E-mail story

Print story

Subscribe to Print

Indiana probes accusations against coach

By MICHAEL MAROT -- AP Sports Writer

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) Indiana's athletic director has seven days to investigate the NCAA's accusations of recruiting violations against coach Kelvin Sampson and then recommend what steps the university should take, the school's president said Friday.

"I am deeply disappointed by these allegations," Indiana president Michael McRobbie said during a news conference. "I fully understand the desire by many people for us to move quickly to bring this situation to resolution and we intend to do just that."

He said he has authorized athletic director Rick Greenspan to head a panel that includes attorneys and other athletic officials to examine the NCAA allegations. The NCAA said in a report Wednesday that Sampson and his staff violated telephone recruiting restrictions imposed because of his previous violations at Oklahoma, then lied about it to the school and NCAA investigators.

The allegations of five major NCAA infractions set off widespread debate over what the university should do next and whether Sampson should continue coaching at Indiana, which hasn't had a major NCAA rules violation in nearly half a century.

McRobbie said he does not have preconceived ideas of what Greenspan's conclusions will be, so he is not sure what actions the university will take.

"Let there be no doubt, these are serious allegations of misconduct," McRobbie said.

He said officials must balance a prompt resolution with the need to be fair to Sampson and his staff.