Kelvin Sampson Resurfaces: Hired By The University of Houston

Alrighty then. Maybe you can still get a job as a college coach after getting in trouble with the NCAA.

First Bruce Pearl returns from purgatory to take over at Auburn and now, Kelvin Sampson, formerly ex-communicated from Indiana, is returning to his NCAA roots and is taking over the University of Houston.

You'll recall Sampson got in a heap of trouble with the NCAA for making impermissible phone calls to recruits (at a time he wasn't supposed to)...over and over again. That got hims 5-year "Show/Cause" penalty and he's been an assistant coach for 2 different NBA teams since 2008. (He's served his 5-years)

Sampson is taking over the job from James Dickey. Dickey had some success with the Cougars, reaching the NCAA tournament two years ago and going 17-16 this season.

Bruce Pearl Is Back In SEC, New Auburn Head Coach

Bruce Pearl

Auburn has made the big splash in the coaching carousel hiring Bruce Pearl as the Tigers new head basketball coach.

"I'm humbled and blessed to be back in the game I love." Pearl said.  "I don't know how long it will take, but it's time to rebuild the Auburn basketball program, and bring it to a level of excellence so many of the other teams on campus enjoy."

"From the moment I met Coach Pearl and heard his vision for our basketball program, it was clear he’s the right man at the right time for Auburn," Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said.   "Coach Pearl is a proven winner who will bring energy and excitement to our program. We have raised the bar for Auburn basketball, and I could not be more excited for our student-athletes and our future under Coach Pearl’s leadership. I know he agrees with me — it’s time to win."

Pearl is still serving his three year show cause which expires in August.  In the meantime Pearl won't be able to recruit this summer.

Pearl definitely has a reclamation project at Auburn.  In four years with Tony Barbee as

head coach the Tigers were 48-75 and 18-50 in the SEC.

Here's Pearl discussing the violations with Dan LeBatard
((HT: ESPN))


The three-year show-cause penalty expires on August 23rd.

In 2008, Pearl hosted three recruits, including current Ohio State star Aaron Craft at his home for a cookout – a secondary violation – and then lied about the cookout to the NCAA, turning a secondary violation into a major violation.

One of the larger points of contention was that two of the people on the committee that delivered the show-cause penalty to Pearl, Dave Didion, had to probably approve this idea and hire.

From Joel Erickson's al.com piece:

Dave Didion, who returned to Auburn as assistant athletic director of compliance last year, was the lead investigator on Pearl's case, according to a source, and the school feels that a strong compliance department led by Didion and compliance director Rich McGlynn will be able to guide Pearl well on compliance issues.

Didion also signed off on Auburn's pursuit of Pearl, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

The HQ will give Auburn this... they'll certainly win the press conference...

Now, just how much patience will AD Jay Jacobs have with this rebuilding process...

And Bruce Pearl was excited when he hit the ground...
((HT: Vine via gray_lane))

OSG High: Marion County FB Is Out Of Control...

((HT: Chattanooga Free Press/WRCB-TV))

The number of Marion County (TN) football coaches off the job is now at four... including head coach Mac McCurry...

Our original coverage of the weirdness starts hyah...

Now, two assistants have been let go and McCurry resigned- even as McCurry hasn't been brought up on charges...

Here's the latest update...
WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather

Assistant Joe Dan Gudger is now up on identical charges as former Marion County assistant Michael Schmitt- vandalism of $1,000-$10,000. Volunteer assistant Tim Starkey was also relieved of duty...

It gets better... or worse... depending on how you're looking at it...

The Chattanooga News Stephen Hargis has mandatory reading on the complete degradation of the story and the Marion County program...

Evidence is out in text messages that alludes to coaches stealing playbooks of neighboring programs and paying a former player to come back to practice with the team- and the player was from a rival school to prepare Marion for THAT school's offense...

From Hargis:

Starkey alludes to Schmitt, who lives in Dunlap, having also taken playbooks from Sequatchie County, before the Indians' game against Marion County on Sept. 27. According to Sequatchie County Principal Tommy Layne, after checking with head coach Ken Colquette, the football team is missing two playbooks from its fieldhouse. Marion rallied in the second half to score the last four touchdowns in that game to beat Sequatchie County 52-28.

"If you have no better morals than this, you don't need to be around kids in any way," said Layne, who also is a member of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association's Board of Control. "I'm just in shock at all of this. I've never, in all my years as an educator and coach, heard of anything as bad as this. It just makes you sick. You feel bad for the kids at Marion for having men like this as their role models."

The TSSAA, the state governing body for high school athletics, is even set to discuss the idea of giving the death penalty to Marion County's football program. They are waiting, however, for the criminal proceedings to get sorted out...

This is not the first time McCurry has been relieved of duty for questionable behavior...

In May 2010, he was let go by a school for 2 alleged DUI and a domestic assault charge...

Here's what one message board alluded to with McCurry's coaching wake:

Moore County- shambles
Marshall County- wrecked
Ripley Miss- Destroyed
Lakeview HS- Left after one game.Bailed on the kids
Signal Mnt- Recruiting scandal...1 year

One larger question the HQ has is the idea of a "show cause" penalty and whether it exists with high school coaches who have had nothing but trouble at every stop...

Seems like the coaches in and around the Marion County program may be the prime examples for this idea of it doesn't currently exist...