Jailbreak!

The Hoosier Scoop is reporting that IU has granted Tom Crean 10 days on the road to recruit. Originally, Sampson was limited to 10 days on the road to recruit through July 31st of this year as part of IU's self-imposed sanctions. Those 10 days were used up by Sampson and Dakich, which left Crean a prisoner of Bloomington when he took the job. But now, apparently, IU has decided to grant Crean 10 days on the road. Let's hope he makes the most of it.

This seems a little strange and a little risky to me. With the NCAA hearing coming up in a couple of months, I'm not sure this is the smartest move. The main thing IU had going for them is they self-reported the violations, fired the coaches involved, and imposed pretty harsh sanctions that even carried forward to the new coaches that took those positions.

Another interesting thing is that Crean doesn't really know how many scholarships he has left to offer. IU is already down to 12 scholarships for '08-'09 because of their self-imposed sanctions. However, there is fear that their APR scores could be too low and they could lose 1 or 2 more scholarships. The APR is a really messed up system and IU has already petitioned that the cause for IU's men's basketball low scores has been due to instability in the athletic department with multiple coaching and A.D. changes. I think IU is hopeful that they will not lose additional scholarships due to APR scores, but it is a possibility.

Then, you also have the situation with all of the current players and reports that a majority of the team needs to finish very strong on their final exams to remain eligible for 1st semester next year.

Most things I have been reading indicate that Bassett will be allowed back on the team if he can make grades this semester. However, both Hutchens and the guys from The Hoosier Scoop have said that they don't think Ellis will be back. They don't give a reason why, but it sure seems like they know something that they just aren't able to print for whatever reason. I did also see a report that Ellis was back in Florida working out. Unless that was a quick weekend trip, it sure would make it hard to go to class if you are in Florida.

Anyway, currently on paper, IU has 4 scholarships open for '08-'09. However, that is still counting Taber as a walk-on. Taber was actually granted a scholarship last year, but scholarships are offered to walk-ons on a year-to-year basis. Not that I wouldn't mind having the extra scholarship open, but the right thing to do is to offer Taber a scholarship again this year. He earned it with his performance last year and the guy has a good chance of being a starter next year. So, if you give a scholarship to Taber, you are down to 3.

Then, if you go on the limited information and go with Bassett being back, but Ellis gone, you are down to 2. However, if Ellis leaves and he does not make grades for the second semester, then that is another big hit on IU's APR score and they could really be in jeopardy of losing more scholarships.

So, my best guess is that Crean and staff are still trying to recruit for 2 scholarships and hoping for the best with academics. In fact, in an interview, Crean said that is what he has to do and if IU oversigns due to losing more scholarships, then that is something he would have to deal with at that point. Man, I sure hope it doesn't come to that, that would be ugly and more negative press. But I agree that Crean needs to operate this way and try to fill 2 more spots -- definitely need a big man and could also use a point.

And if that's not enough uncertainty, you still don't know about some of the other current players. It sounds like most of the team is in trouble academically this semester. Holman went home a few weeks ago to consider his future, but we haven't heard much since. He is back in Bloomington working out with the team, but the San Fransisco Chronicle reported this week that he was still undecided. I guess if any current players transfer, it would open up a scholarship. However, once again, if they transfer after not making grades this semester, IU may end up losing that scholarship anyway due to the APR scores.

What a mess. Let's hope Crean can make the most of these 10 days, let's hope the NCAA does not view this in a negative light, let's hope the NCAA does not add on any penalties, let's hope the players make their grades, and let's hope the APR scores do not cost us any additional scholarships.

That's a lot of hoping, but that's the situation we are in now.

Go Hoosiers!