According to an AP report, UConn will hold a press conference Friday morning as the NCAA will announce a notice of allegations. UConn is expected to reveal the NCAA’s notice of allegations that indicates the NCAA enforcement staff believes that violations have occurred. The notice of allegations, in effect, notifies all involved parties of the alleged violations of NCAA rules uncovered during the inquiry.

This is from Fox News:
Two UConn staff members have parted ways as the NCAA is set to release a notice of allegations on Friday morning stemming from a report more than a year ago which documented numerous rules violations.

Assistant Pat Sellars and director of basketball operations Beau Archibald, according to multiple sources, are both out of jobs

Sources have also told FOXSports.com that UConn is slated to have a news conference on Friday at 10 a.m. to discuss the notice of allegations.

Yahoo! Sports reported in March of 2009 that there were violations in the recruitment of former UConn player Nate Miles and the involvement of former Huskies manager Josh Nochimson — now an agent.

The report stated that phone record showed hundreds of calls and text messages between Nochimson and UConn staff members.

—-
Update: May 27, 2010 11:34pm ET

Jeff Goodman over at Fox Sports tweeted that, “the official terminology for Pat Sellars [sic] and Beau Archibald’s departure will be “resignation”. However, it wasn’t by choice.”

In addition, Goodman tweeted that two of the names being mentioned to replace Sellers and Archibald are former Huskies Donyell Marshall and Kevin Ollie.

UConn could be in some serious trouble. After a long investigation by the NCAA, Yahoo! is reporting that the NCAA has found “multiple violations” and a report will be issued soon. Click below to read the rest of the Yahoo! article.

YAHOO REPORT ON UCONN

By: S. Andrews
What a crazy month in college football! First Tim Tebow cries like a baby after a thrashing from Alabama (which eventually went on to claim the National Championship). Then his coach Urban Myer resigns, then changes his mind then flip flops about his decision more than a hungry pregnant woman. Next, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy is knocked out of the Championship game after the first series, on a hit that didn’t seem all too bad leaving a true freshman quarterback to play his first game for National Championship against the nations #1 defense Now, Lane Kiffin gives Tennessee the ole Bobby Petrino screw job and leaves for USC after just 14 months in the toothless rocky top town of Knoxville.

So what gives? Why did Kiffin scram from the inbred hills of Rocky Top for the topless beaches of SO-CAL? Was it because his recruiting hostesses looked more like his offensive line than a like an army of hot college co-eds? Was it because of the licking he took from the Gators after months of pre-season smack talk?

Nope, it’s none of these; the real reason Kiffin jumped ship to USC is because of the Cocaine. Seriously it’s SO-CAL people, the place where your wildest fantasies come true. The place where college quarterbacks party like rock stars with real rock stars who………wait for it…….like to dabble with the nose candy.  It’s the place where you can play 60 minutes of football and then frequent parties where strippers and kangaroos are a way of life, not an anomaly.

Just stop and think about it, would you rather coach players who get in trouble for robbing a convenience store on a lazy Friday night or coach players who get in trouble for snorting a kilo of cocaine while making out with 2 hot models in front of a dozen midgets (sorry….little people) during an all night frat house party where the main form of entertainment is a llama rodeo? I would take the llama rodeo in a heartbeat (mainly because I’ve never seen a llama rodeo before).

I know it was kind of…….well it was pretty dirty for Kiffin to put Tennessee in such a tight spot, but seriously people which would you rather have Moonshine or Cocaine?

I understand that Kiffin will bring stability to the program in the short term.  They should hold on to all of their committed recruits, have a great shot at their remaining visits, and eliminate any transfers from the current players.  He will also keep the same system and has strong ties with the California high school programs.  He is an outstanding recruiter.  That’s great for now, but here’s why I question the hire.

Lane Kiffin has been head coach at Tennessee for 1 year.  In that time he has had a multitude of minor recruiting violations.  Is this the message that USC wants to send right now?  They are mired in a NCAA investigation of their football and basketball programs.  The allegations against the program are serious in nature and at the very least they will probably be placed under strict probation.  Is Lane Kiffin the guy you want to be leading your program when it is in the best interests of the program to create a clean and wholesome image?

