Report: Sampson Might Land in Milwaukee

Bloomington – According to a published report, former IU Coach Kelvin Sampson could be close to resuming his coaching career.

ESPN.com’s Marc Stein is reportedly that Sampson is talking with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks about being a member of Scott Skiles’ staff. Skiles was introduced as the Bucks new coach Monday, replacing Larry Krystowiak.

Since accepting a $750,000 buyout in February to resign as IU’s coach, Sampson has spent a good portion of his time working in an unofficial capacity with the San Antonio Spurs.

While the NBA might offer Sampson an avenue to get back into the profession, he still has some issues to address with the NCAA due to their allegations that Sampson and his IU staff committed five major recruiting violations during his first season in Bloomington. Those alleged violations occurred while Sampson was already saddled with recruiting restrictions for excessive phone calls to recruits when he was coaching at Oklahoma.

Indiana officials as well as Sampson are scheduled to appear before the NCAA Infractions Committee in Seattle in June to answer to those charges. Sampson has publicly maintained that he intends to dispute the charges.

While Indiana faces the possibility of additional sanctions to the self-imposed penalties it assessed in October, Sampson is looking at a potential “show cause” penalty for his actions. That penalty would require any NCAA team wanting to hire Sampson to appear before the Infractions Committee to defend their decision.

The 53-year-old Sampson went 43-15 in his nearly two years in Bloomington and owns a 498-272 record overall.