IU basketball

So obviously Indiana basketball has taken a prominent place, for all the wrong reasons, in the news as of late. I find it so funny in the world of college athletics, which is a multi-billion dollar industry, impermissible phone calls are such a big deal. There is so much pressure to win, especially at a top-tier program like Indiana. The pressure is even greater because IU is the only school in the Big Ten that makes more money off of its basketball program than it does off of its football program. This is important because men’s basketball and football programs have to make a lot of money or other athletic programs like baseball, golf, or any female athletics program would have to be marginalized.

I am not saying that what Coach Sampson did was right or that he shouldn’t be fired for it. I’m just saying there must be a lot of pressure on a coach to land that next big recruit to make sure the program remains at the top, which in turn keeps it profitable. There also has to be a little bit of irony with Indiana (along with every major university) demanding that, not just coaches, but players be held to such a high standard of ethics, when the university literally makes millions of dollars off the interests fans have in watching their talents on television. But, on the other hand, Indiana uses that money to help other college athletes achieve their dreams. Indiana is a great university that has always had a very high standard of not just athletic, but academic excellence which, in part, comes from operating under very high ethical standards. And I don’t doubt that the school will make the right decision.

I just wish that Indiana was in the news for some reason other than the alleged recruiting violations that the school is currently facing.