Latest recruiting call flap costs Sampson $500K, scholarship

That's when, Sampson said, the three-way calls occurred.

"I was allowed to text message kids and a lot of times that's how a kid would call," Sampson said. "But a lot of times, because of the area I lived in, the call would not go through or show up as missed calls. Because of the restrictions we were under, I could not make any calls from May 25 to May 25 and I did not make any calls."

Even so, it is a black eye for an Indiana program that took a risk when it hired Sampson in March 2006, while still under NCAA investigation.

Sampson is also expected to help put the Hoosiers back on the national map this year after winning the recruiting fight for Indianapolis high school star Eric Gordon last year. Gordon, the state's 2007 Mr. Basketball winner, backed out of a commitment with Illinois last October and announced he would play for the Hoosiers.

Sampson said he and his staff dutifully tried to abide by the sanctions.

"There was certainly no intent to think that we were above the law," he said. "The rules we broke were mistakes. ... It's not something that we were doing out front, purposefully."

When Sampson was hired, Greenspan said that additional NCAA infractions could lead to Sampson's firing.

But Greenspan said Sunday that after consulting with university attorneys and school President Michael McRobbie it was determined the school-imposed penalties were appropriate.

"This decision was not made by the athletic director, but it has been made with considerable thought and it's a matter we will now move forward to the NCAA," Greenspan said.

Sampson also acknowledged after his hiring that he had made mistakes at Oklahoma, mistakes that he and his staff had learned from.

A conciliatory Sampson again promised Sunday to follow all rules in the future.

"I think we had mistakes of omission and commission, but I don't think there was any intent to circumvent the rules," Sampson said. "We have to figure this out. We don't want to be 95 percent in compliance or 99 percent, we have to be 100 percent in compliance."