College Sports

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana University's president told the NCAA infractions committee that the hiring of ousted basketball coach Kelvin Sampson was "a risk that should not have been taken."

President Michael McRobbie told the committee during a private session on June 14 that Sampson had betrayed the school's trust in violating NCAA regulations on telephone calls to recruits. The text of McRobbie's statement was released Monday by the university under a public records request and was first reported by The Herald-Times of Bloomington on its Web site.

The NCAA has accused Sampson of providing false and misleading information to investigators about more than 100 impermissible phone calls to recruits.

Indiana announced Thursday — the same day that athletic director Rick Greenspan resigned effective at the end of the year — that the university faced a new NCAA allegation of failing to adequately monitor the basketball staff.

Sampson, who left Indiana in February after accepting a $750,000 buyout, was under NCAA recruiting restrictions when IU hired him in 2006 because of a phone-call scandal at Oklahoma.

McRobbie, who took over as Indiana president after Sampson was hired, told the infractions committee that Sampson's actions left the basketball program "in tatters" and that new coach Tom Crean faced rebuilding the team.

"Indiana University took a risk in hiring Coach Sampson and giving him a second chance following his problems at Oklahoma," McRobbie said. "It is now clear that this was a risk that should not have been taken and the university regrets doing so."

A message seeking comment from Sampson was left Monday with the sports agency that represents him.