I feel like Mike Garrett is trying to make some kind of macho statement to the NCAA and I think it’s a bad idea.  The program didn’t need a splash hire.  USC is the splash.  They need stability.  They hired a guy who is on his fourth job in four years.  I hope for the sake of the USC program that Kiffin’s indiscretions at Tennessee were the result of him trying to promote a program that was down and not a habitual problem.

They didn't have girls like this at Bryant College!

Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee football program are being investigated by the SEC and the NCAA on potential recruiting violations involving university hostesses.  Reports state that these hostesses traveled up to 200 miles to watch high school recruits play.  A recruits father said one of the hostesses was rubbing her boobs all over him and his son during a visit.

Now from what I know, almost all schools use hostesses to sway recruits.  These hostesses are almost always hot and “out-going” – especially in the south and on the west coast.  I don’t really see what the big deal is with something like this happening.  It is not like they are being told to hook up with the recruits.  These kids probably see chicks like this at every school they go to.  To me, if there are hot broads throwing themselves at these recruits everywhere they go, isn’t it fair?  It’s not like Tennessee is the only school in the SEC with hot chicks as hostesses.

I’m sure nothing will come of it but all I have to say is, it must be great to be a D1 athlete!

It sounds ominous (but of course, being an Alabama fan, any time the NCAA starts poking around a program it sounds ominous to me). But remember, this comes after six “secondary violations” Laney has committed thus far this year. We’ll see what happens, but Lane’s “fast start” may suffer a set back of pretty serious proportions if the NCAA decides to go all “Alabama” on them.

So now the Fan advises the Little Oranges to pray that the Lord will have mercy. Because one thing’s for sure, the NCAA usually doesn’t.

FSU releases NCAA transcripts: Some Noles reading on 2nd-grade level? – Dr. Saturday – NCAAF – Yahoo! Sports.

Kiffin explains the more delicate intricacies of recruiting violations

Former Al Davis whipping boy/blood jockey Lane Kiffin has already run afoul of the NCAA several times in his short time as head coach of the University of Tennessee, prompting many to wonder if the fair-haired lady-killer is in over his head. His various rules infractions so far have included unauthorized career advice, ill-advised follow-up calls, calling the kettle black, illegal use of a fog machine, practicing medicine without a license, and most recently, oversharing on Twitter (redundant).

As we make a living on being one step ahead of the game, Style Points now looks to the future and prognosticates the precocious coach’s next avenue of fuck-up.

1. Sexting

According to various news outlets, “sexting” is all the rage among today’s youth. When I was in high school, we drew naked doodles of our classmates on our biology notes, and we liked it. Seeing actual genitals took years of hard work, emotional charades, and strategically placed malt liquor. Nevertheless, if high school kids are doing it, you can believe college coaches know about it and are soon to follow. This will become even more likely if Kiffin hires Sean Salisbury as an assistant coach/cock pic coordinator.

2. Illegal Contact via Carrier Pigeon

As coaches exhaust their technological know-how with MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and AOL Chat Rooms (The SEC typically being a decade behind the rest of America), the most forward-thinking will actually go backwards, and embrace the communication processes of the past. After a telegraph proves too difficult to use, Kiffin will attach his phone number to the leg of any wayward bird he finds, and release them in search of 6’3” linebackers with 4.5 speed. Tennessee will be forced to self-report after the bird instead makes a nest in Pat Summitt’s hair.

3. An Indecent Proposal

The first rule of recruiting is to utilize anything and everything you may have to your advantage, and Kiffin’s main advantage (in life) is his smoking hot wife. If Woody Harrelson can offer up one night with Demi Moore to Robert Redford for a million dollars, you better believe Lane is capable of doing the same with Layla and Joe Montana’s kid. The cover will be blown when he inexplicably commits to Tennessee and Lane never looks at him in the eye again. Rocky Top, indeed.

4. Billboard on Peyton Manning’s Forehead

Struggling to gain positive press, Kiffin will turn to two-time NFL MVP and former Vols Big Man on Campus Peyton Manning to help turn public perception around. The 10’ x 10’ advertisement will initially be effective, but UT will once again be forced to self-report as NCAA officials across the country observe the illegal ManningBoard on NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, PBS, The Discovery Channel, Cinemax 1 through 5, VH1 Classic and Telemundo. Eli will continue to serve as a UT commercial by demonstrating the perils of an Ole Miss education every time he opens his mouth.

So there you have it. Which of these four options will be Lane’s next misstep? Place your vote below.

