"My only regret would be, if I had one, is that I didn't let them do what the hell they wanted to do. Maybe they would have been happier, won more, I don't know, but it just wasn't going to happen with me as the coach."

As promised. Getting some sleep, see you tomorrow.

What was different about the program last year, through the eyes of a former player

(When I was here) Coach Knight was tough, really tough.

I've known a lot of those guys over the years, and they have unbelievable pride in what coach Knight's guys over the year.

Coach (Mike) Davis gets a wrap on things, and again, I wasn't here, I don't know, but I'm really good friends with (Tom) Coverdale, I'm pretty good friends with Dan Fife, and they have a pride for what they did. Hell, they went to a championship game.

Guys that played here have a pride. And that's the thing that I feel bad for D.J. (White) and the guys that played here last year. They didn't experience what playing at Indiana was about. They experienced what playing at a college was about.

It's not D.J.'s fault that he didn't know, or Stemler didn't know, or Ahlfeld didn't know or Mike White didn't know that they weren't supposed to let these other guys do the stupid things that they were doing. It wasn't in the culture.

If guys were missing class like these guys were missing class, coach Knight would have killed D.J. or Stemler.

(He would have said) 'You guys straighten this out, and if you don't straighten this out, I'm gonna straighten you older guys out.'

That was not the culture. But as I said earlier, that's what makes places great, that's what makes players different -- when players don't have to be coached to act a certain way, and they take responsibility and have pride.

It's not D.J.'s fault -- it wasn't here.

It's unfortunate for them, because they're always going to be Indiana basketball players, but they didn't really experience what you do as an Indiana basketball player. They experienced the crowd, the adulation, all that (stuff) that comes along with it. It's great, it's wonderful.

But for guys who have played here, it's way deeper than that. There's a bond that forms because of it.

You can go find a bunch of guys. That's basically what we had last year: a bunch of guys that were supposed to be good basketball players. But that deteriorates over time if they're not great character guys and there's not an internal structure that builds instead of deteriorates.

How bad did it get last year?

It was bad enough that it was an every-day thing to deal with.

When I was the head coach, from the day we practiced the Monday after the Northwestern game through the day they hired Tom, they went to class. If they didn't go to class, they ran. The two guys that didn't want to run, as I told them all, 'You don't want to do what I want you to do, you're done.' Those two guys didn't do it, they were done. And when they did not go to class, they ran to the point where some guys threw up in buckets.

That's no different than the volleyball team.

I haven't liked the portrayal that this thing was completely out of control, particularly when I was the head coach, because it was anything but.

Are there any regrets?

I'll tell you one thing I regret, is I regret putting a guy on the ball against Minnesota. You know what I'm talking about? We were gonna put Brandon McGee on the ball.

My original thing is never to put a guy on the ball. I've never lost not putting a guy on the ball and twice I've lost putting that guy on the ball.

I would have put Eric Gordon into center, and told him to go get the ball wherever it's thrown.

I do think about, this is probably bad, but I do think about, I should have just continued to let these guys act how they acted, and at the end of the day, I probably would have won more games, maybe. I don't know.

Probably, if I think about it, I guess I should have just let them act like idiots and maybe won a couple more games and had a job. But you've kind of got to live with yourself.

There's a lot that went on. ... There was so much going on there.

The night of the Minnesota game, some stuff that basically tore apart the team happened. It was always there administratively that the kids didn't like letting Sampson go. It was blown up that they really wanted Ray (McCallum), they said they wanted him, he was a guy they knew. But that really wasn't the case.

My only regret would be, if I had one, is that I didn't let them do what the hell they wanted to do. Maybe they would have been happier, won more, I don't know, but it just wasn't going to happen with me as the coach.

And when they made me the interim coach, they basically told me and I basically told them that I'm not gonna let the stuff that's been going on go on, but looking back, maybe I should have.

Do you ever wish maybe the University had picked Ray McCallum to be interim coach instead of you?

They couldn't do that. There is no way Indiana University could have picked Ray. No way. No way. I'm not going to go into why, there's just no way they could have.

What's been the reaction, if any, since you left the program? People have been really good. I've gotten so many letters from people that have really (been supportive).

I'm aware, very aware, that there are people there that go the other way. ... (But) It's nice. I think as a person that's involved in IU basketball, you have the obligation to be a very nice person.

What's next for you? Where do you go from here?

You've got to move on with your life. Real life for me is I've got two kids, I've got a wife, I've got to find a job, I've got to get a career going, whether it's basketball or it's broadcasting, whatever it is. I'm going to look at things, probably overrealistically, and that's the realistic part of it.

It's an interesting question, and I don't necessarily have an answer.

Do you want to coach again?

Let me put it this way: Deep down, it's hard for me to imagine not being a coach, because since I was in fifth grade, every time this year comes around, I'm on a basketball team. How old are you when you are in fifth grade, 10? So, since 1972, until today, you and me sitting here, I've been involved in a basketball team. So it's hard for me to imagine not being, and I'm interested in seeing how that goes.

Are you looking forward to working your radio show up in Indy?

I'm very excited about this deal here. You know, having a radio show is like every guy's dream. You listen and say, 'I could do that better.'

I don't know how it's gonna be.