. All college coaches have rules that prohibit missing practices, and most
will penalize a player who does with cutting starts and playing time. I guess Dakich doesn't see it this
way, and is caving to the players, who barely beat a vastly undermanned Northwestern team.

[bert notorius]

I would venture a guess that Roth's LOI had no such clause.

[real fan]

This is not surprizing but good for Indiana University in knowing that this would probably happen and still make a change now rather then wait until the end of the season.

[Da Coach]

I am no expert on what anyone's LOI says, but I would have to believe that the NCAA does not allow recruits or colleges to alter, or add clauses to the standard LOI. So I don't know what Devin Ebanks signed. I suspect he is referring to the standard scholarship agreement all scholarship athletes have to sign.

[JBinPeoria]

At the Indiana Press conference on Friday night, Greenspan did acknowledge that two of the recruits had clauses in their LOI or some signed contract that allowed them to be released in the event of 1) there is a change in coach, or 2) there were new sanctions against the university. He also said that the university would honor these agreements. I am assuming at this point that these two players are Ebanks and Holloway.

As far as the other recruits and current players, I believe that they can ask the NCAA to be released from their deal, but there are no promises. However, there is definitely precident for the NCAA and schools themselves to allow student-athletes out of their deals when situations such as this one arise.

[shaunguth]

Also, all the players who boycotted Friday's practice were in uniform and allowed to play on Saturday,
with some of them starting. All college coaches have rules that prohibit missing practices, and most
will penalize a player who does with cutting starts and playing time. I guess Dakich doesn't see it this
way, and is caving to the players, who barely beat a vastly undermanned Northwestern team.

I have a huge problem with this. Seems the players are indeed controlling things as it just doesn't seem right they are allowed to voluntarily skip a practice with absolutely no penalty.

[brocks]

I have a huge problem with this. Seems the players are indeed controlling things as it just doesn't seem right they are allowed to voluntarily skip a practice with absolutely no penalty.

I said that in another thread and got jumped on. But it sure does point up the values at BCS destinations. At BU, if you're 30 seconds late for the bus, it leaves without you and you lose your starting spot. At IU, you can mouth off to the AD and skip a whole practice while staging a public mutiny . . . and still start the next game. I would have told DJ White to pack his bags. I've never been involved with a team where rank insubordination was tolerated.

[Braves4Life]

At IU, you can mouth off to the AD and skip a whole practice while staging a public mutiny . . . and still start the next game. I would have told DJ White to pack his bags. I've never been involved with a team where rank insubordination was tolerated.

I agree with ya Brocks. You should have heard our friend Digger Phelps go off on this the other day. He essentially said the same thing but he was SO passionate about this - saying DJ White would be gone from his team and how he did the same thing to one of his players years ago -- sent him packing to UCLA. One thing I like about Ol' Digger is he's so old school!

[shaunguth]

I said that in another thread and got jumped on. But it sure does point up the values at BCS destinations. At BU, if you're 30 seconds late for the bus, it leaves without you and you lose your starting spot. At IU, you can mouth off to the AD and skip a whole practice while staging a public mutiny . . . and still start the next game. I would have told DJ White to pack his bags. I've never been involved with a team where rank insubordination was tolerated.

What happens next time when they penalize someone that skips a practice? All this does is show that it's ok as long as a number of players decide to not show up for practice. Yeah....that makes sense!

[brebeuf1fan@iu]

I just thought I'd chime in on this since I am still lurking here. Holloway was interviewed by Peegs.com saying that he is still 100% committed to the Hoosiers, but he is wanting to talk to all of the coaches before he makes a final decision. He said Ebanks feels the same way. He is still committed to IU, but wants to talk to Dakich et. al. before he makes a final decision.

To all those ripping current players for skipping practice I'd encourage you to do a bit more research. Dakich agreed to let the players choose whether they came to practice or not at an 11:45 am meeting on Friday when the players were finally told 100% that Sampson would not be returning. There was never a threat of a "boycott" like the media led everyone to believe. All players let Dakich know that they would be at the walkthrough Friday night and would be on the team bus Saturday morning for the game at NU.