As much as people want to deny it and say it isn’t true, college sports are full of dirty business. Exhibit A: The whole University of Southern California athletic department.

First it was Reggie Bush and his family accepting over $100,000 in financial benefits from marketing agents while he was still playing at USC, retroactively costing him his eligibility. The more recent scandal involves OJ Mayo’s playing days at the school as he had reportedly accepted around $30,000 from an LA based marketing company. The NCAA launched separate investigations into the incidents before lumping them together recently.

A new report from ESPN is now saying that head coach Tim Floyd actually paid an associate of Mayo’s, Rodney Guillory, to ensure the former high-school standout would attend USC. There’s a lot of information in the report including Guillory’s association with Mayo and some of the details of the investigation that I’m not going to summarize here, but Floyd handed Guillory an envelope full of $100 bills.

All of this business is obviously extremely dirty and USC will be facing major NCAA violations, but it would be naive to think this kind of thing is only happening at USC. USC was just dumb enough to get caught doing this (or they were specifically targeted by the NCAA). It’s obvious that with the power of boosters and the amount of money they can throw around, this is no isolated incident.

Last year the New York Times documented the recruiting process, following heralded defensive tackle Jamarkus McFarland through his decision on what school to attend. While it was never explicitly stated, it was obvious that some odd stuff was going on, especially at the University of Texas. The power and money that it takes to run these athletic problems rivals that of some professional teams if you factor in the amount of “support” the boosters provide. It’s a shady business and it’s hard to regulate.

The thing that stands out the most in this report is that head coach Tim Floyd handed the money over himself. That is the thing that shocks me the most from this development, because with all the resources and possible ways to get the money to a heralded recruit, the head coach ended up doing the dirty work.

USC will be facing major reprecussions, but will most likely be facing a slap on the wrist compared to what they should get. College sports will never be fair or devoid of extremely shady business, but the least the NCAA can do is start punishing these schools with consequences that actually fit the crime.

Congratulations USC, you’ve violated the eight commandment that was handed down by Mike Ditka himself. Shame on you.

The violation occurred in 2005, when the women’s basketball office arranged for Moore to tour the studios of ESPN in Bristol.

It was first reported last week by ESPN.

“The school says it learned of the violation last year, and recently completed a review of the all the facts, resulting in the school reporting it to the NCAA. The school did not say when that report was made.

The NCAA defines a secondary violation as one that is inadvertent in nature or doesn’t represent a significant competitive advantage. Penalties are usually minor, and can include a letter in the school’s file.”

Obviously this stuff happens more than we know.  We like to think that schools run clean programs and everything is perfect.  The bottom line is that some (not all) programs are willing to bend or break the rules to get top talent.  Violating these rules is not always as obvious as the Michigan “fab five” team.  That was so blatant it was almost funny.  Sometimes the violations are as small as extra money for food, grade considerations, or some new clothes.  That’s why it is so hard to police all the schools.  When your caught, its usually because you made big mistakes or someone leaked the information.

I’m not going to crucify Northeastern for the infractions.  It’s sad to see and reminds us that the sport isn’t perfect.  My only beef with Northeastern is if you are going to violate rules, shouldn’t you do better than 19-13.  Especially in a weak conference like the CAA.  I say if you lack the ethics to play by the rules, cheat big and have something to show for it.  In this case, they cheated and played just over .500 ball.  And that, is sad.

If the NCAA comes down hard, will Jim Calhoun stay with UCONN?

UCONN is on to the final four, at the same time are dealing with the recruiting violations that were revealed in the recruitment of two players, one currently ineligible player and one player no longer with the team.  The main accusations are that a former student manager turned agent had contact with the players as an adviser and that UCONN exceeded the phone call limit with recruit Nate Miles, who is no longer with the program.  Miles was also provided meals, transportation and other perks from the agent, Josh Nochimson. As a person with ties to UCONN basketball, it is a conflict of interest for Nochimson to become involved and provide such perks to amateur athletes.  The phone calls violation sounds similar to the infractions committed by former Oklahoma and Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson. While Sampson was a multiple offender, the NCAA made a strong statement with his punishment. He was essentially banned for coaching college basketball for five years. While the punishment won’t be as harsh for UCONN since this is the first time this has been raised, it will be interesting to see what happens to them.  UCONN has apparently been cooperating with the investigation as an assistant coach admitted to knowing about the relationship and even head coach Jim Calhoun admitted that they may have committed an infraction, although he seemed to plead ignorance by talking about how thick the rule book is.  After witnessing the Kelvin Sampson incident though, one would think a coach the caliber of Calhoun would know at least the rule on phone calls.  I heard some speculation from analysts that this may lead Calhoun into retirement if the NCAA were to come down hard, but this just seems to be premature speculation.  This will probably be an ongoing story throughout the final four and into the offseason.  It will be interesting to see what the NCAA decides to do about this.

