Newly released Ice Miller report details IU basketball violations

An IU report to the NCAA regarding men’s basketball coaching violations was released to the media today. The department of athletics will hold a teleconference at 3 p.m. today to discuss the report. \nAccording to the report, the men’s basketball staff received a memorandum on June 13, 2006, clarifying the impermissibility of three-way phone calls under IU men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson’s sanctions, which he received for his role in impermissible phone calls made by Sampson and staff while he coached at Oklahoma. \nAccording to the report, former assistant basketball coach Rob Senderoff, who resigned his position yesterday, called recruits on 10 or 12 occasions, the discrepancy comes because two of the calls likely were dropped calls, and patched the call through to Sampson’s home phone. Senderoff stayed on the line throughout the duration of the phone call.\n“Senderoff stated that he thought this was a ‘gray’ area in regards to the Committee’s sanction and that he never intended to put Sampson or the University in a difficult position,” the report reads. “He also noted that he used poor judgment and that he probably should have asked the compliance staff to clarify whether his actions were permissible.”\nThe memo sent to staff members in June 2006 said it was a violation of sanctions even if a recruit or an AAU coach initiates the contact and then is patched through to Sampson. \nThough Sampson and Senderoff in interviews with legal counsel Ice Miller and University representatives said that only Sampson talked while connected in a three-way call, that explanation is refuted by a recruit and the mother of another recruit in the report.\n“Senderoff further stated that he did not think the spirit of the rule was broken because the individuals were trying to reach Sampson and wanted to speak with him,” the report reads. “Neither Senderoff nor Sampson recall Senderoff ever participating in a three-way conversation or introducing the third party to Sampson. However, two of the three individuals that Indiana University successfully contacted from the list of known phone numbers used in three-way recruiting calls, reported that Senderoff was involved in the respective conversations, as well ask Sampson. The University was careful to clarify with both individuals … that both coaches participated in the conversation at the same time as opposed to Senderoff speaking only during the first portion of the call and then remaining silent when Sampson was on the phone. The two individuals were specific in their recollections that Senderoff was involved during the whole call and it should be noted that these calls were relatively recent.” \nThe University assessed sanctions with the belief that all calls were contrary to the sanction “regardless of whether the assistant coach ever spoke while Sampson was on the all,” according to the report. \nThe report clarifies why the three-way calls weren’t detected earlier. The report states that because the phone logs reported the calls as being made as a local call, “it was not detected in analyzing calls to the declared recruiting numbers,” the report reads.\n“Further, since the coaches had requested and received a clear interpretation from the Committee on Infractions in June 2006 that three-way calling with Sampson would not be permissible, three-way calls should not have been an issue,” the report reads. \nThis story will be updated.