2025 NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament Discussion

[CSP]

3 minutes ago, Hoosier987 said:

If true, Maybe we can chalk that up to the heat of the battle between high school rivals? I mean, if this constituted as someone being a “Dbag” person, then practically half (probably more) of the NCAA are dbags. But I’m not here to convince you otherwise and to hijack the board on who is a “dbag” and who is not. If you think Stemler is dbag - albeit seems a bit silly - then that’s  your own prerogative 

The only person who seemed silly was you coming here to defend Sampscum and his players. There is no "if true" about it... I witnessed it... There's a whole video collage of it. You just seem bias now. 

you've already hijacked the thread, tbh

[go iu bb]

14 minutes ago, JustWinBaby said:

The revisionist history of some folks is absolutely ridiculous. Everything @Stuhoo said in his comment is correct. Normally I'd trim down a quoted comment but the whole thing is worth reading so I'm not editing it.

We may not like Dakich, but before he became a shock jock a-hole supreme he was a pretty decent radio host, and he openly discussed many times that when he was brought in as the interim HC and walked into the locker room, he found needles and spoons that several of the players had been using.

From a 2008 IndyStar article by our pal Jeff Rabjohns:

“It was the guys that were doing drugs that were separate,” Gordon told The Indianapolis Star in an exclusive phone interview this week, speaking publicly for the first time about the issues that played a part in a once top 10 team failing to win a single postseason game.

Gordon didn’t disclose which players used drugs, but he said D.J. White and two others still on the team were among those who did not. Attempts to reach White and several other former players were not successful.

Gordon said Sampson “tried to stop it,” but the coach “was just so focused on basketball and winning and everything.”

Gordon said he spent considerable time with a family friend in Bloomington because the atmosphere around some players was so bad he didn’t feel comfortable on campus.

“Sometimes it felt like it wasn’t even a real basketball team because of all the turmoil that went on,” said Gordon, now a starting guard for the Los Angeles Clippers. “I was just thinking about that the other day. It was so crazy that all that stuff threw off a good season and made it a waste, basically.

“It was really tough for us to be around each other all the time off the court because we were so separate.”

Tom Crean later said the following on the Rex Chapman Show a couple years ago:

"I had no idea what I was walking into there," Crean said on The Rex Chapman Show. "I found out the first day we had 19 Fs with three-and-a-half weeks left of school, started finding out about the flunked drug tests and that was just the beginning of it.

"I had no idea what I was walking into there. I took the job on a Tuesday, by the following Monday, a (Marquette) vice president said why don’t we treat this like a bad April Fool’s joke and have you come back...

"We would go clean lockers out and find lighters and roach clips. I had a player’s parent try to negotiate down failed tests down, if we got the two failed drug tests wiped out, the player would come back."

Kelvin Sampson is a great ball coach. He knows his X's and O's. He knows how to get the Jimmies and the Joes. And perhaps at this point in his career he's figured out how to balance all that with being a role model and proper leader for his players and staff. But during his time at Indiana, his priorities were all out of whack, and he was doing things the wrong way. He cared about winning above everything else, and while winning obviously is the most important part of the job, neglecting everything else that matters will eventually erode any sort of foundation that winning can be built upon. He did everything wrong at Indiana, and perhaps it was a learning experience that made him a better coach down the line. If so, it truly is our luck that he had to learn those lessons here.

This is the first I've heard of needles and spoons. Do you have a link to somewhere where he is quoted saying that? The quote above from Crean mentions roach clips which is obviously a much different thing than shooting up.

Btw, I'm not in any way defending Sampson or taking any side in this discussion. I'm just curious.

[Hoosier987]

13 minutes ago, JustWinBaby said:

The revisionist history of some folks is absolutely ridiculous. Everything @Stuhoo said in his comment is correct. Normally I'd trim down a quoted comment but the whole thing is worth reading so I'm not editing it.

We may not like Dakich, but before he became a shock jock a-hole supreme he was a pretty decent radio host, and he openly discussed many times that when he was brought in as the interim HC and walked into the locker room, he found needles and spoons that several of the players had been using.

From a 2008 IndyStar article by our pal Jeff Rabjohns:

“It was the guys that were doing drugs that were separate,” Gordon told The Indianapolis Star in an exclusive phone interview this week, speaking publicly for the first time about the issues that played a part in a once top 10 team failing to win a single postseason game.

Gordon didn’t disclose which players used drugs, but he said D.J. White and two others still on the team were among those who did not. Attempts to reach White and several other former players were not successful.

Gordon said Sampson “tried to stop it,” but the coach “was just so focused on basketball and winning and everything.”

Gordon said he spent considerable time with a family friend in Bloomington because the atmosphere around some players was so bad he didn’t feel comfortable on campus.

