IDS reporter Brian Janosch interviewed players, coaches, students and others Wednesday. Some of the following quotes were used in stories in today's newspaper, while others were left out.
Errek Suhr
On Sampson: "I'm excited because he's a great coach. To be honest, I don't have any concerns really. I'm excited and thrilled that we have somebody to lead us now." \n
On initial impression: "I didn't know what to expect at first, but he seems like a great guy. He let us know that it's all about us. And that we're not in a rebuilding stage, we're trying to win." \n
On coach Davis: "We did love coach Davis. With me, I owe him so much when it comes to even being a college basketball player. So I will forever be in his debt when it comes to that. But to be honest, I'm not looking in the past anymore. I'm excited about the new season and excited about our new coach. \nIt's all coming kind of fast. But as I said before, as much as I'm going to miss coach Davis and some of the guys are, it's a good feeling to be headed forward now instead of looking back." \nRod Wilmont
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On dealing with coaching rumors: "It's not hard on my part. I was just waiting for something like this to happen, and then I would know who the real coach is. There's always going to be rumors about different things, but you've just got to block it out."\n
On new expectations for the team: "I know it's going to be pretty intense because a couple of my friends play on Oklahoma so they let me know how it was. (They said) coach is hard nosed. Things are going to get done on the defensive end."\n
On moving on from coaching transition: "I'm happy that it's all out the way now. So everyone can stop bothering me, calling me. Not just the media, but my friends, my family. I think yesterday I had 24 missed calls. I just didn't pick my phone up." \n
On how he learned the news: "I was in class and my mom texted me on my phone and said your coach is the coach from Oklahoma. I thought she was playing … My mom's named all types of names, she's a basketball nut anyway." \n
On D.J. White's future at IU: "It's pretty much not the coach that is going to keep D.J. around, it's the players. Like myself and A.J. Those are the guys that are going to keep them around because we've been with them for a while. I've known D.J. and Vaden since they were in high school, so I'm going to try my best to get them back here and hopefully I'm going to do that. I really feel that D.J. is going to come back. Robert, it's going to be hard, but I'm going to try my best. \n(What will it take to keep him here?) I don't know. Tell him to take all the shots." \n
On why Vaden was not at the press conference: "Robert is just being himself. After all the stuff that happened, he just didn't feel like it was right for him to be here today." \n
On Sampson's coaching style: "He's all about the team. That's the type of coach, coach Davis was. That's what we're used to and I'm glad we got somebody that's almost just like that.\nHe was just telling us, it's our team. And for us to have a great team we've got to have everybody back as one. And we definitely have to have Robert back next year." \n
On moving on: "I'm excited that everything is finally over. People can move on with their lives and just play basketball and go to school." \n
On the team's future: "I think he came into a great situation. We've got great players. It's not like he came to a bunch of guys that can't play."\n
On coach Davis: "I wish coach davis the best. He's a great man. He's been through a lot here and he's going to get a job. He's a good guy. \n"We've got great players. Coach Davis was like a father to all of us, so just be there. Just be a coach that cares about his team." \n
On transitioning to a new coach: "The way he came in the locker room I don't think it's going to be hard. The first thing he said is that he's all about the team and us. It seems like he's a really humble guy and that's exactly how coach Davis was." \nRick Greenspan
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On choosing a coach: "I'd like to think I know what I'm doing. Time always tells. Quite honestly. I know I've heard across the state and across the country that this is a defining hire for the university, for the basketball program and for me. And if I didn't have some confidence in my ability to make those decisions, or recommendations, then I wouldn't have accepted this job. \n"I'm not going to be presumptuous that there is a magic wand. I think that you try and hire good people and support them, and we've got some work here to do in terms of support. And I don't mean our fan base, but as I look around the coutry we've got to make some strong commitments to facility improvements and some other things. \n"You get a lot of fluff in this business. People selling other people that maybe aren't capable. I go to people that I trust. And those that I trust kept telling me the same thing: He is one great guy who's got a great family. He's a heck of a coach. His record stands for that. And he will bring toughness and team discipline to our program. And I think we need that to compete in the Big Ten. \n
On not contacting Alford and Wittman: "I'm not going to talk about who we interviewed and who we had phone conversations with. It doesn't do them any good and it doesn't do me any good. All I can say is, what I said to them and what got recorded publicly is not accurate.\n"My job, that was designated to me by the president and the trustees, was to do a thorough search. And I think we did that."\n
