Early this afternoon on the Herd with Colin Cowherd, Andy Katz broke down the top 12 picks of the NBA Draft and he had our boy Eric Gordon going to the Knicks with the sixth pick.

Most of the mock drafts are in agreement (except this one) that Gordon won’t get past Milwaukee with the eighth pick, so it’s looking like either the Knicks, Clippers or Bucks for EJ.

Of those three situations, I probably like New York the best. Mike D’Antoni’s style seems to fit Gordon well and the chance to play in a market with endless endorsement opportunities is also a huge plus.

Milwaukee, on the other hand, could be a disaster if Gordon is forced to answer Kelvin Sampson questions his entire rookie season.

By the way, Cowherd, friend of all bloggers, wasn’t shy with his praise for Gordon and his potential to succeed at the next level: “Eric Gordon will be a 10-time All-Star. He’ll be a star in the NBA…fast.”

There’s been no shortage of reports today regarding Tony Bennett and the Indiana job. First, it was Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports reporting that IU offered the job to Bennett. Then, you had Andy Katz of ESPN come back with a contradicting story that IU had not contacted him with a quote from Bennett that said as much. If that wasn’t enough Gary Parrish of CBS Sportsline weighed-in with his side of things and told us we’ll know if Bennett is the man within 24 hours.

A lot of you have commented asking for my take on things, so here it goes:

First, it’s important to remember that Goodman, Katz and Parrish are all trying to break this story. After all, it’s a pretty big one. Since they’re not bound to the rules of normal print media, they’re going to write about anything they feel is legitimate information from a good source. As far as Bennett telling Katz that he hasn’t talked to Indiana, what do you expect him to say? That he’s in negotiations and will arrive in Bloomington tomorrow? That’s not how it works, folks. Katz is a very good reporter, but he’s been wrong before (see his report a few years back that Steve Alford was going to Missouri). I do believe that Indiana has made contact with either Bennett or his representatives to gauge his interest. And he’s probably interested.

I can’t think of a good reason for Bennett to stay at Washington State. No offense to what Bennett has done there or the fans of the program, but let’s be honest, it’s not a destination job. Indiana is a destination and given Bennett’s ties to the Big Ten and the prestige of the program, he’d be foolish not to give it serious consideration. On the surface, he seems to be an ideal fit for the situation.

I have been told by multiple people that IU would like to have a coach in place before the Final Four, so whether or not Bennett is the man, we should know a lot more in the coming days. Until then, stay tuned…

The latest:

• Will Tony Bennett stay at Washington State?
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer blogger weighs-in
• Washington St: “We haven’t been contacted by any university”

More from ITH:

• PostmanR profiles Washington State’s Tony Bennett
• Complete coaching search coverage

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Those of you hoping Kelvin Sampson is cut loose sooner rather than later by IU — and the more I read today, the more I think it makes more sense to do so because the NCAA is likely to come down less hard on us, although I still feel horrible for the players’ sake — may soon get your wish. Andy Katz of ESPN.com is reporting a source has indicated to him Sampson is being evaluated game-to-game.

Discussions about whether Sampson would coach Wednesday night’s game against Wisconsin went on as late as the afternoon preceding the game, according to a source close to the situation.

A source told ESPN.com that there is an air of uncertainty on the staff regarding Sampson’s status and whether he’ll finish out the season. Sampson met with his staff Tuesday into the night and again on Wednesday.

Indiana (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) could choose to suspend Sampson from coaching games while it figures out its options without having to fire him. The Hoosiers have home games Saturday against Michigan State and Tuesday against Purdue.

Larry MacIntyre, the assistant vice president for university communications, said IU president Michael McRobbie has met with the school’s legal counsel, the board of trustees and athletic director Rick Greenspan.

[ ... ]

MacIntyre said there are no plans for a news conference Thursday or Friday, but he said he’s “not going on vacation” and is prepared to quickly organize one if needed.

So yes: there’s the latest news flying out there on Sampson’s status. It should come as no surprise to any of us.

ESPN.com just dropped a bomb on us, folks: the NCAA sent a letter to IU last Friday detailing major — not secondary like all the phone call nonsense we had to endure earlier this season — violations in the men’s basketball program. A quick blockquote of the particulars:

Larry MacIntyre, assistant vice president for university communications at Indiana University, confirmed to ESPN.com that the school did receive documentation from the NCAA last week.

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday night that the school will make the allegations public on Wednesday. University trustees president Stephen Ferguson told AP that school officials this week reviewed the report, but that the NCAA is not expected to make its ruling until this summer.

