Poll: Was Mr. Davis and Iowa robbed of a Big Ten Title during the 96-97 season?

Poll: Was Mr. Davis and Iowa robbed of a Big Ten Title during the 96-97 season?

  • Yes

    Votes: 13 44.8%

  • No

    Votes: 16 55.2%
  • Total voters
    29
When teams make the Final 4 or win a NC in football in brings attention. And attention often is people sniffing around finding dirt.

If you investigate any major program right now, there is a high probably that you'll find NCAA violations. Some big like Minnesota, or Miami stuff, North Carolina fake classes, etc. Some more minor like Chase Young or the Memphis basketball player accepting money.
 
Sort of, but.....

Vacate all the wins you want. It doesn't change what happened on the court.

Yeah, it definitely is BS but I don't spend much time thinking about it. Even if you give Iowa that title in '97, it wouldn't feel the same as if they had earned it on the court.
 
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Remember this, sounded like Minny players did not have to go class and had their tests taken for them (if I remember right). That would seem to be a big advantage to a team over other team's going to class.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
Remember this, sounded like Minny players did not have to go class and had their tests taken for them (if I remember right). That would seem to be a big advantage to a team over other team's going to class.
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Well, to name one example, Mr. Davis's teams didnt exactly frequent the classrooms themselves. And i know that from first hand experience. In fact, that was the first thing Steve Alford cleaned up when he took over, and the accompanying attrition weeded out Guy Rucker and Joey Range. It would later weed out Carlton Reed, Mike Henderson, and Rob Griffin (Pierre Pierce didnt need any more help writing his ticket out of town, he did that on his own).

There may have been others too (Sean Sonderliter, Bryan DeWitz). You can say what you want about Alford the person and it's true, but he was going to at least make sure his players went to class.
 
Northside Hawk said:
Well, to name one example, Mr. Davis's teams didnt exactly frequent the classrooms themselves. And i know that from first hand experience. In fact, that was the first thing Steve Alford cleaned up when he took over, and the accompanying attrition weeded out Guy Rucker and Joey Range. It would later weed out Carlton Reed, Mike Henderson, and Rob Griffin (Pierre Pierce didnt need any more help writing his ticket out of town, he did that on his own).

There may have been others too (Sean Sonderliter, Bryan DeWitz). You can say what you want about Alford the person and it's true, but he was going to at least make sure his players went to class.
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If that is true (and I'm not questioning it) that would not be good as well. But, Minny did get caught (and nothing brought out against Iowa) so we are left with the legal facts against Minny.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
If that is true (and I'm not questioning it) that would not be good as well. But, Minny did get caught (and nothing brought out against Iowa) so we are left with the legal facts against Minny.
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Dont get me wrong, while Mr. Davis's players weren't choirboys, our transgressions paled in comparison to Minnesota's. To the best of my knowledge our players took their own exams and when they were academically ineligible (Ray Thompson, Brian Garner, Russ Millard) they didnt play. They were known more for spotty class attendance (widespread) alcohol and marijuana use in season and even the night before games (widespread) and having other personal issues (Kingsbury) But it wasn't a total disdain for academics like the Minnesota situation was.

In fact, between the horrific brawl they had with Ohio State in 1972, the sexual assault incident in Madison in 1986, and the academic scandals of the nineties they have had a questionable program up there for decades. I don't think Li'l Richie is above bending a few rules himself.
 
I seem to recall that Clem Haskins was the only other B10 coach that attended Chris Street's funeral. My memory may be hazy here, but if true, I would think kinder of him given this thread. Does that excuse cheating? Of course not. But does it influence my perception of him as a person? Absolutely. Anyone else recall??
 
1977Hawkeye said:
Yes, and so did Andre Woolridge regarding B10 POY. Lead the league in scoring AND assists, and your team finishes second.. Dude was phenomenal and got snubbed. That was the biggest robbery of the year IMO. He earned that honor. PERIOD.
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Other than Kenny Arnold...fave player back in the day. Bobby cheating Jackson can suck a fat one....
 
Dadman said:
I seem to recall that Clem Haskins was the only other B10 coach that attended Chris Street's funeral. My memory may be hazy here, but if true, I would think kinder of him given this thread. Does that excuse cheating? Of course not. But does it influence my perception of him as a person? Absolutely. Anyone else recall??
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WOW! Never heard this one. But looking back, it could very well be true. There were a couple of B1G coaches that barely wanted to acknowledge what had happened and the impact it had - different reasons for different teams, but still.

As for not winning titles, Mr. Davis's teams may have won more than one with the teams that were cited for NCAA violations, including the Fab Five.
 
Dadman said:
I seem to recall that Clem Haskins was the only other B10 coach that attended Chris Street's funeral. My memory may be hazy here, but if true, I would think kinder of him given this thread. Does that excuse cheating? Of course not. But does it influence my perception of him as a person? Absolutely. Anyone else recall??
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Bill Foster may have been there as well. Northwestern was already in town to play the Hawks the next night. It would have been perhaps a six hour commute for Foster to come back unless he simply took the team plane to Des Moines.

The next few days, for obvious reasons, were hazy for everybody. I remember Bobby Knight wearing a black and gold ribbon on the sideline for Indiana's next game. Knight, Gene Keady and Jud Heathcote had kind things to say about Street. Knight was genuinely moved when told that Iowa wanted to retire Street's iconic #40 on the night of the Indiana game, perhaps three weeks after the crash, because Street had mentioned how much he admired Indiana's program. Fred Hoiberg, his former AAU teammate, changed his number to 40 for the rest of the season. Matt Painter, another friend and rival of Chris, was seen recently sporting a spirit 40 shirt or whatever those were called. Former Hawkeye Paul Lusk, by then relocated to Southern Illinois, was a pall bearer.
 
uihawk82 said:
Yeah you gotta earn it on the court but at the same time without the cheating Minny probably wouldnt have had a few of their great players on the court. So that negates your logic.
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No it doesn't...if you want a paper award then print one out, frame it, and hang it in your living room. I'd rather see Iowa win a championship or advance to a Final Four ON THE COURT. Getting awarded after the fact because the other team cheated feels empty.

People cheat, it happens, it makes beating them even more meaningful.
 
ssckelley said:
No it doesn't...if you want a paper award then print one out, frame it, and hang it in your living room. I'd rather see Iowa win a championship or advance to a Final Four ON THE COURT. Getting awarded after the fact because the other team cheated feels empty.

People cheat, it happens, it makes beating them even more meaningful.
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Exactly. Right after the FBI investigation findings were released a couple of years ago, the final 7 teams in the NCAA tournament were all on the list. Only 3 Sweet Sixteen teams were NOT on the list. Nobody cares about that or remembers who they are. Give them Final Four appearances, but all it will be is a side note in their media guides.
 
99topdawg said:
Exactly. Right after the FBI investigation findings were released a couple of years ago, the final 7 teams in the NCAA tournament were all on the list. Only 3 Sweet Sixteen teams were NOT on the list. Nobody cares about that or remembers who they are. Give them Final Four appearances, but all it will be is a side note in their media guides.
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Wow, didnt hear that crappy news shit. I wonder if Jim Nantz talks about that during the One Shining Moment? I know schools cheat but that is a bad ratio.

Maybe One Shining Moment should be renamed to One Shining Investigation in the Glare of Reality.
 
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