Chris

Ouch...

(Memory Lane detour: Although, I have to say, it’s not like I haven’t spent most of my life committed to sports. Some of my strongest memories of 42 years ago, the year of the Impossible Dream – stretching out on my grandparents’ living room floor and watching Billy Rohr throw his one-hitter; seeing the purple eye of Tony C; watching Rico clutch the out that won the pennant, once again at my grandparents’; faking a stomach ache to stay home for the World Series and see Jose Santiago belt a home run. Then, the next year, it was the fist-clenching at the Mexico City Olympics and the beginning of my devotion to the Los Angeles Rams. I memorized the height and weight of the Fearsome Foursome and randomly spouted them out; for a week or so, I think my parents thought I was an idiot savant. Others swore it was solely the former.)

This weekend, though, sports has been a prime concern, watching the UConn men and women advance through their respective tourneys, and contemplating the sorry state of ethics at my alma mater.

Kemba Walker - Saturday's hero

So, first the good: The men are playing Michigan State in the Final Four, and we will be there! Months ago, I did various calculations – distance to Detroit, capability of the team – and took a chance, entering the lottery for tickets. I won, and I knew if the men didn’t make it, I could make back my money and then some by selling the tix.

(I suppose I could enter the lottery every year just to make money, but I figure I improve my odds of selection, karmically speaking, when there is a legitimate chance I can get to a Final Four to see my team. So far, I have gotten picked four times, though this will be the first time we’ve actually used the tickets.)

So, on top of more preparations for Italy, I’ve been researching our trip to Detroit next Saturday. If the men win, we stay till Tuesday. If they lose, we sell the tickets to the final, spend Sunday sightseeing in Dearborn (the history nerd here wants to see the Ford Museum; unfortunately the acclaimed village next door is not yet open for the season), and  hopefully hook up with other Husky fans still in town to have a viewing party to watch the women. With their win today, they need just one more to reach their Final Four in St. Louis; they are the clear favorites to go all the way, but I won’t take that for granted.

We actually have tix for the women’s finals too, and I figured all along we would be in St. Louis next weekend. After watching the men lose twice to Pitt and then to Syracuse in that marathon game, I thought, “This is not a Final Four team.” And now you see why I  do not run a sports blog filled with expert analysis. Still, even if the men  and women both won, I thought it made more sense to clear a larger profit on the Detroit tix and use that to pay for the St. Louis trip.

I was even less inclined to go to Detroit if the men made it after the violations debacle of the week. If you are not a sports buff, you probably didn’t see much, and don’t care much, about the recruiting brouhaha in which the men are now embroiled. Check out the Hartford Courant for the gory details, but here’s the capsule version: UConn coaches had more contact than allowed with a recruit who was represented by a former, seemingly slimy team manager. Everything alleged by the Yahoo Sports journalists who broke the story reflects many NCAA no-nos. After spending 5 years working for UConn athletics, Samantha knew very well how the team, from players and coaches to pretty much anyone who breathes the same air they do, is told about compliance. Follow all the arcane NCAA rules to make sure there are no gaffes that could hurt the program. And then this.

Hall of Famer - and sometime jerk?

Coach Jim Calhoun has not looked reassuring as he’s addressed the issue in the media. Now, at this point, all we have are allegations of violations. But I would bet my next set of Final Four tickets that the NCAA will find a violation or two. The program will be punished, and the school’s reputation is already sullied.

Yes, I think the school as a whole suffers from these shenanigans, not just Calhoun, not just the men’s basketball program, not just the Athletics Department, There have been a string of busts and tawdry actions by UConn players in recent years, which unfortunately reflect the win-first, determine-morals-later approach Calhoun has taken. (The school, it seems so often, looks the other way as the transgressions mount.) The recruit at the heart of the recent controversy, Nate Miles, appears to be something of a thug. And yet UConn kept in touch with after booting him off the team, for violating a restraining order. Sixteen minutes after he got it.

