The Journal Gazette, 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne IN

BLOOMINGTON – Kelvin Sampson spent a portion of Thursday preparing for Indiana’s basketball game Saturday at Northwestern. There are conflicting reports on whether he’ll be around to coach it.

Late Thursday night, the Bloomington Herald-Times reported on its Web site that Sampson was out, citing an anonymous source and without going into detail.

But university spokesperson Larry MacIntyre denied reports that a decision had been reached. University officials did meet Thursday to discuss Sampson’s future.

IU President Michael McRobbie on Feb. 15 gave athletic director Rick Greenspan one week to investigate alleged NCAA recruiting violations involving Sampson and his coaching staff.

If he is fired, Sampson could go through a 10-day appeals process. He could be suspended. Another option would be to hold off on a decision until the NCAA hearings on the violation take place in June in Seattle.

Greenspan’s recommendation should come today. The Bloomington paper reported on its Web site that Greenspan met with the team at Assembly Hall on Thursday evening.

Earlier in the day, Jeff Goodman of

FoxSports.com, citing “numerous sources,” reported Sampson had been fired. Indianapolis TV stations WTHR and WISH said Sampson had been negotiating a buyout and that assistant Dan Dakich would take over as the interim coach. The TV stations did not identify their sources.

“It’s still an unresolved issue,” MacIntyre said in a phone interview. “I don’t know where that is coming from.”

In less than two years, Sampson has restored Indiana’s basketball program to national prominence. The Hoosiers have a 22-4 record and are ranked 15th in The Associated Press poll. But because of run-ins with the NCAA, the coach’s stay might be cut short.

University Trustee Philip Eskew Jr. told The AP he had been notified by e-mail that Indiana would have an announcement on Sampson’s status today but did not have details.

The NCAA, in a letter the school released Feb. 13, alleged five potential “major” violations. Among them, the NCAA alleges Sampson “failed to deport himself in accordance with the generally recognized high standard of honesty normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics by providing the institution and the NCAA enforcement staff false or misleading information.”

Later that evening, Sampson released a statement.

“The allegations that I knowingly acted contrary to the sanctions imposed on me for violations that occurred while I was at Oklahoma are not true. I have never intentionally provided false or misleading information to the NCAA,” he said.

Sampson was hired March 29, 2006, with an NCAA ruling pending. He received a seven-year contract, with a base salary of $500,000. He was scheduled to make $1.1 million in his first year and $1.6 million in each of the next six.

On May 25, 2006, the NCAA ruled Sampson and his staff made 577 impermissible phone calls from 2000 to ’04 while he was at Oklahoma. Sampson was banned from making recruiting calls or participating in off-campus recruiting for one year.

One of the other sanctions dealt with three-way calls. The NCAA doesn’t have a rule regarding three-way calls, but Sampson’s sanctions prohibited him from participating in them.

On Oct. 14, 2007, Indiana announced self-imposed sanctions for Sampson and his coaching staff. The penalties stemmed in part from Sampson’s taking part in at least 10 three-way calls. At the time, Sampson said that in nine of the 10 instances he was unaware a three-way call was taking place.

Among the penalties, IU lost a scholarship and Sampson willingly gave up a $500,000 raise.

Two days after releasing the NCAA’s “notice of allegations,” Greenspan, university counsel Dorothy Frapwell and faculty representative Bruce Jaffee were assigned to run the week-long investigation.

Sampson did not meet with reporters Thursday. But he did release a statement through the university regarding Saturday’s game.

“Whenever you go play Northwestern, you know you’re going to play a team that’s going to fight until the end and it’s going to be a tough game, it always is,” Sampson said.

lpope@jg.net