“Sometimes it felt like it wasn’t even a real basketball team because of all the turmoil that went on,” said Gordon, now a starting guard for the Los Angeles Clippers. “I was just thinking about that the other day. It was so crazy that all that stuff threw off a good season and made it a waste, basically.

“It was really tough for us to be around each other all the time off the court because we were so separate.”

Tom Crean later said the following on the Rex Chapman Show a couple years ago:

"I had no idea what I was walking into there," Crean said on The Rex Chapman Show. "I found out the first day we had 19 Fs with three-and-a-half weeks left of school, started finding out about the flunked drug tests and that was just the beginning of it.

"I had no idea what I was walking into there. I took the job on a Tuesday, by the following Monday, a (Marquette) vice president said why don’t we treat this like a bad April Fool’s joke and have you come back...

"We would go clean lockers out and find lighters and roach clips. I had a player’s parent try to negotiate down failed tests down, if we got the two failed drug tests wiped out, the player would come back."

Kelvin Sampson is a great ball coach. He knows his X's and O's. He knows how to get the Jimmies and the Joes. And perhaps at this point in his career he's figured out how to balance all that with being a role model and proper leader for his players and staff. But during his time at Indiana, his priorities were all out of whack, and he was doing things the wrong way. He cared about winning above everything else, and while winning obviously is the most important part of the job, neglecting everything else that matters will eventually erode any sort of foundation that winning can be built upon. He did everything wrong at Indiana, and perhaps it was a learning experience that made him a better coach down the line. If so, it truly is our luck that he had to learn those lessons here.

I’m not being a revisionist. I didn’t say things were perfect under Sampson…but that a lot of far worse things were happening in other programs,  and celebrated ones at that (I listed well known examples). Further a lot of shenanigans leading to actual arrests among our students athletes have happened post Sampson (I listed examples of that as well). I mentioned Sampson was loved by players and fans (listed personal example of that) Lastly I mentioned that things could’ve been handled differently and for the better. Nothing revisionist…and fortunately more and more people know this. 

[Hoosier987]

12 minutes ago, Certified Sunshine Pumper said:

The only person who seemed silly was you coming here to defend Sampscum and his players. There is no "if true" about it... I witnessed it... There's a whole video collage of it. You just seem bias now. 

you've already hijacked the thread, tbh

lol. Ahhh Samscum. Of course. Let’s go to the ad hominem attacks.  People were already talking about Sampson before I made my post. You know, because he made a national title?  That’s what message boards are for. That’s not hijacking…and each posts have been shared with their opinion and respectfully at that.  You then proceeded to comment about Stemler being a dbag for reasons that occurred in a high school game. I thought that was silly and said that’s your own prerogative and that I wasn’t going hijack the thread on whether Stemler is a dbag or not, because based on your posting history (with anything you disagree with) and time allotted to this site, you would continue to respond. You’ve lost the plot on this one. 

[CSP]

6 minutes ago, Hoosier987 said:

lol. Ahhh Samscum. Of course. Let’s go to the ad hominem attacks.  People were already talking about Sampson before I made my post. You know, because he made a national title?  That’s what message boards are for. That’s not hijacking…and each posts have been shared with their opinion and respectfully at that.  You then proceeded to comment about Stemler being a dbag for reasons that occurred in a high school game. I thought that was silly and said that’s your own prerogative and that I wasn’t going hijack the thread on whether Stemler is a dbag or not, because based on your posting history (with anything you disagree with) and time allotted to this site, you would continue to respond. You’ve lost the plot on this one. 

He's just a dbag. You've tried to act like he's a good person. He isn't, nor does he portray himself that way. I'm sorry you're blinded by your crazy bias to see that. 

Yeah, if you quote me, I'm going to continue to respond... It's a message board, remember? That's what message boards are for. 

[iu eyedoc]

My team is on the floor.

 

[Hoosier987]

38 minutes ago, Certified Sunshine Pumper said:

He's just a dbag. You've tried to act like he's a good person. He isn't, nor does he portray himself that way. I'm sorry you're blinded by your crazy bias to see that. 

Yeah, if you quote me, I'm going to continue to respond... It's a message board, remember? That's what message boards are for. 

I honestly don’t really care what you think, although, you apparently know all. I think he’s a good person and most do. You’re in the minority and you don’t.  I imagine there’s people out there that think you’re a dbag. I’m sure same with me.  It the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter to me so I wont be posting anymore on the topic of why Sunshine Pumper thinks Stemler is a dbag — we know, you claim when he was a kid in high school he told other kids to take cheap shots. I just don’t cast judgment on kids when they were in high school.  You do. If that story is even true. Keep pumping out that sunshine…you certainly do.

