McRobbie praises Greenspan for 'doing his job'

IU President Michael McRobbie praised IU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan at a Friday press conference for the athletic department’s efforts in uncovering infractions committed by IU men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and members of his coaching staff.\n“I would like to note that we have arrived at this painful situation because the athletics director and his compliance staff did their job,” McRobbie said. “They diligently monitored recruiting operations within the men's basketball program and quickly and fully reported the irregularities they found.”\nThe NCAA sent IU a list of allegations against Sampson and the IU program for Sampson’s violation of sanctions he received for making impermissible phone calls when he was the head coach at Oklahoma. The sanctions followed Sampson to IU.\nAn intern in the athletics department discovered a strange pattern of recruiting calls during a routine auditing process. The discovery launched an internal investigation by the University and its legal counsel, Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller.\n“The system Indiana University has established for enforcing compliance worked, and I take confidence in that,” McRobbie said.\nMcRobbie’s endorsement of Greenspan seemingly ended any speculation that Greenspan could lose his job. Greenspan hired Sampson in March 2006 while Sampson was being investigated by the NCAA. The decision to hire a coach under NCAA investigation drew criticism, but Greenspan defended Sampson, saying the program would follow all NCAA rules.\nBeyond his endorsement, McRobbie appointed Greenspan to head an investigation into the latest NCAA report. Greenspan has seven days to respond to McRobbie and offer recommendations on what to do with Sampson.\n“I am announcing that I have directed the athletics director to oversee an immediate investigation of these new allegations and make an assessment as to whether they are credible and accurate,” McRobbie said.