“There won’t be a hearing till this June,” Ferguson told AP. “It’s just been reviewed, and I think everyone is analyzing it now.”

OK, so the good out of all this: looks like this season is not in jeopardy, since nothing will come of this till June. But then there’s the bad news: oh, the bad news. At this point, I’d prefer not to get overly reactionary. I’m trying to sit here calmly in my living room just past midnight on Feb. 13, 2008 and think all is well with the team I love; the team I write about; the team I’ll follow till the Good Lord takes me from this Earth.

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Andy Katz is a senior college basketball writer for ESPN.com. His “Daily Word” is a staple of ESPN.com’s college hoops coverage. He is also an on-air reporter for the World Wide Leader’s coverage of college basketball and the NBA draft. We recently caught up with him and got his take on the upcoming IU season, how Kelvin Sampson is perceived by his peers, Rob Senderoff’s resignation and a few other topics. We thank Mr. Katz for his time.

Inside the Hall: With D.J White returning and the arrival of Eric Gordon, IU is back in the preseason top 10 for the first time since the 1994-1995 season. Is this team capable of a run to San Antonio and which player, White or Gordon, is the key to getting them there?

Andy Katz: Both. The Hoosiers need balance to make it to San Antonio. They haven’t had those two working parts in concert in years. If the Hoosiers get an all-American season out of White and what should be a one-and-done stellar season out of Gordon then they will have the two most important pieces in place to make a run.

ITH: The preseason media poll penciled in Michigan State as the favorite to win the conference. Are the Spartans the team to beat in the Big Ten and if so, why?

Katz: The reason was experience. The Spartans return more overall experience and have the most important player to his team in the league in Drew Neitzel. Gordon may end up having just as good a statistical season but he’s still a freshman versus a senior. It’s hard to argue that point.

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(Editor’s Note: The Indianapolis Star has revealed secondary violations that have taken place in the last 15 months. You can read that report by clicking here.)

Updated, 10/16, 7:15 AM: Those of you hoping for a “this too shall pass” resolution to yesterday’s news regarding Kelvin Sampson’s latest sanctions for violating NCAA phone call rules are in for a rude awakening. It’s not happening, folks. Fan message boards are being overloaded, radio talk show lines are lighting up and talking heads from across the country are calling for, gasp, Sampson’s head.

A survey of prominent viewpoints from across the land revealed the following thoughts about Sampson:

Andy Katz, ESPN.com: Sampson has plenty of friends in the business. And when I say plenty, I would argue that the majority of coaches really do enjoy his company. But a number of them are perturbed by these latest violations. Some of his good friends even told me that they do think this will put a distinctive mark on the public perception of Sampson.

Will Leitch, Deadspin: The move is seen as a preemptive strike against any potential NCAA punishments. Indiana should be much better this year, thanks largely to recruit Eric Gordon (which Sampson swiped from Illinois, infuriating many of his fellow Big Ten coaches), but they’ve now officially wiped the regime of Bob Knight off the books. Say what you will about Knight, but this was never a problem with him. He was too busy strangling the players he already had.

Rick Bozich, Louisville Courier-Journal: Don’t fire up your search engine. Sampson committed similar violations at Oklahoma, then promised it would never happen in Bloomington. Sunday’s news suggests the man is either brash or careless. Doesn’t matter which side you pick. He’s still a repeat offender. IU uncovered the violations. IU reported them to the NCAA. IU is punishing the rule-breakers — Sampson and assistant Rob Senderoff. Sampson described the violations as “disappointing.” Losing to Purdue is disappointing. This is disturbing. Reckless also fits. So does ridiculous.

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It’s been quiet on the Bud Mackey front these past two days, but now ESPN.com basketball columnist Andy Katz is reporting that IU will withdraw its offer to the Scott County standout regardless of how everything shakes out in court.

Expect Indiana to privately cut loose committed recruit Bud Mackey in the coming days or weeks.

A source close to the situation told ESPN.com that Indiana will withdraw the commitment to Mackey, regardless of the outcome of his case that includes trafficking a controlled substance.

Indiana is obviously fairly confident that it will land another point guard without an issue. Taking a player who has this charge wasn’t worth it to the Hoosiers.

I can’t say I am surprised by this, but I was still optimistic that IU would allow Mackey to have his day in court before making any final decisions.

Obviously, the court of public opinion reigns supreme in this circumstance and understandably so. You simply cannot have a storied program like Indiana being associated with crack cocaine. So long Bud. We hardly knew ya.