[CSP]

Just now, Hoosier987 said:

I honestly don’t really care what you think, all though, you apparently know all. I think he’s a good person and most do. You’re in the minority and you don’t.  I imagine there’s people out there that think you’re a dbag. I’m sure same with me.  It the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter to me so I wont be posting anymore on the topic of why Sunshine Pumper thinks Stemler is a dbag — we know, you claim when he was a kid in high school he told other kids to take cheap shots. I just don’t cast judgment on kids when they were in high school. You do. Keep loving life. 

I'm not saying when Stemler was in HS lol.... I'm talking about him as an assistant coach at Providence HS, currently. Literally this s*** happened LAST Jan/Feb/March. Jee whizzz. 

to be clear, again, I am not talking about Lance Stemler in HS. He's currently an assistant coach at Providence HS...... 

[Scotty R]

5 minutes ago, Hoosier987 said:

I honestly don’t really care what you think, although, you apparently know all. I think he’s a good person and most do. You’re in the minority and you don’t.  I imagine there’s people out there that think you’re a dbag. I’m sure same with me.  It the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter to me so I wont be posting anymore on the topic of why Sunshine Pumper thinks Stemler is a dbag — we know, you claim when he was a kid in high school he told other kids to take cheap shots. I just don’t cast judgment on kids when they were in high school.  You do. If that story is even true. Keep pumping out that sunshine…you certainly do.

 

He was talking about Stemler being an assistant coach in high school not a player 

[Hoosier987]

Just now, Certified Sunshine Pumper said:

I'm not saying when Stemler was in HS lol.... I'm talking about him as an assistant coach at Providence HS, currently. Literally this s*** happened LAST Jan/Feb/March. Jee whizzz. 

to be clear, again, I am not talking about Lance Stemler in HS. He's currently an assistant coach at Providence HS...... 

Ok. Whatever you say. But who knows or who really cares. Again, you know all on these boards. Keep pumping sunshine. 

[CSP]

1 minute ago, Hoosier987 said:

Ok. Whatever you say. But who knows or who really cares. Again, you know all on these boards. Keep pumping sunshine. 

I'm sorry to have a different opinion from you. I will check myself before I disagree with you again. 

you certainly seemed to care with your first post, telling us how to feel about Sampscum and his former players. 

[Stuhoo]

7 minutes ago, Hoosier987 said:

Ok. Whatever you say. But who knows or who really cares. Again, you know all on these boards. Keep pumping sunshine. 

 

It's hard to pump sunshine about Kevin Sampson.

 

[Hoosier987]

3 minutes ago, Certified Sunshine Pumper said:

I'm sorry to have a different opinion from you. I will check myself before I disagree with you again. 

you certainly seemed to care with your first post, telling us how to feel about Sampscum and his former players. 

I do. Everything i said i standby…and a lot of people standby. It’s not that you have a differing opinion…I don’t mind that, and welcome it. You’re condescending. 

[Hoosier987]

4 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

 

It's hard to pump sunshine about Kevin Sampson.

 

I said what I said and mentioned facts. Sampson has done a lot for young people. It wasn’t perfect here…but so much worse was going on elsewhere and plenty has gone wrong here since. People can take that as they please.  But somehow this turned into Stemler being a dbag. 

[CSP]

7 minutes ago, Hoosier987 said:

I do. Everything i said i standby…and a lot of people standby. It’s not that you have a differing opinion…I don’t mind that, and welcome it. You’re condescending. 

You're taking it that way, sure. I don't operate well around people who are easily offended. All I did was give a personal acct of one of the guys you mentioned in your post. Literally that's it, oh, and I brought up you didn't bring up the failed drug tests.... that's it. 

Have a great day 

[iu eyedoc]

On 4/9/2025 at 1:10 PM, Hoosier987 said:

I honestly don’t really care what you think, although, you apparently know all. I think he’s a good person and most do. You’re in the minority and you don’t.  I imagine there’s people out there that think you’re a dbag. I’m sure same with me.  It the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter to me so I wont be posting anymore on the topic of why Sunshine Pumper thinks Stemler is a dbag — we know, you claim when he was a kid in high school he told other kids to take cheap shots. I just don’t cast judgment on kids when they were in high school.  You do. If that story is even true. Keep pumping out that sunshine…you certainly do.

 

On 4/9/2025 at 1:18 PM, Hoosier987 said:

Ok. Whatever you say. But who knows or who really cares. Again, you know all on these boards. Keep pumping sunshine. 

 

On 4/9/2025 at 1:29 PM, Hoosier987 said:

I said what I said and mentioned facts. Sampson has done a lot for young people. It wasn’t perfect here…but so much worse was going on elsewhere and plenty has gone wrong here since. People can take that as they please.  But somehow this turned into Stemler being a dbag. 

Uh it kind seems like it matters a little too much to you... Momma Stemler?