OU's Troubles

[ORUTerry]

There was a very interesting article today in the Tulsa World about OU's current NCAA predicament. It is interetsing to see how Sampson's coaching lineage has been consistently bad - and prone to violating the rules. Looks like Hoffman (who seems to be a good guy - and someone ORU looked closely at before hiring Scott Sutton) is getting caught up in the backwash by his association with Sampson. Interesting that Sampson appears to have thrown him under the bus.

Here is the article:

Sampson's sins give Capel OK for choosiness

By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Writer

4/27/2006

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Often lost in the ongoing uproar over three Oklahoma basketball recruits requesting a release from their letters of intent was the wise decision by new Sooner coach Jeff Capel to go slow in naming his staff.

Hired April 11, Capel's only hire thus far is Mark Cline, who was on his staff at Virginia Commonwealth. With two full-time slots still open, Capel said again this week that he won't focus on his staff until the spring recruiting period ends Sunday.

Why is Capel's methodical approach prudent? That can be vividly answered by a scene that played out recently in Park City, Utah.

It looked like a reunion of former OU coaches last Friday inside the Park City Marriott Hotel. Capel's predecessor, Kelvin Sampson, was there. So were three of Sampson's former assistants, Ray Lopes, Jim Shaw and Bob Hoffman.

That coaching foursome wasn't in the scenic resort city to play a round of golf. There were ordered there by the NCAA, to meet with the Infractions Committee about impermissible telephone calls they made to recruits while they worked at OU.

The message that scene should send to Capel is simple and obvious: Be careful who you hire; those decisions could come back to haunt you and embarrass the university you represent.

Hoffman really shouldn't be included with the other three rule-breakers. OU officials have insisted from the outset that Hoffman didn't knowingly break the NCAA rule on the number of times a coach can call a prospect per week.

It was Sampson, Lopes and Shaw who made the majority of the more than 550 impermissible calls over a four-year period. Amazingly, Lopes and Shaw evidently didn't learn from their mistakes at OU.

Lopes left the Sooners in 2002 to become head coach at Fresno State. Lopes was forced to resign late in his third season after he and his staff made 457 impermissible calls to recruits.

That precise number was revealed Wednesday when the NCAA handed down its punishment to Fresno State for the violations by Lopes and his staff. The NCAA's decision should be of keen interest to OU, as the school must now wait up to two months for the NCAA to release its decision on sanctions for violations which are similar to Fresno State's.

The NCAA placed Fresno State on four years probation and also slapped a three-year show-cause penalty on Lopes. That means Lopes, who is a scout for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, must appeal to the NCAA if he wants to accept an unrestricted college coaching job over the next three years. His prospective employer must make a similar appeal.

Shaw, now an assistant at Washington, was on Sampson's staff from 1999-2004. When Washington officials learned that Shaw was under NCAA investigation for his activities at OU, they did an internal investigation and discovered Shaw had continued violating the rule after he joined the Huskies' staff.

The athletic directors at Indiana and Washington also attended last Friday's meeting because they now employ Sampson and Shaw. The ADs know it's possible that the NCAA sanctions could follow Sampson and Shaw to where they work now.

Indiana AD Rick Greenspan, who made the controversial decision to hire Sampson, told the Associated Press before the meeting, "to be honest with you, and I think Kelvin would tell you this, too, we'd rather not be there. But that's what I signed up for, so I'll do it."

Sampson would never tell anyone this, but his hiring record at OU was miserable.

In addition to Lopes, two other assistants who left to become head coaches didn't last long. Jason Rabideaux was forced out at Texas-El Paso for personal reasons, and Jimmy Tubbs was fired by SMU last month after two seasons, allegedly for NCAA rules violations.

Not all of Sampson's assistants, of course, have gone the way of Lopes, Shaw, Tubbs and Rabideaux. Hoffman remains one of the best and most popular on Sampson's shaky coaching tree at OU.

Hoffman remains hopeful Capel will retain him. If that doesn't happen, Sampson reportedly could be a reason why. Sources have confirmed that when Sampson left for Indiana, he didn't give Hoffman a glowing recommendation when he left his loyal assistant behind.

Given Sampson's woeful hiring record, a negative recommendation from him should be considered a positive on Hoffman's resume.

Perhaps Capel's slow approach in the hiring process will give him enough time to realize how valuable Hoffman could be to him. Hoffman is well connected in both Oklahoma and Texas because he's coached and recruited in both states.

Whatever direction Capel goes, he knows the importance of his decisions. OU's fragile basketball program can't stand anymore hits, especially from the NCAA.

[tmh8286]

Wherever he ends up, Hoffman will likely land on his feet. He always has before. It's unfortunate that, at least for the short term, his good name will be tarnished by association.

[ORUTerry]

What are the chances that OU (Capel) will come after Corey Williams - especially given our (his) recent recruiting successes? They could throw a lot more money at him than we can.

[tmh8286]

It's a pretty good possiblility - and from what I've heard, Corey is distinctly aware of it.

[vcboy2000]

I would have Michael Jordan himself (an adamant hater of anything Dook and Cory's old teammate with the Bulls) call Cory, and pay him to stay off of Capel's staff.

[Guest darrenjj]

OU is the last school you have to worry about on the "CLOSER", but he does a great job getting the kids that he does!! Any school would be lucky to have the staff that ORU does. You would think i would at least get an ORU t-shirt for being the publicity guy for the "CLOSER"!!

[Gold*]

Why Indiana hired Sampson, I'll never know.

Barf Hoffman is a nice guy, but TU fans at least cringed when Bill Haisten kept referencing Hoffman as a leader for the TU job. In reality, our AD wouldn't talk to the World after the hatchet job from Sittler when JP resigned.

What really irks me is that OU will get a slap on the wrist, while Fresno gets something close to the death penalty. Granted, I likely hate Fresno more than any other program -- but I feel their fans deserve a better deal. They actually really got behind their school to improve facilities for basketball, and, while sort of rough, are at least an entertaining bunch.

[ORUTerry]

Gold mentioned something that struck me from reading this article. Fresno State is getting sanctions for the telephone calls Lopes made over the limit, while OU and Sampson appear to be headed for just a wrist slap. Interesting that the two penalties appear to be so different. Makes you wonder....

Especially since Sampson made some of the calls himself - as head coach. And, some of the phone calls were made to high school juniors and sophomores.... another no-no.

[vcboy2000]

Fresno's history doesn't help them in this situation either. It's like those two kids that got arrested for boosting a car. One had a wrap sheet a mile long and had the book thrown at him, while the other just got probation because it was his first offense.

[Gold*]

OU doesn't have a rap sheet? I realize it was the 80's, but man, probation stung them well into the late 90's for football. Granted, Fresno likely deserves a lot of what they'll get as they were blatantly the dirtiest program of the last few years.

How much of the rap sheet at Fresno pre-Lopes was the mere involvement of Tarkanion? How much of the probation on OU was the involvement of Switzer (and the lawsuit against the NCAA over tv rights)?

Whatever the case, I think the NCAA's process for handing out penalties for major rule violations is inconsistent and detrimental to the strength of college of athletics. Watch OU, Ohio State, and USC all go unpunished for their recent shenanigans in football while Fresno gets the axe in basketball.