Rumors swirl around Hoosier basketball

The grapevine has been on loudspeaker lately regarding IU men’s basketball.\nSince the Hoosiers lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 22, rumors have swirled violently around the program. They’ve ranged from who will be the team’s next head coach to which players might not be on the team next season.\nOn Sunday, WTHR Eyewitness Sports reported that sophomore guard Armon Bassett and junior forward Jamarcus Ellis would not be Hoosiers next season. Minutes later, WTHR analyst and former IU guard A.J. Ratliff refuted the report and said the two planned to meet with IU’s coaching staff Monday.\nThe meeting appeared to have sealed the two’s fate. Late Monday night, The Indianapolis Star reported IU interim coach Dan Dakich had dismissed Bassett and Ellis from the team for missing “two prearranged meetings” last week.\nWhen reached late Monday night, Dakich was asked to confirm if Bassett and Ellis had been dismissed and if any official roster changes had been made. Dakich declined to answer and ended the call abruptly. \nA source who wished to stay anonymous and is familiar with the program told the Indiana Daily Student that Dakich went to Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan with a request shortly after the Hoosiers lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Dakich asked Greenspan to remove Bassett, Ellis and two other players from the team immediately for several reasons, including failed drug tests, poor grades and talking back to coaches, the source said.\nBut IU spokesperson J.D. Campbell denied the meeting between Dakich and Greenspan and other media reports regarding Bassett and Ellis’ departure.\n“I am not aware of any changes to our official roster at this time,” Campbell said late Monday night.\nThis isn’t the first time Bassett and Ellis have run into trouble this season. Bassett, who averaged 11.4 points per game, was suspended for three games in December for violating undisclosed team rules. Ellis, who averaged 6.8 points per game, was suspended for IU’s last regular season game against Penn State for violating undisclosed team rules. \nIn an emotional postgame press conference following IU’s loss to Arkansas, Dakich campaigned to be the Hoosiers’ next head coach, preaching his willingness to do things the right way.\n“The passion, the desire to do things right academically, socially, on the court, style of play are all things that are absolutely what would happen if I become the head basketball coach at Indiana over the course of time,” he said.\nWhile the future of IU’s roster remains murky, the search for IU’s next head coach has been equally confusing for people attempting to follow the madness.\nSince IU President Michael McRobbie announced the formation of a 10-member search committee days before IU’s first-round tournament game, a guessing war has erupted between Hoosier fans and media outlets nationwide.\nOn Peegs.com, a popular IU basketball message board, a record 1,797 subscribing members logged on Monday to follow the latest Hoosier rumors. More than 2,000 fans were on the Web site’s free message board late Monday. \nMichael Pegram, the Web site’s creator and moderator, said he didn’t think things could get crazier than they were two years ago, when former IU coach Kelvin Sampson was hired.\n“The coaching search is kind of like talking politics,” Pegram said. “Everybody has their own candidate, and people can be so opposed on the same coach and debate it endlessly.”\nPegram said the fans on his message boards were more optimistic last week before Washington State coach Tony Bennett announced he would not pursue the IU position. And although the coaching search generates optimism amongst fans, Pegram said things are taking a pessimistic turn.\n“There’s more concern because of the NCAA sanctions, and people understanding the talent on next year’s team is not formidable with the loss of D.J. White, Eric Gordon and the potential loss of players to transfer.”\nIn a poll the Web site conducted, Pegram said Bennett was the clear favorite among Hoosier fans for IU’s next head coach, but Xavier’s Sean Miller finished second with “a lot of supporters.”\nHoosierNation.com’s John Decker said the rumors have been colorful and plentiful this offseason, which has been the busiest in his career of covering IU sports.\n“I’ve gotten everything from the job is Rick Pitino’s to the job is Tom Izzo’s to Thad Matta,” Decker said. “I’ve gotten e-mails and posts (on our Web site) giving the job to about 15 people.”\nBoth Decker and Pegram compared the current situation to the Sampson hiring two years ago.\n“There was a situation where you thought players were going to possibly transfer, (Robert) Vaden, D.J. (White), Ratliff,” Decker said. “From that standpoint it’s pretty much the same. I don’t know if I’m forgetful, but it seems like this time there has been a lot more rumors ... and it’s not as if anything has been drastically different.”\nCampbell said the sheer amount of rumors “shows the level of interest that exists about the Indiana basketball program.” But the rumors often don’t reflect the truth.\n“If you sit there and look at coaching searches for a lot of teams, the person usually comes out of nowhere,” Campbell said. “People think they know, but they don’t.”