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Kelvin Sampson (HC Houston Cougars)

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I owe U a winner

Ex-OU coach vows to justify Indiana's faith in his ability

By WENDELL BARNHOUSE

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/DARRON CUMMINGS
Once not very interested in becoming the Indiana head basketball coach, former Sooners coach Kelvin Sampson has warmed to the task -- and the state.
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A visitor's cellphone jingled and as he fumbled to find the off button, Kelvin Sampson allowed himself a small grin.
"You're not the only one who's had a problem with those things," he said.
Sitting comfortably in his new office in Assembly Hall where his new team plays, Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson understands the NCAA and his peers want him to wear a scarlet "C" on his chest.
After 12 seasons and 279 victories, Sampson left Oklahoma in March to take the Hoosiers' job. In late May, the NCAA committee on infractions penalized Oklahoma and criticized Sampson's staff for 577 impermissible phone calls to recruits during a four-year period.
"There's no defense, no excuses," Sampson said. "I don't have anyone to blame but myself. I made a mistake. The problem is not repeating it."
Then the National Association of Basketball Coaches, in an effort to emphasize ethics, sanctioned Sampson.
"I need to be careful what I say... I didn't understand it," Sampson said. "I think coaches have to be careful policing other coaches. The NCAA does that. The NCAA investigated and announced penalties. I thought it [the NABC sanctions] was piling on."
Part of the NCAA's sanctions prevented Sampson from leaving campus to recruit last summer; nonetheless, Indiana has pulled together a talented recruiting class (based on oral commitments.)
Just how Indiana landed the commitments, though, will bring added controversy.
Guard Eric Gordon of Indianapolis, one of the nation's top players, said he was changing his commitment from Illinois to Indiana. The Hoosiers' inability to sign top players in the state has been an ongoing source of concern for IU fans.
Sampson can't comment about recruits until they sign letters of intent.
"Ask 98 percent of the coaches, and they'll tell you that they stop calling kids once they [verbally commit]," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "We do. Most do it."
Sampson's staff includes assistants Jeff Meyer (who coached Gordon's father in college) and Ray McCallum (who played against Gordon's father in high school) plus video coordinator Travis Steele, who coached Gordon's summer-league team.
Well, at least the Indiana-Illinois games this season should be juicy.
The move to Indiana
Coaching wisdom says don't be the guy who replaces the legend. Mike Davis, who replaced Bob Knight as Indiana's coach, spent six beleaguered seasons here.
Sampson was not exactly a popular hire.
To counter that, he spent the off-season campaigning throughout the state -- Floyd's Knob, Westfield, Merrillville, Starlight -- speaking to groups of Hoosiers fans. The support and response has been "overwhelming."
Sampson's initial reaction when Indiana made a third-party inquiry was "no" because he was looking forward to this season with talented freshmen and the absence of the ongoing speculation about NCAA sanctions.
"Indiana is a job a lot of coaches would love to have," Sampson said. "I considered the Oklahoma program was my program. I thought we could win it all there. In 2002 I thought that [Final Four] team was as good as any."
"I didn't want to validate [Indiana's] search. When they called back, I told them I would only interview if they were serious about offering the job."
Sampson's son, Kellen, was a fourth-grader when the family moved to Norman. Now he's a fifth-year senior reserve on the OU team. Kellen wanted to stay at Oklahoma to finish his career and schooling. Breaking up the family is hard to do.
Kellen's advice/response: "Dad, you're crazy if you don't take that job. There's not a coach in the country who wouldn't want that job."
Under Davis, the Hoosiers were inconsistent. Offensively, he preferred a free-flowing style that often looked undisciplined. Sampson will install his defensive schemes and disciplined offense that will revolve around 6-foot-9, 250-pound post D.J. White.
"Something last year's team lacked was discipline," junior guard A.J. Ratliff said. "Coach Sampson is heavy on that."
Discipline and hard work might not be enough to balance an early half of the season that includes the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament, nonconference games at Duke and Kentucky, and the Big Ten season opener at Ohio State on Jan. 2.
"I'm at the point in my career when I'm gonna have fun with this," Sampson said. "I don't see how this is going to have a bad ending. I'm looking forward to getting the players to play my way, putting my footprint on the program.
"I think we're gonna be good."
QUICK STARTERS
Kelvin Sampson replaces Mike Davis as Indiana coach this season. Davis was the fourth-winningest coach in Hoosiers history. How the top four Indiana coaches fared in their first seasons:
17-8
Bob Knight (1971-72)
Overall
W-L: 661-240
17-3
Branch
McCracken (1938-39) Overall W-L: 364-174
12-5
Everett Dean (1924-25)
Overall
W-L: 162-93
21-13
Mike Davis (2000-01)
Overall
W-L: 115-78
 
