Eying IU

Report: Senderoff to resign

Fox Sports reported Monday that Indiana men’s basketball assistant coach Rob Senderoff is expected to resign. The report, on foxsports.com, sited two unnamed sources close to the program. IU has not released any statement on the matter.

Senderoff has been at the center of the sanctions placed on the basketball program. The university announced self-imposed sanctions on Oct. 14 tied to impermissible phone calls. Among the calls, the university said assistant coaches made 35 that violated NCAA recruiting rules. Later reports surfaced that the number could reach up to 100. The university’s report also said coach Kelvin Sampson participated in at least 10 three-way calls, which violated the terms of previous sanctions.

Senderoff has been banned from calling recruits and off-campus recruiting for one year. He also had to forgo a pay raise.

IU lost one scholarship for next season and Sampson agreed to voluntarily forgo a $500,000 raise.

- LaMond Pope, The Journal Gazette

IU basketball opens practice

The IU men’s basketball team will open Friday’s practice to fans. The practice gets underway at 4 p.m. at Assembly Hall. Fans should enter the arena through the south or north doors and sit in the west stands.

“This is something we enjoying doing every year,” IU coach Kelvin Sampson said in a statement. “Our students, alumni and fans have a tremendous passion for the program and we’re excited to provide this opportunity for them to see one of our practices.”

- By LaMond Pope of The Journal Gazette

Ball State time set

uIndiana’s Nov. 3 home game against Ball State will take place at noon. The contest will be on the Big Ten Network.

Both teams have five wins. With the Hoosiers traveling to Wisconsin and the Cardinals at Illinois this week, the Nov. 3 contest could be a battle for bowl eligibility.

-          By LaMond Pope of The Journal Gazette

Missed chances

Saturday’s 36-31 loss to Penn State was all about missed opportunities. The Hoosiers will look at the tape and kick themselves.

Despite four turnovers the Hoosiers were in a position to go ahead when Penn State lined up to punt with close to two minutes remaining. Tracy Porter appeared to be under the ball but decided at the last second to pull away, he later said he misjudged it. Instead of starting at the 30, the ball rolled to their 5. IU slowly moved the ball down the field but another fumble ended any hopes of a victory.

To pull an upset IU had to take advantage of mistakes, not make them. That’s why the Hoosiers suffered their second-consecutive loss.

-- By LaMond Pope, The Journal Gazette

Magazines expect big things

There’s been some actual basketball-related good news for the Hoosiers in recent days.

The Sporting News, which merged with Street and Smith’s College Basketball Preview, ranked Indiana 10th in their annual preseason poll. The Hoosiers are picked to finish second in the Big Ten. Freshman Eric Gordon was named a first-team Preseason All-America, the league's top freshman and All-Big Ten. Senior D.J. White was named All-Big Ten, the top NBA prospect and the top shot blocker.

CBSSports.com had IU rated 11th in their preseason magazine. Gordon was named a second-team All-America and White made the third team. Gordon also is rated as the third best freshman in college basketball.

- By LaMond Pope of The Journal Gazette

Fans weighing in

In a story such as the latest sanctions against IU coach Kelvin Sampson and the basketball team, there are bound to e-mails supporting or slamming the coach and university. So far, I’ve received plenty of the latter and none of the former.

What does that mean? Fans/alums aren’t happy not only with the news, but the way this is being handled.

The story will be a focal point in a couple of weeks at Big Ten media day so already some glow is getting taken away from what could be a big season.

What’s next? The NCAA will have its say after the Hoosiers turn in their second report. But don’t expect to hear anything from the organization soon. A review could a few months to complete. And the NCAA never comments on ongoing investigations.

What's your take?

- By LaMond Pope of The Journal Gazette

Television time

IU will play on ESPN for the first time this season Saturday against Penn State. Six of IU’s first seven games have been on the Big Ten Network.

Quarterback Kellen Lewis doesn’t think which network the game is on makes that much difference.

“People from back home call me and ask if the game’s going to be on TV and most of the time I have no idea. ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, from week to week I’m not sure what network we’re on,” he said.

“You have to go out and play the team on the field. We came out and played hard against Western Michigan and Akron. You just can’t show up for the big games on national television. It’s good that we’ll be on ESPN so that the country will have the first chance to look at us on ESPN. We don’t want to fall flat on our face. Hopefully that will inspire guys to go out and play harder.”

By the way, the Hoosiers’ game at Wisconsin on Oct. 27 will be on the Big Ten Network.

-         By LaMond Pope of The Journal Gazette

Impressed by Gaines

After studying the tape on Penn State, one Nittany Lions’ defensive player who stood out to Bill Lynch was Josh Gaines. The junior out of Northrop has 16 tackles and 11/2 sacks. He has started all seven games for Penn State at left end. Gaines caused a fumble on the first play of last week’s 38-7 victory against Wisconsin.

“They use him in different ways. They move him around some. He’s good,” Lynch said.

- By LaMond Pope of The Journal Gazette

Rough weekend

It was a rough weekend for IU athletics.

First, with a possible bowl berth on the line, the Hoosiers were blasted by Michigan State, 52-27. IU didn’t have an answer for Javon Ringer, who rushed for 203 yards and two touchdowns.

But it was another ring that caused more troubling news on Sunday. Once again, Kelvin Sampson is under a cloud after IU placed self-imposed penalties on the basketball team for phone call violations.

Sampson says in nine of the 10 instances, he was unaware that he was participating in a three-way call – a no-no under penalties established from his previous violations.

After an independent investigation was held, IU decided to take away one scholarship and prohibit assistant coach Rob Senderoff from making recruiting phone calls and recruit off campus for a year. Sampson agreed to forego a $500,000 raise for 2007-08.

“This was 10 calls out of 1,000,” Sampson said during a teleconference. “It’s disappointing. If we had 10 out of 1,000, then that’s 10 too many.”

One report has been turned into the NCAA. A second will be on its way, so this story isn’t done yet.

- By LaMond Pope of The Journal Gazette

Hoosiers fall

The Hoosiers’ bowl hopes will have to wait another week after a 52-27 loss to Michigan State.

The Spartans dominated from start to finish, gaining 558 total yards of offense. Javon Ringer rushed for 203 yards and two touchdowns. It was similar to the way Illinois handed Indiana its first defeat. It didn’t help that the Hoosiers ran just 36 plays while Michigan State ran 90.

The players said all the right things after the game, pointing out that this was just one defeat. It will be interesting to see how they respond against Penn State.

- By LaMond Pope of The Journal Gazette