Basketball | NCAA disciplines Kelvin Sampson

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By Bloomberg News and The Associated Press

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DARRON CUMMINGS / AP

Ex-Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson, shown reacting to a call in a Dec. 8 game, received a five-year show-cause punishment from the NCAA that makes it unlikely he will be a college coach in the next five years. He is an NBA assistant coach for Milwaukee.
INDIANAPOLIS — Kelvin Sampson probably won't coach college basketball for the next five years after receiving an NCAA penalty Tuesday for recruiting violations while he coached at Indiana.

The five-year show-cause punishment by the NCAA prevents Sampson — a former Washington State coach — from any recruiting activities from 2008 to 2011 and drastically limits any contact he could have with high-school players in 2012 and 2013.

The severity of the discipline makes it unlikely the 53-year-old Sampson, who is an assistant coach for the NBA Milwaukee Bucks, would land a coaching job in college in the next five years. He had a combined record of 425-226 at Indiana, Oklahoma and WSU.

Sampson issued a statement Tuesday saying he was "deeply disappointed" by the NCAA findings.

"The accusations at hand are things that happened on my watch and therefore I will take responsibility," he said. "I am truly sorry that there were so many people who were hurt in this situation. For the sake of everyone involved, including my family, it is time to move on."

Sampson accepted a $750,000 buyout to resign as Indiana's coach on Feb. 22 after an investigation into allegations he and his assistants made more than 100 impermissible calls to recruits. He was on probation at the time for making improper calls from 2000 to 2004 while coaching at Oklahoma.

The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions said Sampson committed extensive rules violations and provided false or misleading information during the investigation when he knowingly violated committee penalties.

Sampson joined Milwaukee as an assistant in May.

Indiana's program forfeits one scholarship and will be on probation for the next three seasons for failing to monitor the activities of Sampson and his assistant coaches, NCAA officials said. The Hoosiers will be permitted to play in postseason events, including the NCAA tournament.

"I really believe this allows us to put the whole, ugly episode behind us and move forward," said incoming athletic director Fred Glass.

First-year Indiana coach Tom Crean said, "It's bittersweet. We didn't want to lose postseason, scholarships or television. Thank God we didn't lose any of those so we can continue to move the program without the what-ifs."

Infractions committee chairwoman Jo Potuto acknowledged Indiana was spared additional punishment because of its cooperation with the investigation, its own decision to take away a scholarship and extend recruiting restrictions and the school's long tradition of abiding by the rules.

"This is what gutting a program looks like, and you have to keep moving forward," Crean said. "That's what we'll do, and we get to do it in the long term."

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