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Sanctions don't keep Sampson down

IU still lands talented recruits

By WENDELL BARNHOUSE

McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - A visitor's cell phone jingled, and as he fumbled to find the off button, Kelvin Sampson allowed himself a small grin.
"You're not the only one who's had a problem with those things," he said.
Sitting comfortably in his new office in Assembly Hall where his new team plays, Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson understands the NCAA and his peers want him to wear a scarlet "C" on his chest.
After 12 seasons and 279 victories, Sampson left Oklahoma in March to take the Hoosiers' job. In late May, the NCAA committee on infractions penalized Oklahoma and criticized Sampson's staff for 577 impermissible phone calls to recruits during a four-year period.
Then the National Association of Basketball Coaches, in an effort to emphasize ethics, sanctioned Sampson.
"I need to be careful what I say... I didn't understand it," Sampson said. "I think coaches have to be careful policing other coaches. The NCAA does that. The NCAA investigated and announced penalties. I thought it (the NABC sanctions) was piling on."
Part of the NCAA's sanctions prevented Sampson from leaving campus to recruit last summer; nonetheless, Indiana has pulled together a talented recruiting class (based on oral commitments.)
Just how Indiana landed the commitments, though, will bring added controversy.
Guard Eric Gordon of Indianapolis, one of the nation's top players, said he was changing his commitment from Illinois to Indiana. The Hoosiers' inability to sign top players in the state has been an ongoing source of concern for IU fans.
Sampson can't comment about recruits until they sign letters of intent.
Sampson's staff members are assistants Jeff Meyer and Ray McCallum plus video coordinator Travis Steele
Coaching wisdom says don't be the guy who replaces the legend. Mike Davis, who replaced Bob Knight as Indiana's coach, spent six beleaguered seasons here.
Sampson was not exactly a popular hire.
To counter that, he spent the off-season campaigning throughout the state - Floyd's Knob, Westfield, Merrillville, Starlight - speaking to groups of Hoosiers fans. The support and response has been "overwhelming."
Sampson's initial reaction when Indiana made a third-party inquiry was "no" because he was looking forward to this season with talented freshmen and the absence of the ongoing speculation about NCAA sanctions.
"Indiana is a job a lot of coaches would love to have," Sampson said. "I considered the Oklahoma program was my program. I thought we could win it all there. In 2002, I thought that (Final Four) team was as good as any."
"I didn't want to validate (Indiana's) search. When they called back, I told them I would only interview if they were serious about offering the job."
Under Davis, the Hoosiers were inconsistent. Offensively, he preferred a free-flowing style that often looked undisciplined. Sampson will install his defensive schemes and disciplined offense that will revolve around 6-foot-9, 250-pound post D.J. White.
Discipline and hard work might not be enough to balance an early half of the season that has the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament, nonconference games at Duke and Kentucky, and the Big Ten season-opener at Ohio State on Jan. 2.
"I'm at the point in my career when I'm gonna have fun with this," Sampson said. "I don't see how this is going to have a bad ending. I'm looking forward to getting the players to play my way, putting my footprint on the program.
"I think we're gonna be good."
Sampson
 
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SportingNews.com

Indiana becoming more appealing to in-state recruits
October 17, 2006


If you think I've said all there is to say about Eric Gordon and his various commitments and decommitments, you apparently don't know me very well.
The story of Gordon's decision to abandon Illinois and embrace Indiana will not die until well after he is earning his living in the National Basketball Association. And, believe it, he will be playing there. Gordon is a 6-3 shooting guard at Indianapolis North Central High who shoots brilliantly, attacks the rim with ferocity and overpowers defenders with his upper-body strength. He instantly will be a dynamic college scorer.