On recruiting violations by Samson at Oklahoma: "Is it a red flag -- absolutely. And I think coach identified that. If it is a chronic hoistory during his career, then absolutely I would be concerned. I'm concerned about it as is, and I think coach stated it. He made a mistake. I don't think he is hiding that mistake." \n
On graduation rates: "I'm not going to say (graduation) doesn't concern me. Our expectations are that this program recruit great, young kids that graduate. That will continue to be my expectation. \n
On one quality that stands out in Samson: "Toughness. I think anybody that's watched his teams play, anybody that knows him, knows he's a tough son of a gun. He's an charismatic and energetic guy, and a good recruiter. But he's tough, and I think you've got to be tough to win basketball games." \n
On whether players will transfer: "I have not gotten that far. Coach and I will sit down sometime once we catch our breath -- I think we've been up for about 48 straight hours. I haven't even talked to him about his meeting with the team." \n
On dealing with the pressure of IU's storied history: "It can be overwhelming, but I'd rather be at a place where the interest is that high and you try and channel it into being supportive and positive than to be at a place where there in ambivalence. Because I've been to some places with ambivalence and you walk into the gym and there are 1,500 people, and I don't think that's a lot of fun. \n"The shadow is cast because of great expectations, and you live up to those expectations. That's why it's a job in the Big Ten, that's why it's a seven year contract, that's why the compensation is fair and reasonable. But it's still significant. Kelvin understands that. This is a program that people look to because of that tradition, and that's a long standing tradition." \n
On all the rumors: "I'll tell you where it can be counterproductive. Unfortunately in a search of this nature or this magnitude, there's a distrust and a paranoia that's being created -- and I think I understand why. And it's honestly disappointing and distressful to me beause I have, I guess, old fashioned thoughts that an athletic director and a president, or an athletic director and a president trustee, sit with a coach. And there are so many people that, I think, get in the middle of this. And either they have minimal knowledge or they have bad knowledge, and that creates, I think, a distrust with those people that you are legitimately talking to and you legitimately have interest in, because the don't know whether they can trust you or not. \n"As far as it relates to me personally -- I don't care. I try and keep my nose to the grindstone during these things." \n
On questions some already have about the hiring: "I understand that, I really do. And there are some aspects of his program where he needs to prove himself at a higher level, perhaps, to meet the expectations we have. But there are also a lot of places where his level of capability and his success is absolutely terrific. \n"I decided, probably the second day I got here, about 18 months ago that if this job were to ever open there would never be unanimity. It's the nature of a job like this. There are a lot of viable candidates and a lot of people that would be interested in it. And I think that creates some factions. I'm not naïve enough to think that there is a perfect choice."\n
On if the rumors effect the search: "Absolutely. It didn't occur with coaches. It occurred with the people that were supposedly representing the coaches. I won't use a broad brush to paint all those people, because there's some very good people that were doing that in a legitimate way. And then there are some other folks who are taking a lot out of this game of college basketball and not putting anything in. \n"That was a lot more of the frustration than the rumors of either who was interviewing for the job, who was offered the job, who was a finalist for the job. That, quite honestly, doesn't bother me. But the lack of candor, the lack of honesty, the lack of fair and equal representation of those people, in terms of the coaches, I think is hideous. And I hope it stops. And if I have anything to do with it, which I probably don't, Ill do everything I can to stop it because it's disingenuous." \n
On the number of candidates: "Multiple. More than two and less than 20."\n
On players possibly being upset with the hire: "You choose a college, and you choose it hopefully on a number of factors. When you sign the national letter of intent, it's a binding agreement between you and the school. The reality of it is though, most young people, based upon a school, its location and largely on a coach. It's my hope and expectation that with some time, and I don't know how much time that is, that this team will develop that kind of strong bond with coach. \n"I think you try and make those decisions with a long term view. And that's not to belittle any individual player, but I think that's what Indiana basketball stands for is long term success. That's where tradition comes from and that's how I'm looking at it." \n
