The glory of old IU?

Tom Crean likes to characterize IU’s tradition with a simple phrase: “It’s Indiana.”
Why did the new men’s basketball coach take a turmoil-ridden job with IU? Because it’s Indiana. How are you going to sell recruits on becoming Hoosiers? Well, it’s Indiana.

But does ‘Indiana’ mean what it used to?
The school’s performance in the Big Ten since 2001 would indicate it does not. Of the 11 schools in the Big Ten, IU has won the ninth-fewest team conference  championships since 2001. The Hoosiers’ 10 titles rank ahead only of Iowa (nine) and Purdue (eight). The first-place school, Michigan, has 41.

The last three years have been particularly tough competitively for the IU Athletics Department, winning only three Big Ten championships in that span. The men’s basketball team – the program the athletic department hangs its hat on – hasn’t won a Big Ten championship since 2002, when it won the regular season title in a three-way tie. In contrast, during the peak of IU basketball from 1973 to 1983, the Hoosiers won seven Big Ten titles.

In football, by far college athletics’ largest revenue earner and most popular sport, IU hasn’t been tops in the conference since 1967.

So why have the Hoosiers struggled so mightily in competition during the last couple of years? We’ll take a look at some of the challenges the athletic department’s faced.

Dollars and ‘Sense’
Without a top-notch football program, the athletic department has always struggled to compensate financially. Even if the Hoosiers were to sell out Memorial Stadium (capacity: 49,225) on Saturdays, which is rarely done, they would still be short of the average attendance at a Big Ten football game by 20,000 fans.

In total, the Hoosiers have 24 sports and 640 student athletes, about the average size for a Big Ten school. But IU has the distinction of spending the least per sport per year ($2,130,188 per year) of any school in the conference. Ohio State, which has 34 sports, spends $3,394,118 per sport.

After presenting what could be called  the athletic department’s “state of the union” address to the school’s board of trustees Thursday, IU Athletics Director Rick Greenspan said operating under a small budget can be  tricky.

“It makes decisions in some cases more challenging, because we’re not going to solve all of our problems with money,” Greenspan said in an interview with the Indiana Daily Student. “Money, in itself, is not the answer. But does it enable you to retain and attract coaches who have done a good job? Does it enable you to deal with a half-million dollar increase in travel because of fuel surcharges and other things?”
Greenspan said balancing IU’s budget is a challenge in realizing the necessities of the program.

“We have to be wise in our decisions and have people who recognize that we can do everything we can to support (our athletes’ and coaches’) needs even though we might not be able to support their wants,” he said.

Greenspan has been praised by many people, including IU President Michael McRobbie, for his work in bringing the athletic department out of the red.

During the 2001-2002 academic year, IU generated just less than $31 million dollars in total revenue and had a net loss of $2,577,272. After Greenspan’s first year in office, the program turned a profit of $74,337. In 2007-2008, the athletic department generated almost $53 million dollars in revenue and enjoyed a profit of $6,234,507.

But even with the financial improvement, IU is likely to still operate at a disadvantage in the future.

During his address to the board of trustees, Greenspan said while the athletic department has improved budget-wise, the school is likely to always be near the bottom of total revenue in the Big Ten. 

Galen Clavio ­– an IU graduate and a faculty member at the University of Miami who specializes in sports administration ­­– said IU’s athletic department faces unique hardships.

“From a revenue perspective, they have some disadvantages,” Clavio said. “They are not a natural football school, and they haven’t been able to get the kind of guaranteed revenue Ohio State or Michigan can get. The basketball program has always been a cash cow, but now they are struggling with that because of some of the major problems they’ve had.”

Not being a natural football school seems to be apparent on game days.
Big Ten Network analyst Chris Martin, who also played cornerback for Northwestern in the mid-90s, said a former Wildcats athletic director once explained to him the importance of the school’s football program.

“He said you have to fill those seats more than anything,” Martin explained. “It spills over to everything else, and everything else feeds off of (football).”

Dated Facilities
Another reason the athletic department has struggled competitively in the Big Ten is its sub-par facilities.

The Hoosiers don’t have state-of-the-art arenas like other Big Ten schools. They don’t have the practice facilities for their athletes nor do they have the jaw-dropping architecture to lure recruits.

But IU has made an effort in the last couple of years to change some of that. The $38 million dollar North Endzone Facility gives the football stadium an upgrade it desperately needs without replacing it entirely. The stadium was built in 1960 and is significantly under size by Big Ten standards.

Assembly Hall, despite its rich history and tradition, is, in reality, a 37-year-old basketball arena with poor sight lines and no luxury boxes.

And basketball and football aren’t exceptions. Before re-locating to a brand-new outdoor field last year, the IU field hockey team was the only Division I school in the nation that played indoors (John Mellencamp Pavilion).

The wrestling and volleyball teams play their home matches inside the University Gymnasium, a gym originally built in 1963 for the School of Education and used in the mid-80s as a middle school gymnasium. 

In addition to the North Endzone Facility, which the athletic department projects to be completed in July 2009, the athletic department is attempting to improve its facilities by building a $17 million dollar basketball development center, set to open in August 2009.

The school also has new baseball and softball complexes and a student-athlete academic center in the planning stages.
     
Who IU has hired
During the last several years, it has sometimes seemed like IU says goodbye to athletic directors and school presidents as frequently as it says goodbye to graduating athletes.

Before Greenspan there was Terry Clapacs. Before him, Michael McNeely, who was preceded by Clarence Doninger.