That's why Illinois is so upset to lose him. But the simplest element of the Gordon saga may be the one getting lost amid the charges of "tampering" leveled against Indiana and the nasty characterizations of the Gordon family by those frustrated by the outcome. Gordon is the first great Indiana player in more than a decade who was in position to be recruited by an IU that is relatively -- shall we say -- normal.
Damon Bailey might have been last before this. Maybe it goes back farther than that. But it's hard to argue that by the late 1990s, when Jared Jeffries was in Bloomington, IU basketball had a certain toxicity to it. Bob Knight's relationship with the university administration left him with a tenuous hold on his empire. Jeffries picked the Hoosiers but wound up never playing a minute for Knight.
The terrific players who went through Indiana high schools following Knight's dismissal, including Sean May, Josh McRoberts and Greg Oden, found his successor in constant peril from disgruntled Knight fans and ambitious IU fans. These players knew the unstable atmosphere far better than a young person from, say, Alabama might. Mike Davis did not do well enough at courting Indiana's high school coaches, and he flat whiffed on identifying Dominic James as a prospect, but his chances of doing well with in-staters never were great.
We're talking a decade or more in which elite in-state players were forced to leave Indiana or swallow whatever misgivings they might have if they wished to do what so many players in so many states dream of doing.
Although Kelvin Sampson's hiring was somewhat controversial because of his no-Indiana background and the lingering NCAA investigation into his phone-call habits, there was no doubting he was a skilled, veteran coach with the talent to bring stability to the program. It is no surprise the Gordons suddenly were interested in Indiana. It'll be no surprise if future Indiana prospects are eager to become Hoosiers. This program has great history. For the first time in a while, the present seems inviting.
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Sampson shows his bark

COLLEGE

CURT RALLO
Tribune Staff Writer

If any of Indiana's players doubted that new Hoosier head coach Kelvin Sampson was a harsh disciplinarian, that thought was quickly knocked out of their heads during Indiana's first week of practice.

Sampson barked out "How many turnovers does Calloway have?" during a scrimmage in which point guard Earl Calloway threw the ball away more than a few times.

There was confusion among the managers, and then the realization that none of them had been keeping turnover statistics.

Sampson then had the managers run shuttle sprints. But, according to Calloway, Sampson gave the managers a little bit of a break.

"We have to run shuttles in 66 seconds," Calloway said. "Coach had the managers run the shuttles in 68 seconds."

Big presence

The player who was the biggest presence at the Big Ten media day on Sunday wasn't in attendance.

In fact, he hasn't even played a college basketball game yet.

Ohio State's 7-foot freshman Greg Oden may not play until Jan. 2, when the Buckeyes take on Indiana, because of a wrist injury.

But Oden, as the national high school player of the year, was the center of attention. His presence on the Buckeye roster has Ohio State ranked as the favorite to win the Big Ten Conference crown.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta said that Oden is extremely well grounded in terms of dealing with expectations.

"Fortunately, you've got a young man who comes in extremely intelligent," Matta said. "Probably the greatest statement I heard Greg Oden make was, 'I don't know why everybody is making so much out about me. To be the best, you have to be able to dribble and shoot, and I don't do either one particularly well.' That's his mind-set. I've never seen Greg ever act as though people have told him he's the best player in the country."

Michigan's Courtney Sims said that Oden deserves the attention, but that Big Ten opponents won't be in awe of him.

"He deserves a lot of credit and the hype he's getting, but it won't be easy for him," Sims said of Oden. "But It won't be easy for any freshman to come in and dominate. The Big Ten is a tough conference. He's going to go through learning experiences. He might be better than a lot of players, but it's going to be tough for him because college basketball is tough. It's a whole different game. You try to get your shot off, and people are bodying you.

"I remember the first time I played a college game, people were bodying me up and pushing me off the block," Sims said. "That didn't happen in high school. In high school, as a big man, you just shoot over people. People are scared of you. But people won't be scared of him in the Big Ten. He'll adjust. He'll go through a learning curve."

Spartan doubts

Michigan State point guard Drew Neitzel said that the Spartans are taking low expectations personally.

"Whenever people doubt you, you kind of get that chip in your shoulder that I'm going to prove them wrong," Neitzel said. "At the same time, there's a reason why we're not picked high. We lost three guys to the NBA. There's not a lot of experience coming back.

"You can't get too worked up about preseason rankings, as we saw last year. Last year, we were ranked third, and then at the end of the season, we weren't anything."

