OT: Is Steve Alford a slimy guy?
With the rumblings of Indiana considering Steve Alford as a replacement for Tom Crean, an interesting piece was posted yesterday on IU's SB Nation site. I've seen other comments from IU fans saying they've already emailed Fred Glass and will stop donations to IU if they hire Alford.
I don't remember hearing about this years ago, but it's an interesting story.
Hiring Alford would be a dark day for Indiana University. But his continued ascension up college basketball’s ladder without expressing any sort of understanding over why his actions in handling the Pierre Pierce case were wrong sends a message to society & sexual assault victims far darker -- and one that matters far more than winning basketball games.
March 19th, 2017 at 10:46 PM ^
March 19th, 2017 at 10:53 PM ^
March 19th, 2017 at 10:56 PM ^
I'm in.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:12 PM ^
You just know thought, that IU fans will be all onboard with Alford if he is hired. They'll get over his sleaziness in a heartbeat. They accepted Crean afterall.
March 19th, 2017 at 10:55 PM ^
...direct this question to them.
For maximum enjoyment, give them a call just after UCLA loses.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:22 PM ^
Ha true! Hawkeyes HATE Steve Alford. And my Hawkeye friends were disgusted about how he handled that thing.
March 20th, 2017 at 10:54 AM ^
As my username suggests, I went to BYU. As a religious school that has a lot of people enroll from all across the country, there are lots of mixed allegiances when it comes to athletics, like me with Michigan/BYU. A few years ago when Alford had moved on from Iowa to New Mexico, BYU had a big game vs UNM and there was a huge line of students camped outside waiting for good seats for that evening's game. It just so happened that we were all there when the UNM team bus pulled up and in walked the team. There was a nominal amount of jeering, nothing too harsh. But when Alford walked by, a BYU student with Iowa ties started yelling at Alford for ruining Iowa. He probably went a little overboard. But what surprised me was Alford actually responded and went back and forth with a student for a couple minute! Yelling and everything! I was completely taken back that this grown man let a student get the best of him.
March 20th, 2017 at 11:56 AM ^
Dantonio?
March 19th, 2017 at 10:55 PM ^
March 19th, 2017 at 11:07 PM ^
http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2003/april/040903skorton.html
That's a formal statement and you have to read between the lines a bit to get the gist. The public proclamations of innocence regarding a player who'd just been formally charged with assault were bad enough but maybe the most damning bit was people from Athletes in Action, who according to other reports were old friends of Alford, contacting the alleged victim to encourage her to "sit down with the alleged perpetrator for prayer."
The alleged victim was, to say the least, pissed. So was the prosecutor, who said Alford's meddling (actually I think the word used was "intimidation") made prosecuting the case very difficult and led to a plea bargain that was a lot softer than he thought he could have gotten if Alford and the school had stayed clear.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:53 PM ^
I've talked with doctors who were in the ER/OR the night the victim came in. It was bad...real bad.
HIPAA...it's a thing
Tell me MORE!
March 19th, 2017 at 11:12 PM ^
Pierce was his star player in the early 00s at Iowa. He sexually assaulted a student. Alford personally arranged a "prayer meeting" between him and the victim. She read this for what it was, an effort from Alford and the University to side with Pierce over her, and pressed charges against Pierce. Evidence was apparently bad enough that he and his lawyer saw the writing on the wall, he pled guilty to a lesser charge and avoided jail time. Alford kept him on the team.
Later, Pierce assaulted another woman with a knife and ended up in prison. When he was introduced at UCLA, he blamed Iowa's administration instead of taking blame. He finally was forced to issue a completely insincere apology fairly recently.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:16 PM ^
Evidence was apparently bad enough that the prosecutor says there's no way there would have been a plea bargain that didn't include prison time if Alford and friends hadn't scared the victim out of cooperating.
That's the prosecutor talking, of course. Take it for what it's worth.
March 19th, 2017 at 10:56 PM ^
I have no idea
March 19th, 2017 at 11:00 PM ^
that are UCLA donors with two of them basketball season ticket holders and they all hate Alford and think his recruiting is super dirty. They are worried at some point the program is going to get the hammer by the NCAA for recruiting violations.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:25 PM ^
March 19th, 2017 at 11:02 PM ^
Why would he leave UCLA for IU? Its not like IU is a step up. Both are top notch hoops schools.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:05 PM ^
March 19th, 2017 at 11:07 PM ^
now it makes sense.
thanks
March 19th, 2017 at 11:08 PM ^
It's an Adidas school; UCLA switched away after he got there.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:37 PM ^
Kansas for North Carolina
March 19th, 2017 at 11:07 PM ^
March 19th, 2017 at 11:11 PM ^
March 19th, 2017 at 11:09 PM ^
Duke is down 10 to South Carolina with 43 seconds to play.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:13 PM ^
Even if you ignore the Pierce thing, he left for UCLA like a week and a half after signing a contract extension with New Mexico. Typical slimy bullshit from college coaches, but still that one is pretty cold.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:14 PM ^
Yes. But who would willingly leave UCLA for Indiana in this, the good year 2017?
One is in LA and has the most storied history in college basketball/two more Ball brothers on the way. The other has a dysfunctional AD and delusional expectations.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:21 PM ^
The Alford-to-IU noise is so loud, coaches around the country are telling me what they’re hearing: They expect Adidas — IU has a $54 million contract with Adidas through 2024 — to pay Alford’s $7.8 million buyout at UCLA. It too was an Adidas school when UCLA hired Alford in 2013, but the Bruins recently left Adidas for a 15-year, $280 million deal with Under Armour. Adidas would love to return the favor and help Alford leave UCLA. That’s what other coaches are hearing, and telling me.
http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2017/03/19/…
March 19th, 2017 at 11:28 PM ^
March 20th, 2017 at 12:00 AM ^
http://www.si.com/vault/2016/06/28/brand-name-stars
"Great!" Brey said. "Maryland got theirs, when are we getting ours?
(Mike Brey's reaction to Maryland's signing of Diamond Stone, who coincidentally had played for a UA-sponsored travel team. You've probably noticed UA's sponsorship of Maryland.)
If they're working on getting players from their sponsored travel teams into their sponsored colleges and universities, why wouldn't they use their influence to get certain coaches into those jobs? And I assume those nine-digit contracts they're tossing around give them some influence.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:32 PM ^
March 19th, 2017 at 11:35 PM ^
please, please, please, indiana - hire steve alford.
that marshall guy is overrated.
(psst - did they buy it?)
March 19th, 2017 at 11:37 PM ^
March 20th, 2017 at 10:24 AM ^
with a side-dish of Baylor.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:45 PM ^
March 19th, 2017 at 11:45 PM ^
March 20th, 2017 at 12:31 AM ^
...consultations with major donors on decisions like this are standard procedure. And a company that pays a school nine figures for the right to produce their athletic apparel surely counts as a major donor.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:48 PM ^
March 19th, 2017 at 11:56 PM ^
Like leaving the Bay Area for Ann Arbor?
Who would ever do that?
March 20th, 2017 at 12:04 PM ^
Someone who no longer has a job in the Bay Area?
March 19th, 2017 at 11:50 PM ^
I live in Iowa.
Yes. Next question.
March 19th, 2017 at 11:54 PM ^
(As some other have said that also live in Iowa - yes, he is a slim ball)
March 19th, 2017 at 11:59 PM ^