Indiana University responded to an NCAA charge that it failed to monitor its men's basketball program by accusing former coach Kelvin Sampson and his coaching staff of withholding information and concealing impermissible recruiting phone calls from compliance officials.
The lengthy report, released yesterday in response to a Freedom of Information request from The Associated Press, explained the actions of Sampson and his staff made it almost impossible to detect the alleged violations earlier.
Indiana officials contend the NCAA's own investigative staff agreed with school officials that the failure to monitor charge wasn't warranted.
The NCAA has accused the program of four major violations stemming from more than 100 impermissible phone calls to recruits made by Sampson and his assistants while Sampson was on probation for a phone-call scandal at Oklahoma.
When school officials appeared before the infractions committee in June, they agreed false and misleading information was provided to NCAA investigators by Sampson. He has repeatedly denied this.
Two weeks later, the NCAA added the failure to monitor charge. At the time, President Michael McRobbie called the charge unjustified and said the school would "vigorously defend" itself.
Rather than request another hearing, however, the school decided to respond in writing.
In the response, Indiana said only four of more than 70,000 calls made by the men's basketball staff were detectable.
The NCAA could hand down additional sanctions when it rules on the case.
More basketball
■ The Detroit Pistons signed free agent guard Alex Acker to a contract yesterday.
Detroit selected Acker in the second round of the 2005 NBA draft as the 60th overall pick. He played five games with the Pistons during the 2005-06 season, averaging 1.8 points and 1 rebound a game.
The 6-5, 185-pound Acker has played overseas for two seasons. He averaged 6.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1 assist in 30 games for FC Barcelona last season. He previously played for Olympiacos in Greece.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
■ Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady says his left shoulder is arthritic and will require surgery after this season. He also said at the team's media day that his left knee is still bothering him after surgery in May.
McGrady sprained his shoulder against Sacramento on March 24 and wore padding to protect it for the rest of the season. He had surgery in May to clear loose tissue in his shoulder and knee. He said Monday that his knee is "probably 75-80 percent" healthy and will take another two months to fully heal.
McGrady said an MRI revealed the arthritis in his shoulder.
Cycling
■ Lance Armstrong is hoping his comeback will indeed start in Australia.
Armstrong wants to return to elite racing in next January's Tour Down Under even though he's not eligible to return until Feb. 1, 2009. The race in Australia runs Jan. 20-25.
Armstrong said yesterday he's hoping authorities will grant him an exemption and allow him to ride.
"It's my hope that I get down there," Armstrong said by phone from Marfa, Texas. "We'll respect whatever decision they come down with."
The International Cycling Union (UCI) requires riders coming out of retirement to be in the sport's anti-doping program for six months before racing.
Armstrong filed paperwork Aug. 1 with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and said he's already been drug-tested -- in late August.
The UCI has said it will make a decision this week.
Armstrong has said he plans to race the Tour of California in February and the Tour de France in July. Yesterday, Armstrong also mentioned Monday the Paris-Nice race, a race in South Africa, and the Tour of Italy as other possible 2009 events. He said he regrets not racing Tour of Italy in previous years.
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