Now, UConn has had plenty of good guys too, And maybe the time under Calhoun’s tutelage has turned some iffy characters into better young men. But I see, as many posters at the Courant site do, a certain arrogance in Calhoun that is not very endearing. And if that attitude leads to ethical violations and penalties, I think the whole school suffers. I want the men to win. I just wish they could do it with as much class (and academic success) as the women do.

Of course, I am far from morally pure. When the Sweet 16 started on Thursday, my disgust with Calhoun and the allegations was pretty high. We still had not ruled out going to Detroit if UConn won, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to go, even as I knew it would be my best chance, maybe only chance, to see the Huskies play in a Final Four. After yesterday, when their place in Detroit was secure, the fan in me slapped silly the moralist, leading to the plans to bag St. Louis and head to the Motor City. I’ll save my disgust for after the investigation and the weakening of the program that I fear will follow, especially if Calhoun leaves the school under a cloud in the next year or two. But in the moment of those 40 minutes on the court, I will be absorbed by the game, the talent, the determination, And if we win, I get to bask again in the vicarious sense of accomplishment I get when “we,” all of UConn-dom, win a big game.

Yeah, it’s a pretty shallow way to live, but sometimes sports give me the biggest thrills of my life, if only fleetingly. They are one addiction that softens the Crisis-blows with no lasting negative effects. Of course, who knows what important lessons I missed that day in ’67, when my “illness” kept me out of school? Actually, maybe that was a good lesson too: Sometimes you gotta commit to what you want, even if it means bending a rule, as long as no one else is hurt. Unless, of course, you’re recruiting basketball players for a major Division I school…

Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self

 broke that rule. After a high school tournament involving ESPN top 100 recruit John Wall, spectator Bill Self (Kansas head coach) went up to the player after the tournament and allegedly said, “I can’t talk to you, but you really played well.” Well DUH, you can’t talk to him. SO DON’T DO IT! By talking to that recruit, Self risked the reputation of not only himself, but the entire school at Kansas. Before this event, Kansas was already on a three year probation from other basketball and football recruiting violations. What Self did was gutsy, but unethical. I know you coach for Kansas and all, but that doesn’t make you better than everyone else. You still have the follow the rules. The University of Kansas doesn’t deserve the punishment as much as Self does. Unfortunately, the entire program will likely have to pay for this man’s mistake. The punishment for Self’s actions are to be determined.

-Pierce

Get fans butts in the seats for the first practice.  We get to show recruits how it’s done on the Big Blue Stage…  There’s nothing like 23,000 screaming people at a basketball practice.

*insert random Iverson practice joke here*

Seriously, there’s nothing like it.  So while several other schools are doing it, we are the innovator/originator.  Yeah, I know James Madison did it with Lefty Dreisel back in the 60s, but who really follows James Madison (or was it George Mason?) basketball? 

Speaking of innovation, coach Billy Gillispie has decided to have his practice a week before everybody else.  And he got NCAA approval!  Unfortunately, the NABC (Notoriously Against Billy Clyde) didn’t like this idea to get started a week in advance.  They disliked it so much that they went to the NCAA and  the SEC to get UK to stop. 

This is from the group that previously let Kelvin Sampson run their organization.  The same Kelvin Sampson who made hundreds and hundreds of illegal phone calls to recruits.  That’s like putting Bob Knight in charge of an anger management class. 

I believe there is an underlying fear of Gillispie’s basketball obsession combined with the available resources at Kentucky that strikes fear into the hearts of some of his peers.  This marks the third time in Gillispies short time at UK that the NABC has tried to thwart Gillispie’s legal tactics.

• The text messaging ban
• Recruiting kids who aren’t yet sophomores and accepting their commitments
• Using the two hours of available player developement time allotted by the NCAA as Big Blue (formerly Midnight) Madness

It’s obvious that the NABC doesn’t like Gillispie’s plans.  But I wonder if they tried to stop Illinois and went to the Big 10/11 on them for having their madness this weekend?  They didn’t complain when Billy Donovan took a commitment from 15 year old Austin Rivers. 

It’s also ironic that Kentucky’s former head man, Tubby Smith, is the head of the NABC.

