Adam Herbert agreed with Athletic Director Rick Greenspan’s recommendation to hire basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, the former IU president said in an interview published today in The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville.
In his first interview about Sampson and the recent NCAA allegations about improper recruiting calls, Herbert said he, Greenspan, Sampson and two IU trustees met with Sampson for six hours to ask about improper calls he made while he was men’s basketball coach at the University of Oklahoma.
Herbert said he came away from the meeting thinking Sampson understood the problem and wouldn’t repeat the mistakes at IU.
“When you’re looking at someone who is one of the best coaches in America, who had 20-win seasons for a decade, this became a value hire for us. … It was worth giving him a second chance,” Herbert told the newspaper.
Herbert, who was replaced in July by Michael McRobbie and now teaches at the university’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, said he has talked with Sampson about the current charges and thinks the public’s perception could change once Sampson gives his side of the story.
“I know there are more facts to come out than have come out,” Herbert said.
On Friday, the university announced that Sampson would step down from the position and receive a $750,000 severance and agree to not sue the university.
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