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cnnsi.com

Eye of the storm

IU signee Ebanks in middle of Sampson allegations


LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. -- Last July, Yvonne Jackson, the mother of Devin Ebanks, a swingman who had recently committed to Indiana, was on a cruise in the Caribbean when she received a call from a member of Indiana University's compliance office. "It caught me off guard," says Jackson, who was named in the NCAA's 14-page list of allegations regarding impermissible phone calls by Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson. "They wanted to verify my cell number and Devin's. They were asking me about dates and calls that had been made. I answered to the best of my memory."
The calls in question relate back to Ebanks' recruitment, which, for the most part, took place during the year-long period when Sampson was prohibited from calling recruits or making off-campus visits. In 2006, the NCAA handed down sanctions against Sampson because of the 577 impermissible calls he and his staff made while at Oklahoma before arriving in Indiana. "He made a mistake," Ebanks said of Sampson when he offered his verbal commitment last June. "I've made bad mistakes myself. You still have to give someone a chance."

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On Wednesday, Ebanks' did not receive a phone call from Sampson or the staff about the latest list of allegations handed down by the NCAA, which also includes Ebanks' name as a recipient of impermissible calls. Instead, they heard second hand from various news accounts. "Right now we still have yet to make a decision," said Jackson, who also cooperated with the NCAA's investigation, on Thursday morning. "Obviously this is more serious than ever before, but we'll have to talk with the coaches and wait to see if Devin will re-open his recruitment." (Since he signed a Letter of Intent, Ebanks' would need to be released from his letter by Indiana in order to be able to play right away should he decide to go to another school.)