INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan will resign at the end of December amid new NCAA allegations that the school failed to monitor the men's basketball team.
The NCAA initially alleged former basketball coach Kelvin Sampson committed five major recruiting violations during his 1 1/2 years at the school but dropped one of the charges before school officials testified in front of the NCAA infractions committee.
Indiana is awaiting a decision on penalties from the NCAA. The infractions committee listened to the university's defense on June 13-14.
But just as the school was announcing Greenspan's decision, after months of criticism for his role in hiring Sampson, the school was charged with another major allegation, which caught president Michael McRobbie and Greenspan off-guard.
``This is an allegation toward the athletic department as to who is culpable,'' Greenspan said. ``I say, as always have, I take responsibility, for what happens in the athletic department. I strongly disagree with the allegation and the vagueness of the term 'business practices.'''
Greenspan said it is important for someone else to lead the department, and the school scheduled an afternoon news conference on campus to discuss his decision.
``I am aware that I have become the focus of criticism, which will continue to distract Indiana University from its core educational mission,'' Greenspan said in a statement released by the school. ``Consequently, I believe a new person will be in a stronger position to lead IU athletics moving forward and it is in IU's best interests for me to stand down.''
Indiana president Michael McRobbie said the university ``intends to defend itself vigorously against this additional allegation.''
Greenspan was Army's athletic director before he was hired by Indiana in 2004. His resignation follows a purge of the men's basketball program. Already gone is Sampson, all his assistants and all the players he recruited to Indiana.
Sampson accepted a $750,000 buyout from the school Feb. 22. In April, Greenspan hired former Marquette coach Tom Crean, a move that has drawn broad support from Indiana fans.
A letter from the NCAA, released by the school Thursday, said Indiana failed to meet standards from May 2006 to July 2007, especially in light of ``the heightened monitoring required by the prior infractions history'' of Sampson. He already was under sanction for previous telephone recruiting violations when he was the coach at Oklahoma.