On how a financially strapped department comes up with seven year at $1.5 million: "You raise it. And we've already raised a pretty good chunk of it from external, private sources. \n"When you look at the environment. Certainly in the Big Ten or BCS conferences, we all have salary surveys that we share that at least give you some idea of where we are going to be. And we would need to be at about that level because this is a job that has great, great potential and great tradition, but it comes with great expectations. And that's something that people measure against their income." \n
On facilities: "If you don't try and grow, then you are probably falling behind. Whether that's locker rooms, whether that's team meeting rooms. I think this is a great place to have this press conference, but it would be nice to have a theater perhaps that could also be used for a video room and some other things. \n"If I'm a coach I want to be able to have a facility that I can use with the regularity that I need. That has perhaps more functional and impressive offices. \n"I look at it more like a house. If a house is 30 years old, then in many cases, you are looking to modernize it. It doesn't mean that you are just throwing money at things. But a lot of our facilities have gotten 25 and 30 years because we've been raising money for scholarships and for operating. \n"We need a baseball stadium that is more competitive. Its not just basketball. If you fall back on just the success that you've had, I think people pass you by. And I want to make sure that doesn't happen." \nAdam Herbert
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On recruiting violation: "I was very impressed with his explanation as to, one, his values, two, what happened -- his acknowledgment that there was a major mistake. And perhaps most important, was his statement to me that he's learned from this; he hasn't felt comfortable in this situation and it's not going to happen to him again. And I believe him." \n
On dialogue with Greenspan during process: "The AD and I talked on a regular basis. Sometimes every day. We had conference calls in the morning. And as we got down here near the end, we talked maybe four or five times a day. We kept the trustees informed, especially as we got down to the final couple weeks.\n"He was keeping me informed all along, and I was talking to the consultants also. When we were down to a smaller group of people that we were evaluating, at that point, we brought the trustees in. \n"We just talked about them. They asked us questions, and when we decided to interview a candidate, this was the person we decided to interview. The AD had talked to him before hand, and I talked with him on the phone. Then the four of us met with him last night and started out around 6 or 6:30 and ended up about 1:30 this morning. \n"I think that the basic issues for the trustees was, for sure, that we had a coach that was able to lead a national class program. They want us to have a coach that can win, and they also want one that is going to focus on the values of the institution."\n
On rumors: "The reality is that I didn't read a single article that was accurate in terms of projections of what was happening. I was amazed that people were saying X or Y candidate was being interviewed when we never talked to them.\n"That was the reality. I don't make value judgments about it, but I think that it said something about some member of the press that they would speak authoritatively about something that never happened. That we had not even thought about. That's an ethical issue that members of the press have to deal with."\nEvan Suttner, freshman from Carmel, Ind.
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On Mike Davis' exit: "I think it's too bad the way he went out, but he was never going to get a fair shake." \n
On the announcement: "I definitely surprised, but I was happy. I was pulling for Tom Crean from Marquette, but I'm definitely happy. I think we made a good choice. \n
On negative reaction: "I think that's kind of a shame. A lot of the alumni wanted an Indiana guy, but I think they'll come around once he starts winning." \n
On Sampson: "I hope he's excited to be here. He needs to embrace the Indiana tradition to appease people. He probably needs to explain the sanctions, but other than that I just hope it's a positive atmosphere." \nDennis Campbell, 1973 IU graduate
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On getting a new coach: "I think it's time to move on. I think the day is all about starting with a new coach, a new era, a new time period. And if the rumors are true, I think we picked a great coach." \n
On goals for the team future: "What we want is more of those banners sitting up there (pointing to banners in the Assembly Hall). If we can bring that to us, that will be all we need." \n
On why he came to Assembly Hall: "I just wanted to show support for the new coach. I think it's time to move on and unite the Hoosier nation." \n
On Sampson: "He's a proven winner. The fact of getting a Hoosier alumn, that would have been nice, but that's just one element of getting another banner in the rafters." \n
On what Sampson needs to do to be successful: "I'll steal from Coach Hep's playbook. I think he really went out, and reached out to the students, the greek system, the merchants in town, the alumni, the recent grads the old grads. He really went out of his way to change things … I think that's what (Sampson) needs to do. Be part of the community." \n
On Davis: "I'm ready to move on. I think this is time to move on and time to get another banner in the rafters"
