When Tim Floyd was the Head Coach at Iowa St, I interviewed him a couple of times. One time I talked with him was in person when he came to Sioux City to speak at the Cyclone Club. He had this sly and crooked kind of smile.
I teased him about not liking his clothes because he always seemed to throw his jacket on the floor during the game and slowly would strip of layers as the game progressed. The truth is that I was impressed with the man’s desire to win and Ames is not an easy place to win at.
I had always heard rumors about possible misdoings in Floyd’s basketball program but nothing was ever proven, nothing was ever brought to light and I never thought anything of it. At Iowa St., Floyd won 81 games in 4 seasons and took the Cyclones to the NCAA Sweet 16. Floyd took the program where nobody thought it would ever go again.
Now, Floyd is partially, if not fully disgraced with the allegations that he engineered a deal to pay O.J. Mayo to play for him at USC. Floyd announced his resignation yesterday and his future in college coaching is in doubt.
I have always wondered whether its more important to win at all costs or lose with integrity. Nobody likes a loser but nobody likes a cheater either. Some players and coaches don’t want to lose so badly that they will try and win at all costs, even if it means bending the rules.
Mark McGwire is pretty much in baseball exile because it looks like he cheated — he took performance enhancing drugs and his induction in the Hall of Fame is unlikely. Tim Floyd looks like he cheated — it appears that he has paid a player to play for him. What should his punishment be?
My impression of Floyd was that this was a guy who would win at all costs and apparently that impression was dead on. Floyd has disgraced himself and put into question every school that he has coached for, should the allegations are true. Iowa St. has never been the same since Floyd left — in fact it got worse when his replacement Larry Eustachy left in disgrace and controversy and hasn’t been heard from since.
So Cyclone fans, do you treasure those years of winning under Floyd in the mid 1990’s or do you wonder whether Iowa St. won those games on the up-and-up? You can thank Tim Floyd for that.
Filed under: Iowa St. Cyclones
