Student Athletic Board asks fans to dress like Sampson

Ryan Nietert knows better. You don't wear white after Labor Day.\nSo when the Student Athletic Board president wanted to rally IU's student fans for the men's basketball team's game against Illinois on Saturday, Nietert didn't suggest a white out. Instead the senior wanted all students to wear a blue shirt and red tie as a tribute to IU coach Kelvin Sampson.\n"The Illinois game's a nationally televised game and I thought it would be a great thing for us to do to support him," Nietert said. "We were thinking about doing a red out, but the press would pick up more on this than a red out. They would see that we really support coach Sampson."\nCertainly the game's atmosphere will be much different than it was the last time these two teams met. Sampson was the subject of numerous student chants when the Hoosiers and Illini met in Champaign, Ill., last month. Sampson's relationship with Illinois coach Bruce Weber has been rocky at best since Sampson swooned North Central guard Eric Gordon away from an Illinois commitment to IU. One Facebook group is asking students to bring baby rattles to the game -- insinuating that Weber has whined too much about the Gordon saga.\nNietert said the SAB didn't intentionally plan the "Sampson out" this weekend to spite Weber and the Illini.\nIn fact, it was an idea Nietert said the Student Athletic Board wanted to implement at the Wisconsin game for the few SAB directors who sit near the court at Assembly Hall. They nixed that idea when other students organized their own impromptu white out. \nOne concern Nietert has with the "Sampson out" is the cost students might incur to buy a blue collared shirt and red tie, which typically costs more than the plain white T-shirt worn during white outs. This is a concern marketing staffers in the athletics department shared with him, Nietert said. \n"A lot of girls don't have blue shirts and red ties," he said. "If girls really want to do this, they'll find one of their guy friends and borrow a red tie from them. I understand there are cost implications, but at the same time you can do a blue T-shirt with just a painted red tie on it."\nOther students are pushing for a red out, a Facebook event that had drawn more than 100 guests as of Monday night.