Staff writer Curt Rallo:
[email protected]
(574) 235-6152
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Dick Jerardi | Sampson among those who soil game

THE MESSAGE IS not subtle. It has been the message for decades. No matter how many people wish it were not so, it remains as true today as it was in 1974.
In college basketball, cheating is rewarded.
The classic example is 1974 North Carolina State. The Wolfpack ended UCLA's 7-year NCAA championship run that year.
The year before, N.C. State had gone unbeaten, but was not allowed to participate in the tournament. Why? The school was on probation for its recruitment of then-sophomore David
Thompson.
Think anybody in Raleigh complained when the Pack won that title? Were any fans, administrators or alums upset they won because of what was deemed illegal recruiting?
If it were not still true, how exactly would you explain Kelvin Sampson? He parlayed his Oklahoma's staff's 577 impermissible recruiting phone calls (a mere 230 of which were his) into the Indiana job.
Some calls were made while he was the president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He presided over an ethics summit in October 2003. Nice.
Coaches have gotten their schools on probation while recruiting a terrific class. Sometimes, those players go on to make deep NCAA runs and the coach gets a contract extension and more money.
Really, what message do you think that sends? When was the last time a school fired a winning coach because he broke the rules? When was the last school in the big-money leagues that kept a losing coach because he stayed within the rules?
Some really good coaches are in this business, people trying their best to do the right thing even as they know many of their brethren will do anything to get the best players.
Anything can be rationalized: "Hey, the other guy was even worse. I just did what I had to do."
This really is a great game. It is just that too many of the people in it let the game and themselves down all too often.
 
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Dispatch

BIG TEN MEN?S NOTEBOOK
Indiana?s Sampson credits predecessor
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Some Indiana fans will have a hard time believing what coach Kelvin Sampson thinks is a reason for the Hoosiers? auspicious start to the Big Ten men?s basketball season.
"I think you have to give Mike Davis a lot of credit for a lot that we?ve been able to accomplish," Sampson said yesterday.
 
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Sampson's restoration project
Recruiting issue shouldn't taint his work at Indiana

January 23, 2007
Kelvin Sampson offered an apology Monday for the confusion that bubbled over regarding Eric Gordon's decision to withdraw his commitment to Bruce Weber at Illinois and sign with Sampson at Indiana. ''I should have picked the phone up and called Bruce,'' Sampson said. ''No excuses. That's something I should have done.''
That courtesy might have eased the tension between the two coaches a bit. But Weber, who was being reassured by the Gordon family, still would have been in an awkward recruiting place, to put it mildly.
 
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Dispatch

BIG TEN BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Sampson could get rough reception at Illinois
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
20070123-Pc-E4-0600.jpg
BOB CHILD ASSOCIATED PRESS Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson said he should have notified Illinois coach Bruce Weber before talking to an Illini recruit.
20070123-Pc-E4-0800.jpg

Bruce Weber

Kelvin Sampson said all the right things.
Bruce Weber said little, but the chill in his voice was perceptible.
 
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Sampson on the recruiting trail for first time in two years

By Chris Korman | HoosiersHQ.com
Friday July 6, 2007

Kelvin Sampson returns to live, in-person, off-campus evaluating of recruits today.

After spending the past two summers back in the office - the first year a self-imposed sanction and the second an NCAA-imposed punishment for excessive phone calls at Oklahoma - Sampson will visit the showcase events this weekend as one of two 10-day "live periods" for recruiting begins.

Continued....
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IU fines, punishes Sampson for illegal calls

indy star
Indiana University announced today that basketball coach Kelvin Sampson is being fined and punished for participating in phone conversations to recruits during the time the NCAA prohibited him from doing so.

Sampson will lose $500,000, a scholarship for next season and the use of one of his assistants on the road for recruiting.

Continued...
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why does the loss of one '08 scholarship not actually hurt indiana? here is why. the loss of the scholarship looks like punishment. it smells like punishment. however, it is not punishment. the punishment is sampson's loss of the $500k and the continued perception as a cheater. so be it, but let no one be mistaken that the loss of the '08 scholarship is an actual penalty paid.

of course, indiana might have found a player to replace mackey. that is true. that they would have found a nearly comparable player to mackey is highly unlikely.
 
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OSU_Buckguy;959262; said:
why does the loss of one '08 scholarship not actually hurt indiana? here is why. the loss of the scholarship looks like punishment. it smells like punishment. however, it is not punishment. the punishment is sampson's loss of the $500k and the continued perception as a cheater. so be it, but let no one be mistaken that the loss of the '08 scholarship is an actual penalty paid.

of course, indiana might have found a player to replace mackey. that is true. that they would have found a nearly comparable player to mackey is highly unlikely.
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All depends on how many openings they will have for 2008 so it is probably not a penalty as it should be.
Sorry I hadn't read the Indy Star article. If he had done this while he was still at Oklahoma, OU might have received the death penalty. Not saying that IU should be hit that hard but they should get hit worse they are are taking on their own. We got hit awfully hard for our violations under O'Brien and I think the NCAA will not look too kindly on Sampson not paying attention to the recruiting guidelines they gave him. They should get hit pretty hard with some NCAA sanctions IMO.
 
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