Posted by
Ed Lilly on Thursday, February 14, 2008 10:02:06 PM
The news out of Bloomington, Indiana, continues to swirl around what may happen to Indiana University men's head basketball coach Kelvin Sampson. The latest story this evening indicates University officials are exploring their options, and of course one of the big factors in their deliberations is going to be how much it may cost them under the various scenarios.
From the story:
According to the contract signed in April 2006, Indiana pays Sampson an annual base salary of $500,000. With five years left on the deal, the cost could reach at least $2.5 million.
Sampson's deal includes termination clauses for violations of university or NCAA rules that eliminate the payments. Attorneys, however, have differing views on whether the accusations, which include providing false or misleading information to investigators, would allow Indiana to fire Sampson with cause and get off the financial hook.
Athletic director Rick Greenspan acknowledged Wednesday these are only allegations since the NCAA has not yet made a ruling, and the distinction could be important.
"It (the contract) talks about significant, intentional or repetitive violations, so the question becomes when does it become a violation?" said Indianapolis attorney Stephen Backer, a former trustee at Indiana who works in contractual law. "That's the issue. I'm sure that's what they're meeting about today."
Hiring a coach who has already run afoul of NCAA recruiting regulations means it would have probably been malpractice for any lawyer for IU not getting a termination clause in Sampson's contract. That said, it sounds from this description of the contract that the University's lawyers didn't exactly go the mattresses to protect the school from Sampson turning out to be every bit the weasel he had been in Oklahoma.
Let's apply some common sense. Your hiring someone who will receive potentially the highest salary for any employee paid by the taxpayers of the state of Indiana. This may have come up on my blog before, but if not, then it's probably something I've heard discussed on sports radio, but there are many states where the highest paid taxpayer funded salary goes to a university football or basketball coach. Think Florida, Georgia, Texas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and most likely Indiana. Head coaches of big time programs make a lot of coin. Sampson's base salary is $500K. No way Indiana's governor gets that kind of salary.
So, you need to get this contract done, but the guy you're bringing in has some baggage. He's been nabbed by the NCAA for recruiting violations in his previous position, something that has never happened in your lifetime for the Indiana basketball program. You want to make sure that program continues to be one of the premier programs in the country. You want to protect it and make sure that, if this new guy screws up and sullies the name by getting in trouble with the NCAA, he's gone.
With that in mind, I would hope you give the University maximum flexibility to drop the hammer if they need to. You don't just say "violations of NCAA rules" can trigger the termination clause and hope for the best. You consider the NCAA investigative process and how charges are handled. Not just any allegation that winds up in the NCAA's files is enough. But if the NCAA winds up sending a letter to the University outlining major recruiting violations under the new coach, then the University has the OPTION to kick him to the curb. Not every contingency can be foreseen, but there is certainly enough precedence with NCAA investigations for the University and its lawyers to know how the system works and how they would want to structure a contract provision so that they can axe a coach before the NCAA investigation has completely run its course.
This should be simple. But now it's going to get messy and complicated because that's how lawyers make their money. And the Indiana taxpayers can now see their money thrown away not only potentially to a possibly corrupt and none-too-bright coach, but also the lawyers for the University as they have to slog through the NCAA investigation caused by that coach and the fight over whether the University can fire the coach. It sounds more and more like this is going to be a long, slow decline that leads up to Sampson's termination from IU. Hoosier fans better start thinking about reputable, winning replacement candidates soon.