Things that make you go hmmm…

Crean said that there is no change in Jordan Crawford’s status. Crawford, who will be the only returning player who came to IU on scholarship, is back in Detroit right now and will not attend summer school. “He doesn’t need to, and I think it’s good for him to get home,” Crean said. “It’s important to remember that those guys have been through a whole lot.”

Crawford Didn’t Want to Carry the IU Torch (photo credit:  Bloomington Herald-Times)

Apparently Crawford liked home a little better than Bloomington.  Today he became the sixth Indiana player to leave the program in the wake of the Kelvin Sanctions fiasco – joining Eric Gordon (NBA), Armon Bassett, DeAndre Thomas, Jamarcus Ellis, AJ Ratliff and Eli Holman as players going elsewhere next year.  As far as we can tell, this leaves only little-used (11 mpg) senior forward Kyle Taber as the only scholarship player returning next season. 

Witness the pain emanating from the most excellent IU blog, Inside the Hall:

Now, please excuse me. I’m going to go ignore the fact that any of this ever happened. If you close your eyes so hard you see stars, breathe deeply, and hit yourself in the head with a ball peen hammer forty or fifty times, it’s like our team is still really good. And there are pretty colors everywhere! I highly recommend it.

Ouch.  This complete demolition of a program with the status of Indiana represents a nearly unprecedented situation in college basketball history.  Sure, Tulane and Baylor blew up their programs based on scandals (point-shaving, and well, murder), but the closest thing we can remember that compares to what Tom Crean will face next year is Rick Pitino’s first year (1989-90) at Kentucky in the wake of several major recruiting violations.  Pitino had several scholarship players returning including two all-SEC honorees, however, and four of the younger players ended up with their names in the rafters.  Still, it took five years for the Wildcats to get back to the F4.  We have trouble seeing Kyle Taber leading any sort of renaissance at IU – it could take many more than five years before this sinking ship at Indiana is righted again.

If there are any people nostalgic for Knight in the wake of Sampson, they’re dumbfucks, plain and simple, no way around it.

Bob Knight, for all his coaching greatness, assaulted a police officer and a student, threw chairs in violent fits of temper, made stupid comments about rape (“lie back and enjoy it”) in an analogy about officiating, among other offenses of general douchebaggery.  He never had a recruiting violation in his career and took pride in his graduation rates, but do not think for a second that somehow Sampson’s phone violations are worse than a bully who physically and verbally berated people in his reign as head coach.

Yes, Sampson is not exactly the greatest of characters if he’s violating NCAA rules yet again and lying about it, but let’s not go thinking that this is the worst crisis to befall Indiana basketball, which dealt with a powder keg in charge of its program for decades — even tolerated the behavior until it was put on display in the late 1990s.

• Everyone is piling on Kelvin Sampson for his phone indiscretions.  AOL Fanhouse looks into the poor cell phone service excuse, while DeCourcy takes shots at IU’s compliance office.  One blogger wrote an open letter to Kelvin Sampson asking him to just go away.  Yesterday Sampson resisted talking about the issue at his press conference.
• Speaking of Indiana coaches causing trouble, the NCAA instituted a point of emphasis this year on abusive behavior by coaches on the sideline.   M2M has the definitive take on this.
• More IU-related content:  Bob Knight felt the need to talk about the MLB playoffs during his presser this week.
• Basketball Prospectus is up and running (woohoo!) – the first post that captured our attention was this one on what makes an assist an assist?
• MJ expects to watch his son sit the bench play at least once this year in Champaign.
• On Monday it was official that Mike Hopkins would succeed Jim Boeheim at Syracuse upon his retirement; by Tuesday, it wasn’t official anymore.
• So what really went down in practice between OJ Mayo and Daniel Hackett?  Was it an errant ‘bow or a flat-out haymaker to the schnozz?
• One of the underrated coaches at an underrated program, Randy Bennett at St. Mary’s got a two-year extension (through 2013). 
• Katz dissects the budding UCLA-USC rivalry, comparing it to UNC-Duke.  What he fails to mention is that SoCallers don’t care about college hoops nearly as much as the NCers.  That’s a Laker area, through and through.
• Injuries, Suspensions, etc.
  • Is Brook Lopez planning on playing this year?  He’s already out for the first nine games – now he’s indefinitely suspended for breaking team rules, which means he can’t even practice. 
  • Wisconsin starter Michael Flowers is going on a leave of absence for the cryptic reason of ”medical problems.” 
  • Notre Dame super-soph Luke Harongody will miss 3-6 weeks with damage to his thumb ligaments. 
  • Mizzou senior forward Darryl Butterfield was arrested for domestic assault and suspended indefinitely by the team.
  • Remember our pal Frank Tolbert?  The good state of Alabama did not agree with local prosecutors that Tolbert was drunk while stealing driving his SUV away from the towing lot.  He is not expected to miss any games.
  • A bunch of UK players are injured in various ways.  Oh, and Alex Legion isn’t hurt, but his mom is some kind of prophet.     
• And more preseason chatter from various sources.
  • MSNBC has its preseason top 25 out (UNC #1).
  • Luke Winn spent the week slurping up whatever they’re selling in the RTP these days. 
  • Meanwhile, Jeff Goodman did a Tennessee three-step – Memphis, Vandy & UT. 
  • SEC:TGTBTD has it’s all-SEC teams ready – 3d Team, 2d Team, 1st Team (Chris Lofton, Jamont Gordon, Patrick Beverly, Richard Hendrix, Shan Foster).
  • Gary Parrish has his all-american teams + 10 ready (we like his balls to put Derrick Rose on the first team).   
  • Big 12 talk – apparently K-State is loading up on players, while KU is striking out on recruiting.  Yahoo asks if the Big 12 will ever win a title again, and oh yeah, Tom Osborne is the new AD at Nebraska.
  • Will Florida even make the NCAA Tourney this year?  Billy D. isn’t sure. 
  • Can UConn’s AJ Price stay away from the computer lab this year?  Jim Calhoun thinks he can. 

