Indiana Hiring Steve Alford would be a Fred Glass Contradiction

The rumors are swirling about the recent head coaching vacancy for Indiana. UCLA coach and ex-Indiana player Steve Alford has been the name circulated the most.

Fulfilling The Promise.

The motto that Indiana University campaigns to the school’s students across all campuses. It’s the first words you see as you drive down State Road 37 painted across a billboard a half-mile away from the Bloomington exit. A motto that holds every student accountable for living under the guidelines of what defines a Hoosier. The question is do they hold that same belief for staff, particularly in the athletic department of the university?

It’s a question that needs to be addressed after the Indiana Hoosiers fired head men’s basketball coach Tom Crean on Thursday. The job opening continues to draw national attention this weekend and the rumor mill of coaching replacements is churning. One of those names that seem to continue to stick is ex-Indiana player and current UCLA head coach Steve Alford.

Alford grew up in New Castle, Indiana and was named 1983 Indiana Mr. Basketball. Alford led the Indiana Hoosiers to their fifth National Championship in 1987 as a player, the Hoosiers have yet to win one since. You can see where I am going with this, right?

Fast forward to Alford’s time as a coach at Iowa between 2000-2005. The time he spent here is all too forgotten among Indiana fans who campaign for him as the next head coach. Specifically after an incident involving one of Alford’s players on September 6th, 2002. According to the official report, a female Iowa student reported being sexually assaulted by another student, Pierre Pierce. Pierce, a player on the Iowa basketball team, was suspended by the Iowa Athletic Department until the conclusion of the investigation.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Alford stood by his player.

"“I totally believe he’s innocent. I believed it from Day 1 and I still believe it.” – Steve Alford on Pierre Pierce case"

Not only did Alford stand by his player who proved to be guilty (more on that later), he tried to downplay the seriousness of the situation. The official report stated that the victim was contacted by an outside non-affiliated religious group, Athletes in Action, which also had close ties to Alford and the basketball program.

"In particular, individuals affiliated with Athletes in Action, a religious organization, contacted the victim to seek an informal resolution of the matter by asking the victim to meet informally for prayer with the perpetrator. One of those individuals had a longstanding relationship with the basketball program and its coach, which included traveling with the basketball team and conducting voluntary chapel and Bible study activities for the team and staff."

A prayer meeting to bend the knee of the victim into letting the situation dissolve. The victim decided to pursue criminal action against Pierce after the initial contact. The two sides eventually came to an agreement and Pierce pled guilty to a misdemeanor, redshirted from the team, retained his eligibility and academic scholarship.

The school was clear about the misstep Steve Alford took to backing his player in the media before the investigation could conclude.

"While Coach Alford believed he was acting as he had been directed in making the statements he made to the media, one set of those statements–confirming his certainty in Pierce’s innocence–implied that he disbelieved and discredited the claims of the student victim, and his words were perceived as reflecting insensitivity to issues of sexual assault and sexual violence."

That very player that Steve Alford so adamantly supported became a repeat offender. Pierce was arrested again in 2005 for assaulting his then-girlfriend and threatened to commit burglary to her apartment. He pled guilty to first-degree burglary, assault with intent to commit sexual assault and fourth-degree criminal mischief. He spent the next 11-months in prison and Alford was burned in Iowa City.

More from Indiana Basketball

Remember back to the beginning of December when Indiana football coach Kevin Wilson resigned for “philosophical differences” with the program? Wilson was rumored to be involved in alleged player mistreatment from former players. Stories were published of some of the alleged player mishandlings and abuse of Wilson, although no actions were formally taken against the head coach. He instead resigned from the program and shortly after took a position at Ohio State.

The important connection to this story comes from the press conference by Fred Glass following the Wilson resignation. It was the words that were said by Glass that were most telling about the type of programs he wanted representing Indiana.

"“That doesn’t make me right or wrong, but I can tell you that I came at this earnestly and with the best interests of Indiana University at heart. I’ll tell you that I’m proud to be part of an institution that puts doing what it thinks is the right thing ahead of competitive success.” – Indiana Athletic Director Fred Glass"

Hiring Steve Alford would explicitly contradict the statement made clear by Glass in December. A decision to go with Alford would be putting “competitive success” over “doing the right thing”. Allowing Alford to coach Indiana basketball would be putting the need for on-court success to be far more important than respected culture. If the accusations of player abuse by Kevin Wilson in the football program were not tolerated, how could the shot callers turn a blind eye to Alford’s disturbing past?

Hiring Alford to coach at the historic program of Indiana would be setting standards that could never be recovered. The sheer hypocrisy of the situation is one that Fred Glass would be unable to explain to the fans, players and staff. Alford’s protection of Pierre Peirce and having no sympathy for the victim should be the reason Indiana declines a homecoming.

Next: Will Thomas Bryant enter the NBA Draft after Crean firing?

Fred Glass should fulfill his promise to students, alumnus, faculty and fans by creating a culture we all want to be proud of. Not the type of culture that tries to strong arm sexual assault victims by calling for prayer meetings. Not the type of culture that asks people to move on and forget severe missteps such as the ones made by Alford.

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