In June it was a rumor, in July it is official: IU will take on the Pittsburgh Panthers on Dec. 8 at 9:00 p.m. at Madison Square Garden in the annual Jimmy V Classic.

The IU-Pitt match-up will be the second game of a doubleheader, following a battle between another Indiana program and Big East squad: Butler and Georgetown. IU is 8-8 all-time at Madison Square Garden and also 4-3 versus the Panthers.

Pittsburgh, a No. 1 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, loses four of its top five scorers from last year’s 31-5 squad, including floor general Levance Fields and recent NBA draft picks Sam Young and DeJuan Blair. Jamie Dixon does have five-star recruit Dante Taylor joining the team in the fall.

Go to IUHoosiers.com for more information on The V Foundation for Cancer Research and the Jimmy V Men’s Basketball Classic on Oct. 14. Below the jump is the official press release.

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It’s been quiet around here for a while, but we now have some news for you.

Kelvin Sampson, former IU basketball coach, tried to appeal the infractions he was charged with during his tenure at IU to the NCAA Divison I Infractions Appeals Committee. Today, those charges were upheld.

The main aim of his appeal was to remove the five-year show cause order against him, which allows the NCAA to deal out punishments to Sampson for his actions with the IU program and basically forces him to stay away from the realm of college basketball until the end of the five-year period.

One example of such a punishment is the NCAA’s ruling that Sampson is not allowed to participate in any way in on- or off-campus recruiting practices with potential student-athletes until Nov. 24, 2011. Contact is also restricted until fall of 2012 through another action taken against Sampson, and the NCAA holds the right to enforce more restrictions should he wind up at a college or university before the end of the show cause order.

This ruling effectively puts an end to Sampson’s collegiate coaching career until at least 2013, if not later.

Sampson, currently an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, still maintains the penalties were too harsh and unfounded.

Click here to see the full NCAA press release.

Our friend Chris Korman of the Hoosier Scoop is reporting that IU recruit Bawa Muniru is completing one class necessary to his being academically eligible to come to IU.

Muniru told the IDS during a campus visit last season that he did not expect his academic situation to get in the way of his coming to Bloomington, and his AAU coach, Kerry Johnson, said he believes this class should complete Muniru’s high school eligibility.

“My understanding is that once he has completed that he will have done everything he needs to do to qualify,” Johnson told Korman on Monday. “Everything right now points to him being eligible.”

This comes on the heels of four-star guard Maurice Creek’s confirmation that he is awaiting the results of an SAT exam before he can be sure of his eligibility and join the team on campus.

The other four recruits, Bobby Capobianco, Jordan Hulls, Derek Elston and Christian Watford, are all scheduled to come to Bloomington for second summer session during the middle of this week.

We’ll fire things up at 7:30 p.m. Be here or don’t get to chat live.

That’s right, it’s time for our biweekly IU sports chat with the HT and Inside the Hall. This week, special guest Rick Bozich will join us, so you’d best be here at 7:30 in the p.m.

See you then, folks.

Summer Session II starts next Friday, June 19, and most of the 2009 class is expected to be on campus.

Bobby Capobianco said he will be there on Monday or Tuesday. So will Christian Watford, his father told me by text message. Bloomington native Jordan Hulls said he will make the short trip to campus that Friday.

I was unsuccessful in reaching Derek Elston, but it sounds as if he will arrive on campus early next week.  

Maurice Creek, however, is not going to be there for Summer Session II.

Creek, who seems to have emerged as the most highly anticipated recruit in Tom Crean’s 2009 recruiting class, is still awaiting his standardized test scores to see if he qualifies.

“We’re not sure,” Creek said by phone yesterday when asked about his arrival on campus. “It depends on what my score is because I took my test last week. If I get my (desired) score, right when I receive my score I’ll be leaving (for IU), but if I don’t I have to wait and take like classes or whatever it is to get my stuff straight… So we’re not really sure.”

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I had lunch with Dan Dakich on Thursday in Indianpolis for a column on his basketball past, and had the chance to get his thoughts on various things.  Here are some things we discussed:

(On his decision to return to IU two years ago) “I was a little weary at first because I had born and raised here, but after talking it over with my family and in terms of the program and university it was no-brainer.”

(On his limiting Michael Jordan to 13 pts in the 1984 East Regional en route to beating UNC) “It’s Indiana. We expected to beat them, and it was North Carolina, so they expected to beat us. It was a great win but we didn’t treat it like an upset. The Jordan thing didn’t really mean a whole lot then because Michael Jordan wasn’t Michael Jordan yet.”

(On his most fond basketball memory) “In 1980 (Andrean High School) made it to the state championship. None of us had ever played varsity basketball before. We lost at the free throw line, but I’ll never forget that experience.”

(On playing for Bob Knight) “If you talk to most people who played under him, you’ll find we were good kids with good parents, but I think there isn’t anyone better at preparing you for situations you’ll face later in life.”

(On one thing he’ll never forget about playing at IU) “My first practice at IU I literally thought I was going to die on the floor. That’s when found out how hard college basketball was, and that we had 2 hours and 15 minutes to go.”

(On the Dan Dakich show) “It’s great. Kent (Sterling, program director at 1070) and I talked about the possibility before. They pretty much leave it up to me in terms of what to discuss, but local events, whether it’s high school, pro or college, take priority.”

I came across this yesterday and thought those of you living on or near the eastside of Indianapolis may be interested…

On Wednesday, June 10, Scecina Memorial High School will host Mr. Basketball and Miss Basketball, along with the entire boys and girls Indiana All-Star teams for a meet and greet session starting at 6 pm. Fans can ask questions, get autographs from, as well as take pictures with players such as future Indiana Hoosier Jordan Hulls. Indiana All-Star t-shirts will also be sold.

For those interested, here is the high school’s address:

Scecina Memorial High School

5000 Nowland Ave.                                                                                                                

Indianapolis, IN 46201

Just came across this minutes ago online and I don’t think there has been anything mentioned about this yet (especially since dates, cost and specific location are TBA)…

But get ready for DJ White Hoosier Stars Basketball Camp.

Tom Crean says he is a bit behind in 2010 recruiting. If he gets five-star “dynamic” point guard Kyrie Irving, all will be forgotten.

Irving, a 6-foot-1 high school junior at St. Patrick (N.J.), recently told East Coast recruiting blogger Adam Zagoria that the Hoosiers are a favorite of his.

“They’re at the top of my list for now,” Irving said in a phone interview with Zagoria. “It’s them and Notre Dame and Duke and Virginia. They’re at the top of my list right now.”

All signs have indicated IU might be in the lead, especially after his trip to Bloomington for an AAU event. Now there need be no speculation on where Crean’s Hoosiers sit in Irving’s recruitment.

For more on Irving’s recruitment, his summer AAU plans and a bit of high school basketball, click the above hyperlink.