Therefore, his current employing institution shall, pursuant to the provisions of NCAA Bylaw 19.5.2.2 (l), show cause why it should not be penalized if it does not prohibit the former head coach, for a period of one year from the date of the release of this report (May 25, 2006 through May 24, 2007), from 1) making any phone calls that relate in any way to recruiting or being present when members of his staff make such calls; and 2) engaging in any off-campus recruiting activities.

So what does he do?  He makes phone calls to recruits, of course. 

IU athletic director Rick Greenspan said a two-month review determined that on approximately 10 occasions, an assistant coach initiated three-way calls that connected Sampson into an on-going recruiting conversation with prospective student-athletes, their parents or coaches.

Indiana, fearing that the NCAA would come down hard on the program for such an egregious violation of noncompliance by their coach, handed out its own punishment to Sampson this weekend.  As a result, Sampson will not receive his scheduled $500k raise this season and the team will lose a scholarship for the 2008-09 campaign (nevermind that IU recruit Bud Mackey effectively surrendered his scholarship back to IU a couple of weeks ago).  The assistant coach who initiated the calls will also give up his raise and not be allowed to recruit away from campus.  Here’s Sampson’s explanation:

All of the calls were kids that were calling me. Our coaches did a great job in telling kids that ‘Coach can’t you call you because of the sanctions so will you call him?’ And that’s what we did. I found out about the three-way calls after they looked at the records. They saw that there had been three-way calls made and found out that Rob (Senderoff) had, after the kid had called me and tried to reach me on my cell phone, they would call coach Senderoff back and say ‘Coach Sampson was unavailable. I tried him on his cellphone.’ So what Rob was doing was patching the calls into me, and I was getting them not knowing that Rob had made the connection. But when I answered the phone in these situations, the kid would start talking.

Will this be enough to satisfy the NCAA?  We’re not sure about that, but we are a little appalled that Kelvin & Co. had the cojones to run the same trick again.  This willful noncompliance on the part of his staff suggests that IU fans may have reason for concern.  One of the oft-repeated statements during the weekend by IU brass was that Indiana basketball has not had a major NCAA violation since 1960.  Sampson is clearly pushing the envelope with his bosses, and many fans remain skeptical of his legitimacy based upon issues he had at Oklahoma.  It’ll be interesting to see what, if any, opinion of Sampson changes with the likelihood of IU’s best team in years taking the court this season. 

Update:  Say what you want about Sampson’s wilfullness here, but nobody can accuse him of covering things up (yet).  Apparently an intern in the compliance department was the person who uncovered these phone calls.  He likely works for free school credit, and yet he’s costing Kelvin Sampson $500k/year.  Memo to intern – probably don’t want to hit up the IU head man for a rec anytime soon.  (h/t March to Madness)