Let’s try something new.

Here’s audio from Kelvin Sampson’s press conference today. I’ve just put the whole thing on here for you, unfiltered.

We’re going to integrate more audio and even video into our web site, which will be completely different — and better, from the prototypes I’ve seen so far — on Feb. 1.

Kelvin Sampson press conference, Jan. 18

This is from Mike Leonard’s column that ran in today’s Herald-Times. Thought you guys would like to give it a read and try to help out.

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From North Vernon comes a poignant request to Indiana University basketball loyalists.

Kache Ross wrote recently to explain that her grandfather, John Robert Ross, is suffering from an affliction similar to Parkinson’s disease or ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).

“One of the few activities he is still able to enjoy is watching IU basketball on television,” she wrote. “He watches TV with the volume turned down while listening to Don Fischer call the game on radio.”

Now that’s a true fan — although it seems that broadcast technology is increasingly causing just enough of a gap between the television and radio signals that this time-honored practice is getting harder to do.

The elder Ross can’t watch the same games over and over, however. What his granddaughter wishes for are VHS tapes or even DVD recordings of IU basketball during the Bob Knight era. The Ross family has garnered tapes of the 1981 and 1987 NCAA championship games but not much else.

Anyone who wants to copy or give up Bob Knight-era IU tapes for Mr. Ross’s enjoyment can mail them to John Robert Ross at 4480 Sunset Glades Blvd., North Vernon, IN 47265.

“Your help will be greatly appreciated by our whole family,” his granddaughter wrote.

There is a “99 percent” chance Eli Holman will play basketball this season.

That, according to Richmond assistant coach Lonnie Coleman, is what he understands after talking to the California Interscholastic Federation executive director Marie Ishida today.

According to Coleman, Ishida “will give Eli the go ahead to play” as long as his grades are acceptable. Richmond student’s grades become finalized on Friday; therefore Ishida will make an announcement on Monday at the earliest.

But it seems as if Holman’s report card is just a formality at this point. Coleman says he believes there is a “99 percent chance of ‘yes’ because Eli has 3 A’s and 3 B’s, so his grades are solid.”

“She wants to see those grades and base her decision on that,” Coleman said.

Ishida decided to re-review the appeal after Holman and his supporters held a press conference at Richmond High last Wednesday. The press conference featured Holman speaking to the media and the referee Holman physically came in contact with, David Mullins, in the Dec. 3, 2005 incident.

“I can’t stand by and watch while a good kid who made a mistake is punished for the rest of his high school career,” Mullins said in a press release. “He messed up, he’s paid the price, and he should have an opportunity to show everyone the integrity he’s displayed over the last year off the court.”

After placing a call to the CIF this afternoon, an assistant of Ishida’s said that no official decision had been made yet. The assistant also said that Ishida would be unable to discuss Holman’s appeal, due to the fact that it involved a minor’s eligibility.

Word that Holman could be returning comes just in time for his Richmond team. After a loss on Tuesday, Richmond’s record dropped to 7-6 and is curretnly only fielding six players on their active roster. If Holman’s appeal is successful on Monday, he will be able to play in the team’s 12 remaining games.

Final: Indiana 71, Iowa 64

It didn’t look like they were shaving points, but it did seem as if the Hoosiers were doing everything they could to blow their once-sizeable lead.

The score doesn’t do justice to how lopsided the game was. If you were watching Kelvin Sampson, it looked as if every Hawkeye bucket in garbage time was taking a year off his life.

Even with the minor collapse at the end of the game, Indiana’s performance was still impressive. Paticularly the play of junior D.J White who had 23 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks. White dominated the boards all game and was aided by strong play from Lance Stemler (seven rebounds) and Rod Wilmont (five).

Once again the Hoosiers weren’t trigger-shy, launching 21 three-pointers and connecting on eight. For the game, the team shot 46.3 percent from the field and went 13-17 from the free throw line.

The duo of Armon Bassett and Earl Carlloway proved successful once again — the two point guards combined for 18 points and nine assists.

The Hoosiers only bench points came from A.J. Ratliff, who had eight. Kelvin Sampson tightened his rotation versus the Hawkeyes, playing all of his starters over 30 minutes.

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1:02, second half: Indiana 66, Iowa 56

Slop. That’s what this is. Nobody is sharp right now, not even the officials.

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1:44, second half: Indiana 65, Iowa 54

Haluska just stole a pass intended for White and went the other way for a pull-up jumper. The Hoosiers couldn’t will themselves to stay in this game at the end and now Iowa has gotten a little too close.

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3:55, second half: Indiana 64, Iowa 50

Sampson had the backups in and had to yank them when Iowa pulled within 14. Ben Allen looked like he thought he was in Australia. Crikey!

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8:04, second half: Indiana 60, Iowa 41

D.J. White has taken over. He’s got 33 points and is probably into double digits on rebounds by now. He looks almost graceful out there…a far departure from earlier this year.

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11:32, second half: Indiana 49, Iowa 35

Iowa’s working hard to get switches on Haluska, running him off screens and through traffic. He twice got the ball low in the paint after gaining separation and hit a lay-in and was fouled.

A.J. Ratliff’s got four fouls and is on the bench for Indiana.

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13:33, second half: Indiana 44, Iowa 30

Haluska just got open and buried a deep 3. Even up 14, that’s not a good sign for Indiana. I think Sampson just called this time out to discuss that fact. Iowa’s going to start shooting from all over the place and he’s worried that his team has been lulled into a false sense of superiority. Iowa’s just been more sloppy.

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15:48, second half: Indiana 39, Iowa 23

The tempo has picked up here. Armon Bassett opened the scoring with a running 40-foot 3-pointer and the D.J. White swooped in for a dunk.

