Mixed reaction greets Sampson at Assembly Hall

IU coach Kelvin Sampson received a mixed reaction when he stepped onto the court Wednesday night at Assembly Hall before his No. 13 men’s basketball team battled No. 15 Wisconsin.\nSampson did not take the floor until less than two minutes before introductions. A crowd of cameras and people lined the path from the locker room to get a view of the Hoosier coach.\nWhen Sampson was announced in pre-game introductions, he received boos and cheers from the Hoosier faithful in Assembly Hall. Some students showed their support for Sampson by sporting the blue shirt and red tie combination the coach wears every game.\nDespite the mixed reaction in the introduction, when the ball was tipped, the fans supported the team with the same intensity they have had in any big game during the Sampson era. \nThroughout Wednesday, IU basketball message boards and blogs were filled with Hoosier fans calling for Sampson’s job and discussing possible replacements for the second-year coach. Before the Wisconsin game, most Hoosier fans that talked to the IDS were disappointed in Sampson and thought the program should move in a different direction.\nIU junior Matt Levinson said he was upset with the recent allegations.\n“It’s no surprise,” Levinson said. “I already knew it was coming.”\nLevinson, a self-described long-time Hoosier basketball fan, said he was disappointed in Sampson’s actions because they damaged the reputation of a program that has long prided itself on following the rules.\n“I can tell you one thing,” Levinson said, “I don’t think Coach Knight would ever have this kind of problem. I feel like it has tarnished our integrity.” \nIU alumnus Matt Reese of Brownsburg, Ind., said he thinks IU should take swift action to lessen the potential punishment the NCAA will give the Hoosiers in a meeting this June.\n“I was a little disappointed,” Reese said. “It’s tough to see this – it happened at Oklahoma. I think the right thing to do is to cut ties with him immediately because the NCAA is more lenient if you take action instead of them taking control.”\nThere were, however, a number of fans that supported Sampson staying as the head coach for the Hoosiers. Freshman fan Corey Knight, who was decked out in candy-stripe warm-up pants and an IU T-shirt, said he wants Sampson to stay because he has elevated the program back to a high status in the Big Ten conference and the country.\n“I would like to see him stay – look what he’s done to the program,” Knight said. “He got Eric Gordon, and that’s awesome. I am 100 percent behind him.”\nOthers will continue to support Sampson because he is the head man of their beloved Hoosier basketball program.\n“I still support whoever we have as the coach because I am a big IU fan,” senior and IU softball player Jennilee Huddleston said.\nMost fans who want Sampson to be terminated did not have a suggestion for a successor. Reese, however, threw out a couple of names familiar to Hoosier fans that he would like to see on the IU sideline next season.\n“I like (current IU assistant coach) Dan Dakich as an alumnus, but we also have Bob Knight,” Reese said. “You can never count that out.”