IU docks itself 2 additional scholarships for 2008-09

The mass exodus of men’s basketball players since the end of last season has helped lead IU to drop two scholarships for the 2008-09 season, said Director of Athletics Media Relations J.D. Campbell.\nThis action leaves the team with just 10 scholarships instead of the usual 13 scholarships for the upcoming season. The University already took away one scholarship as part of its self-imposed penalties stemming from allegations of rules violations by former coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff.\n“We will take contemporaneous penalties pro-actively this year for upcoming ‘07-08 numbers and we don’t anticipate further penalties going forward,” Associate Athletics Director for Student Development and Compliance Grace Calhoun said in a statement.\nGrade reports are based upon individual team’s Academic Progress Rate report. APR measures the progress and graduation of players and is averaged over a four-year period. Teams who fail to reach a certain measure can be punished by the NCAA. IU failed to meet the threshold this year, but avoided punishment for academic improvement last year.\nUnder the APR system, scores are calculated each semester. The system assigns up to two points for each scholarship athlete on the team: one point for remaining academically eligible, and a second point for not transferring to another school.\nThe Hoosiers had seven nongraduating players depart – Eric Gordon left for the NBA draft and another six were either kicked off the team, transferred or graduated. It was uncertain how many of those players made grades and were academically eligible when they left Bloomington, but the mere fact that players transferred lost the Hoosiers points on IU’s APR.\nFirst-year coach Tom Crean, who replaced Sampson in April, has nine players on scholarship this season. Junior forward Kyle Taber is the only returning scholarship player. Crean said in a press conference Wednesday that he is unlikely to add another scholarship player for the coming season unless a talented big-man became available.\n“Coach Crean’s academic record at Marquette with an APR of 951 and the fact that all 26 seniors who exhausted their eligibility graduated is an example of why we feel confident in his leadership on the court and in the classroom,” Calhoun said in a statement.\nThe loss of scholarships may not be over for the Hoosiers as the NCAA issued a “failure to monitor” allegation June 26. This new allegation is in addition to the five allegations of rules violations by Sampson and his staff.\nThe new allegation could push back a final decision because the University has the chance to respond in writing or request another hearing. The uncertainty surrounding a final outcome in the case could hurt future recruiting classes.