Rick Greenspan to step down at conclusion of calendar year

Indiana University Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan announced today that he would step down from his position at the end of the\ncalendar year. \n“This has been a very difficult time, and I am aware that I have become the focus of criticism, which will continue to distract Indiana University from its core educational mission,” Greenspan said in a press release. “Consequently, I believe a new person will be in a stronger position to lead IU Athletics moving forward and it is in IU’s best interests for me to stand down.”\nGreenspan’s resignation comes the same day the NCAA announced a sixth allegation against the men’s basketball program, claiming IU failed to monitor the program’s compliance to NCAA rules. The specific terms of the allegation include IU not complying with its own self-imposed corrective action as well as standard NCAA rules.\nGreenspan said today at a press conference that it was time to make a change.\n“It’s a difficult decision, but not one that I regret in any way,” Greenspan said in a press conference Thursday evening at the Hoosier Room underneath Memorial Stadium.\nMcRobbie accepted Greenspan’s decision to step down and praised Greenspan for his accomplishments as director of athletics.\n“It is common knowledge that IU athletics had significant financial difficulties before Rick took over,” McRobbie said in a statement. “He has focused attention in the department to correcting that situation and today our athletics finances are substantially improved and IU’s athletics department is now on stable ground financially.”\nIU’s president was prepared to fight the school’s most recent NCAA accusation.\n“I am extremely disappointed with this additional allegation by the Committee on Infractions,” IU President Michael McRobbie said in a statement. “I believe our compliance program worked, and have remained steadfast since I first learned of this situation in my belief that Rick Greenspan and the compliance staff did their job. We uncovered the violations, perhaps not immediately, but the appropriate behavior was uncovered, reported promptly and investigated thoroughly.”\nThe press conference was not altogether a somber affair.\nWhen asked if he would anything different in during his tenure, Greenspan responded, jokingly, “I probably would have been a fitness instructor.”\nWhen asked if he would have hired Kelvin Sampson again, Greenspan said, “That’s an easy question that doesn’t really merit an answer. If we spend all of our time looking in the rear-view mirror, I don’t think we spend time looking in the windshield seeing what’s ahead. I see that answer is self-evident, but I think it behooves us as an institution and, certainly, me to look forward. I think it’s regrettable, extremely regrettable that the actions of a few have brought such disappointment to so many.”\nGreenspan said staying at IU until the end of 2008 will help McRobbie with finding a permanent replacement without going through a successor.\n“I’m extremely disappointed I’m only going to get to work with him for another six months,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “As the basketball coach, be able to help him every step as we go forward in his six months and also be side by side with the president and his team as we fight this vigorously. \n“We’re not going to change our stance whatsoever in our building the program. We are rebuilding a team, we are certainly rebuilding a culture inside that team, but we are not rebuilding a program at all... We obviously have to get through some hurdles. And this is one of them. But we’re building for the long haul and that’s exactly the stance we’re going to take with our current team, with our recruits for the future and everybody else we come in contact with.”