I'd also say to remember that in the end these are 18-22 year olds and as someone who is similar to them in age I can completely understand where they are coming from. Sampson was so much more than just a basketball coach to them. He was a father figure for many of them and helped many of them improve their games tremendously. Before you rush to judgement I'd ask you to put yourselves in their position at the same age and see how you would react.

[Da Coach]

How can Holloway and Ebanks be 100% committed to IU if they had some sort of clause put into their commitment papers that allows them to get out if the coach leaves.

That proves they were never 100% committed to IU, but to Kelvin Sampson.

[shaunguth]

I just thought I'd chime in on this since I am still lurking here. Holloway was interviewed by Peegs.com saying that he is still 100% committed to the Hoosiers, but he is wanting to talk to all of the coaches before he makes a final decision. He said Ebanks feels the same way. He is still committed to IU, but wants to talk to Dakich et. al. before he makes a final decision.

To all those ripping current players for skipping practice I'd encourage you to do a bit more research. Dakich agreed to let the players choose whether they came to practice or not at an 11:45 am meeting on Friday when the players were finally told 100% that Sampson would not be returning. There was never a threat of a "boycott" like the media led everyone to believe. All players let Dakich know that they would be at the walkthrough Friday night and would be on the team bus Saturday morning for the game at NU.

I'd also say to remember that in the end these are 18-22 year olds and as someone who is similar to them in age I can completely understand where they are coming from. Sampson was so much more than just a basketball coach to them. He was a father figure for many of them and helped many of them improve their games tremendously. Before you rush to judgement I'd ask you to put yourselves in their position at the same age and see how you would react.

Not sure about others, but I don't believe I have "ripped" the players for skipping practice. If they were indeed allowed to skip practice, then so be it. However, this is the first I've heard of that so it obviously had no bearing on my stance that players that voluntarily skip practice should not be able to play again without some kind of penalty/punishment.

[brebeuf1fan@iu]

How can Holloway and Ebanks be 100% committed to IU if they had some sort of clause put into their commitment papers that allows them to get out if the coach leaves.

That proves they were never 100% committed to IU, but to Kelvin Sampson.

It is a common clause put in many top players LOIs. Granted much of what Holloway is saying could be lip service and if he doesn't want to commit to IU then I don't want him here. However I am also willing to let them talk it over with the remaining staff and go from there. Roth and Pritchard don't have those clauses in their LOIs though that much I know. So there isn't much for them to comment on.

Shaunguth, if the threat of a boycott was ever as imminent as ESPN and some other outlets were reporting I would agree that at the very least the starters who skipped practice should have been benched to start the game. However under the circumstances I am willing to grant them a grace period (which is now over) to lick their wounds and move on.

This IU team has shown a tremendous amount of heart over the past week. As a fan I could not be more proud of the current players we have. They have represented IU to the best of their abilities and have played under incredible stress. They earned the right IMO as an IU fan and student to take that time off on Friday afternoon to grieve (can't think of a better way to say it) over the loss of their coach.

[Da Coach]

brebeuf1fan,

I like Indiana, my son went there, they have a ton of my money, and many other close friends and associates are IU fans. So please don't think I am one who would ever bash IU. But I think you are too close to IU and too big a fan to be objective. I have listened for the past 4-5 months to my friends and family who are also huge IU fans as they have brushed off the NCAA investigation, the cheating charges, the Gordon recruiting fiasco, and more. I have heard how this is all a witch hunt, a minor infraction, and nothing will ever come of it. I have heard it is a vendetta by Miles Brand, a witch hunt by the infractions committee, or that it has been driven by other jealous Big Ten coaches who couldn't stand that Sampson was outrecruiting them.

In fact I haven't met an IU fan that was realistic to accept any of these events, or put the blame where it really belongs.

[Da Coach]

By the way, FoxSports is reporting that "A source close to Holloway indicated that "he is likely to go elsewhere.""

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/briefingroom?playerId=42809