[bigboydan]

IU could fire Sampson over previous violations

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Indiana University would not have to pay any penalty to new basketball coach Kelvin Sampson if the school were to fire him because of NCAA sanctions stemming from recruiting violations while he was at Oklahoma.


The contract Sampson signed April 20 says Indiana ``may take further action, up to and including termination'' if the NCAA ``imposes more significant penalties or sanctions than the University of Oklahoma's self-imposed sanctions.''

The Indianapolis Star reported about the final contract on its Web site Monday, saying it obtained the contract through a public records request.

The provision was not included in the agreement Sampson signed when Indiana decided in March to hire him to succeed Mike Davis.

Since accepting the Indiana job, Sampson has admitted making ``mistakes'' while at Oklahoma.

The NCAA infractions committee on April 21 heard from Oklahoma officials about more than 550 impermissible calls made between 2000 and 2004 by Sampson and his assistants. A ruling could come within a month, and if Sampson is sanctioned with recruiting restrictions, those penalties could follow him to Indiana.

Oklahoma's self-imposed sanctions, for 2005-06 and 2006-07, included recruiting restrictions and freezing Sampson's salary at $1.01 million.

Under Sampson's contract at IU, he will make $1.1 million in the first year of the seven-year deal and $1.6 million a year after that.

The contract also explicitly states that Sampson is not eligible during his first year for performance bonuses, such as for winning the Big Ten title. It also gives the school the right to fire Sampson without obligation if his assistant coaches commit serious or repeated NCAA rules violations.

[Wassymac]

Only fitting another controversial figure is back at IU. I honestly was surprised with the hire...there's no way Indiana didn't know about impending investigation on OU basketball. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out...hopefully it sets them back another 5 years like the Mike Davis hire did. I was sad to see Davis go because with him around it guaranteed a mediocre Hoosier squad. Then again I can't say too much because of the gutter my school has been in for 5 years but I like the direction its headed (Purdue that is).

Who knows maybe Sampson is what IU needed and Painter continues Purdue's revival and the hated rivals return to the top of the conference??