IU donors could stage own boycott

The situation at Indiana University is so bad, several former athletes and big-time donors are calling for Athletic Director Rick Greenspan’s termination. Some think financial support to the school will be hurt if the situation regarding the men’s basketball program is not resolved soon. As for Greenspan saying he was only part of a process to hire men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, one alum and IU Foundation trustee said when he asked Greenspan two years ago about the search committee for a new men’s basketball coach, Greenspan responded, “I am the search committee.”

Here’s a sampling of quotes from a story that will appear in IBJ’s print edition, which hits newsstands Saturday.

· “They’re on strike two with a lot of fans and supporters,” said Mike Pegram, who has operated a Web site dedicated to IU sports since 1998 and is online coordinator for Inside Indiana Magazine. “The next step they make will be very, very critical.”

· “We’re all just sitting here, asking, ‘How in the world did this happen?’” said Stephen Helmich, president of Cathedral High School and a 1972 IU graduate. “This couldn’t come at a worse time.”

· “The athletic department is a shambles, in my opinion,” said IU grad Bart Kaufman, CEO of locally based Kaufman Financial Corp. “If we fire the basketball coach and athletic director, I’d be happy. If they just fire the basketball coach, I’d be disappointed.”

· “People’s impressions of the university have to be subject to what’s going on,” said Phil Isenbarger, a member of IU’s 1981 NCAA basketball championship team and a partner in local law firm Bingham McHale. “It’s a mess. Just a mess.”

Do you think IU will be hurt financially by this fiasco?