Rod Wilmont hurt his right arm trying to make a steal just a moment ago. He stayed on the floor but eventually shrugged off help from the doctors.

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Half: Indiana 29, Iowa 17

A sort of mundane little half there. Wilmont is still shooting and rebounding well. He 3-of-7 3-pointers and has 11 points and four rebounds.

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3:58, first half: Indiana 24, Iowa 13

Tough start for Haluska. He’s had a few open shots that have rimmed out. Indiana is dominating on the boards.

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7:30, first half: Indiana 19, Iowa 10

Gorney missed a dunk — how is that even possible at his height — and Lance Stemler countered with a 3-pointer as the Hoosiers defense has been tight and offense varied.

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11:58, first half: Indiana 10, Iowa 10

The first “Stand up, old people” chant came at the 14:19 mark, and a few obliged. I can’t imagine anyone being too thrilled about being called and old person. The students need to come up with a kinder, gentler way to persuade them.

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15:14, first half: Iowa 8, Indiana 5

Calloway is handling Halusku and has allowed him only one open shot, which he missed.

Wilmont got the ball for the first time and wanted to shoot right away. It slipped out of his hands.

He got it seconds later and shot right away. It feel. He’s still feeling good from the trip to State College.

Seth Gorney has hurt the Hoosiers with two mid-range jumpers. They’re having trouble guarding him because he’s a 7-foot post who drifts a bit. Might we see Ben Allen out there to guard him?

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Starting for the Hoosiers, the usual: Calloway, Wilmont, Bassett, Stemler and White.

Iowa’s Adam Huluska is going to be a tough match for whoever guards him. The Hoosiers found a way to limit Geary Claxton, the mid-sized and multi-talented forward for Penn State. Let’s see what they do here.

If you can’t wait until Saturday afternoon to watch the Hoosiers, there will be a teaser made available on tape-delay the night before.

IU basketball recruit Eric Gordon and his North Central team will take on Lawrence North Friday night. For your viewing purposes, the game will be shown on tape-delay at 10:30 p.m. on Channel 40.

Check out Indiana’s latest football recruit by clicking here.

Newsflash after watching the video: I think this guy just might play a little bit at Indiana.

The talk on Michigan football message boards today is that the Wolverine coaching staff is making a push to get Jerimy Finch to reconsider his decision to play football at Indiana.

In his public statements since switching his verbal commitment from Michigan to Indiana Sunday, Finch has said he won’t change his mind again. But with a recruit of this caliber, the Hoosiers won’t be able to consider it a done deal until Finch signs a letter of intent on Feb. 7.

Assuming Finch does stick with the Hoosiers, he is the Eric Gordon of Indiana football, a high-profile recruit who has made a splash by changing his mind. The question then becomes whether the Hoosier coaching staff will be able to cash in on the publicity from Finch’s decision to lure other highly sought recruits.

Indiana has only about 3-5 spots left in its 2007 recruiting class, but filling those spots with higher potential athletes, particularly on defense, could make a big difference in the quality of the class as a whole.

Three national recruiting analysts I spoke with Monday said Finch can make this kind of difference for Indiana. They said he’s not only a much-needed athlete for the Indiana defense, but also a recruit who will make other players take a closer look at the Hoosiers. Here’s my story from today’s H-T with those comments:

By Doug Wilson
331-4227/[email protected]

Jerimy Finch’s decision to play at Indiana could mark a turning point for the Hoosier football program, three national recruiting analysts said Monday.

The recruiting analysts said most winning football programs get many of the top recruits in their state year after year, but the Hoosiers haven’t been able to do that in at least a decade.

“I don’t care who you are or where you are,” said Jaime Newberg, national recruiting director for Scout.com. “You’ve got to have a grasp on your state. You’ve got to put a fence around it.

“You have to get the top in-state players to win. But you also typically have to win to get the top in-state players. At some point, there has to be leap of faith.”

In picking Indiana over Michigan and other top programs, Finch has taken that leap, Newberg said.

“We’ve seen some signs that this is a program on the rise,” Newberg said of Indiana. “How far they will ascend, nobody knows. But this is huge for them.”

Finch, a safety from Warren Central, is the top-rated in-state high school player in the class of 2007, according to Scout.com, which also ranks him as the 71st-best senior in the country and the eighth-best safety.

Tom Lemming of College Sports Television (CSTV) has Finch as Indiana’s highest-rated recruit since running back Levron Williams of Evansville Bosse, who committed to the Hoosiers in 1997.

“I knew they were recruiting strong, but I never thought they’d be able to take somebody away from Michigan,” Lemming said.

According to Scout.com East/Midwest regional recruiting manager Bob Lichtenfels, Finch’s decision will help the Hoosier coaching staff attract other top in-state players.

“When the kids in Indiana see a Jerimy Finch go to Indiana, that’s definitely a big deal to them,” Lichtenfels said. “They say if he can go there, why can’t I? I don’t have to leave.”

The recruiting analysts said Indiana also has to succeed in recruiting outside Indiana to have a winning program, but in-state players need to serve as the base of talent for IU’s program.

Even after the commitments of Finch and Warren Central defensive end Jeff Boyd Sunday, Scout.com still has Indiana’s 2007 recruiting class ranked among the bottom half in the Big Ten, along with Northwestern, Michigan State, Minnesota and Purdue.

Newberg said Hoosier fans shouldn’t worry about those rankings because Indiana looks like a team that’s ready to turn the corner and is getting players that fit its needs.

“(Recruiting) rankings are meaningless,” he said. “You’ve got to trust your coaches.

“It’s not just about recruiting. It’s also about coaching and developing the kids.”

Next season will be critical for the Hoosiers, Newberg said, because they need to build on the progress of last year’s 5-7 campaign if they are to maintain their momentum in recruiting.