IU launches nationwide coaching search

IU President Michael McRobbie took the first step toward finding a new IU men’s basketball coach yesterday when he announced the appointment of a 10-member committee that will conduct a nationwide search.\nHarry Gonso, an attorney with the Indianapolis-based law firm Ice Miller, will chair the committee.\nIce Miller was the legal counsel to the University’s internal investigation of former IU coach Kelvin Sampson. The firm’s report detailed the use of three-way phone calls by the IU men’s basketball team’s coaching staff, which led to assistant coach Rob Senderoff’s resignation. Sampson and the University agreed to a buyout settlement Feb. 22 after an NCAA investigation. \nGonso is a former IU board of trustees member and chaired two presidential searches in his 18 years with the board.\nMcRobbie said in a statement yesterday that Gonso is the ideal choice to chair the committee for IU because “he has a deep appreciation for both our academic mission and our athletic traditions.”\n“Harry shares my determination to find a coach who will lead our men’s basketball program in a manner that reflects Indiana University’s tradition and values,” McRobbie said.\nGonso quarterbacked the 1968 IU football team to the Rose Bowl and was named an Academic All-American and an All-Big Ten football player.\n“I am grateful to President McRobbie for placing this trust with me,” Gonso said in the statement. “I think he has put together a very strong search committee and I am confident we will carry out this task quickly and successfully.”\nGonso will head a committee that includes Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan and former IU men’s soccer coach Jerry Yeagley, among others.\nAccording to the statement, the committee will conduct its nationwide search without public comment until a decision is announced.\nIU interim coach Dan Dakich will lead the No. 8 seeded Hoosiers this Friday when they battle No. 9 Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.\nMcRobbie declined to offer any additional comments on the timing of the announcement.