Kelvin Sampson on the Way Out at Indiana

2000-2004: Oklahoma head basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff make 577 impermissible phone calls.

2005: Oklahoma freezes contract renegotiations, salary increases, and postseason bonuses for Sampson for a two-year period.

2005: An internal investigation determined members of Oklahoma’s men’s basketball program made or attempted to make impermissible phone calls to 17 prospects between April 2000 and September 2004, made three impermissible in-person contacts with recruits, and improperly gave a T-shirt to one recruit and the parent of one recruit.

The NCAA also alleges Sampson failed to adequately monitor his staff’s telephone calls to recruits during that period and the university had inadequate monitoring procedures in place.

March 29, 2006: Indiana hires Sampson.

April 20, 2006: Sampson signed a contract whose terms say IU “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.

This provision was not included in the agreement Sampson signed when IU decided in March to hire him to succeed Mike Davis. The contract also gives Indiana the right to fire Sampson without obligation if his assistant coaches committed serious or repeated NCAA rules violations.

April 21, 2006: IU athletic director Rick Greenspan and Sampson attend an NCAA hearing along with Oklahoma officials in Park City, Utah. The hearing centers around the impermissible phone calls from 2000-2004.

May 25, 2006: The NCAA committee issues penalties on Sampson that prohibit him from making any recruiting phone calls or taking part in any off-campus recruiting for one year.

Aug. 16, 2006: The National Association of Basketball Coaches, through its ethics committee, sanctions Sampson for the same recruiting violations that the NCAA punished him for—including three years of probation.

May 25, 2007: The NCAA sanctions against Kelvin Sampson are lifted upon completion of the one-year penalty.

Oct. 14, 2007: The Indiana University Department of Athletics announces that a series of recruiting sanctions and corrective actions are being imposed on Sampson and his staff after finding further phone call violations.