INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Indiana coach Kelvin 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, according to an NCAA report released Wednesday.
The report sent to the university Friday accuses Sampson of five major violations, including the allegation of providing “false or misleading information” to university officials and NCAA enforcement staff. The school contended in its initial report that all violations were secondary infractions.
But the NCAA accused Sampson of failing “to deport himself … with the generally recognized high standard of honesty” and failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the men’s basketball program, categorized as major infractions.
ould cooperate with all NCAA requests.
“We are extremely disappointed in these new allegations regarding coach Sampson,” Greenspan said in a statement. “To say the least, we view these allegations with grave concern.”
Attempts to reach Sampson’s attorney, Matt Kramer, were unsuccessful. The NCAA declined comment.
Indiana has until May 8 to provide a written response to the report. The report says Indiana officials will be required to appear June 14 in Seattle at a hearing before the Division I infractions committee.
Major violations of NCAA rules can carry significant punishments, including postseason bans.
Indiana has not had a major NCAA violation in any sport since 1960.
Former Indiana trustee Stephen Backer, who never embraced Sampson’s hiring, said the allegations tarnish a program that has long taken pride in its ethics and graduation rate.
“If you look at what a coach is supposed to be and stand for, he’s supposed to set an example for kids just out of high school,” he said. “He’s supposed to teach them, I think, how to navigate through life, and I think that includes high ethics and high morals.
“If the allegations are correct, it defeats the whole purpose of what a coach is supposed to be.”
obation for similar infractions at Oklahoma. Indiana has imposed sanctions on Sampson – forfeiting a $500,000 pay raise and one scholarship next season.
The NCAA, which could impose additional sanctions, reaffirmed some of Indiana’s own findings, that Sampson had engaged in a series of three-way calls that are permissible under NCAA rules but prohibited as part of the punishment against Sampson in May 2006.
But the report also says Sampson was present when his staff called recruits, had assistant coach Rob Senderoff call a prospect and hand him the phone and knowingly participated in three-way calls with at least three recruits. The report said Senderoff, who has since resigned from the staff, initiated those calls. All were violations of NCAA restrictions.
The university also punished Senderoff by forfeiting his bonuses or salary increases for one year.
The NCAA also said Sampson failed to monitor his staff’s phone call documentation.
Senderoff also was accused of lying to the university’s enforcement staff and NCAA investigators and failing to adhere to the NCAA’s expected ethical standards. He is accused of enabling the three-way calls, allowing Sampson to speak with recruits on a speaker phone and lying when he signed monthly statements denying use of his home phone for recruiting purposes.
nd from February through July 2007.
“The institution reported that Senderoff placed at least 30 calls from his home phone that were violations of the restrictions imposed on the men’s basketball staff by the committee on infractions,” the report said.
Sampson first got in trouble with the NCAA for making 577 impermissible calls from 2000 to 2004 and was sanctioned by the NCAA in May 2006, less than two months after taking the Indiana job. Sampson was banned from calling recruits and making off-campus visits for one year.
Sampson said in October he was unaware he had participated in three-way conversations on nine of the 10 calls that were found.
Assistant coach Jeff Meyer was accused of having illegal contact with recruit Derek Elston during Indiana’s basketball camp last summer and giving Elston a backpack and T-shirt, considered improper benefits under NCAA rules.
Meyer issued an apology through a lawyer.
“In my 29 years as a college coach, I have tried to maintain a reputation for integrity, fairness and good sportsmanship, values shared by Indiana University and the NCAA,” Meyer said in a statement released by attorney Stu Brown. “I regret that I may have made mistakes that are causing my and IU’s conduct to be examined by the NCAA. I will continue to cooperate with both the university and the NCAA, and I will not comment on this process again before it is completed.”
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