Before IU President Michael McRobbie there were presidents Adam Herbert and Myles Brand.

“I think we’ve seen a bigger emphasis in the NCAA on presidents taking control of the athletic department,” Clavio said. “And if you have presidents changing every three years, what does that mean of the direction of the athletic department? Does it change every three years as well?”

But the changes don’t stop at the top. Since 2004, Greenspan has worked diligently to raise money and improve IU’s facilities and financial standing. But he’s also worked extensively to overhaul IU’s head coaching personnel.

During his time as IU athletics director, Greenspan has hired 11 head coaches in eight different sports. Of the 11 coaches, nine have come from outside of IU.

Some would argue hiring from within a program is evidence of its success. Take men’s soccer for example. The team has won the conference’s last two Big Ten titles and four since 2001. They have also won the last five NCAA Team Championships the Hoosiers have won.

In 2003, after winning his sixth NCAA Championship with the Hoosiers, legendary soccer coach Jerry Yeagley announced his retirement.

Instead of conducting a national search, Clapacs promoted longtime assistant coach Mike Freitag to the head coaching position.

At the announcement, Clapacs said, “Any time you can hire from within, it is evidence of a program’s strong tradition of success.”

But the success of the men’s soccer program is a bit unique. In 2004, Clapacs stepped down and it was announced Greenspan would take over the athletic department.

Since then, there has been a pattern of national coaching searches conducted by the athletic department, looking to turn struggling programs around with big hires.
Greenspan said almost every coaching search he conducts is national and he looks for people with “high character and people with great work ethic.”

“I want people who are turnaround specialists,” Greenspan said. “Who, at some point in time, have taken a program or been in a program that didn’t have the resources of the competitive success ... and have demonstrated through their efforts that they’ve been able to do that.”

Greenspan did point out that there is one “notable exception” to the 11 head coaches he’s hired – not so subtly singling out former IU basketball coach Kelvin Sampson.
While Sampson is long gone, the University is still sorting out his ramifications with the NCAA. Greenspan said it makes him sad to see the successes IU has accomplished be washed away “because a couple people were very selfish and made decisions that were improper.”

“I’m angry, frustrated and disappointed,” he said.

Greenspan said the Sampson fiasco has been “extremely visible” but hasn’t impacted any other sports financially.

As for recruiting in other sports, Greenspan said he doesn’t think the dark cloud cast over IU basketball has affected the players the school can obtain. More than anything, Greenspan thinks Sampson has hurt IU’s pride.

“It’s been costly first and foremost to all of those who have, for a very long time, prided themselves on ethics, the morals, the fair play and the good sportsmanship of this institution,” he said. “This is not an institution that takes infractions lightly ... this is our first in a half-century.”

Greenspan said the reaction to the basketball program’s struggles have been harsh because “this doesn’t look like or feel like us.”

“Its hurt a lot of people that are alums, fans and friends, let alone the employees of this department,” he said.

The national media attention to IU’s struggles haven’t helped the Hoosiers recover, ESPN.com Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg said.

“They say any PR is good PR, but that was clearly bad PR,” Rittenberg said. “I think you have a fan base that obviously wants to win, but what separates them from some teams in the South is there is an integrity factor. They want to win with integrity ... There was a risk, and that risk came back to bite them.”

Clavio said the Sampson debacle has hurt IU’s image.

“Indiana has always had the ability to do things by the rules, and do things accordingly,” Clavio said. “Some of their rivals haven’t done so. But the hiring of Sampson, and the two years following, have taken away from Indiana’s ability to market themselves. They are really going to have to do a lot to reestablish their landscape.”

Re-establishing the school’s image might have come with the hiring of Crean, who Greenspan said is obviously not afraid of a challenge.

“In some cases, (his situation) is virtually unprecedented,” he said. “We haven’t played a game, yet it’s evident to most people what a splendid job he has done with accessibility, his outreach and to even recruit with limitations. I love those types of people. They overcome adversity. That’s what I look for.”

The Future
In 10 years, will Crean still characterize IU’s tradition with “It’s Indiana”?

No one knows.

In fact, no one knows who will be leading the Hoosiers next year, let alone in 10 years.
Greenspan is stepping down as IU athletics director at the end of the year, and the school is currently in full-search mode for a new leader.

So, will the Hoosiers return to the athletic powerhouse they once were?

Rittenberg thinks the program is headed in the right direction.

“I don’t know the key to building back every sport, but I don’t think the job for the next athletic director is going to be as severe as it used to be,” he said.

Martin thinks future success will make people quickly forget about past failures.

“I’ve always said, success breeds success,” he said. “Winning can be a wonderful deodorant.”

Clavio thinks the department needs to look at itself in the mirror.

“The focus needs to be on learning how to adapt to the athletic department realities of the 21st century, and that’s a complicated issue,” he said.

IU needs to hire people passionate about IU – not just their jobs, but also the University as a whole, he explained.

“People who are passionate about who they work for are competent at doing their jobs, not just people who are there to collect a paycheck,” Clavio said. “I’m not saying people who work there now are doing that, but IU needs people who believe in the mission of Indiana University, who believe in the values and are willing to go to work every day and make it a reality.”

As for Greenspan, he won’t be around to see if the Hoosiers can recapture their glory days. But he has hope.

“The image that has been created is an image which I’m very resentful of personally, and it’s an image that I’m disappointed in as it distracts people from the years and years and years of great work,” Greenspan said. “This institution will overcome it, and quicker than most people think.”