Making matters worse, fans will now be treated to another season of Dick Vitale mentioning that Indiana should rename Assembly Hall after Knight. Might be time to make sure your mute button works.

Around the Hall is recommended reading from the Inside the Hall crew

+ Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz talks to Dick Vitale, a long-time advocate of a Bob Knight return to IU, about whether he thinks the former coach will show up in Bloomington. Former H-T sports editor Bob Hammel also gives his take. {Indianapolis Star}

+ Duke has extended an offer to Marshall Plumlee and the 6-11 junior also holds offers from IU, Florida, Purdue, LSU, Minnesota, N.C. State, Notre Dame and Virginia. {Asheville Citizen-Times}

+ Stacey Poole Sr. says that his son, Stacey Jr., now has Kentucky as the No. 1 school on his list. {Louisville Courier-Journal}

+ 2010 forward Brandon Mobley, an AAU teammate of 2010 commitment David Williams, will visit Bloomington in November and has the Hoosiers in his final three schools. {Indiana Daily Student}

+ The incoming freshmen will wear the following uniform numbers: Jordan Hulls (1), Christian Watford (2), Maurice Creek (3), Bawa Muniru (15), Bobby Capobianco (23), Derek Elston (32). {IU Hoosiers}

+ 2009-2010 preseason prospectus is available in PDF format. {IU Hoosiers}

+ Courier-Journal recruiting writer Jody Demling held a live chat yesterday and a replay is available. {Louisville Courier-Journal}

+ Florida International threatens to withdraw from the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament if the Panthers have to open the event against North Carolina rather than Ohio State. Either way, they’re still losing by 20+. {ESPN.com}

+ Pete DiPrimio raises the question on the mind of a lot of IU fans: Could the Hoosiers go winless in the Big Ten? {Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel}

+ ESPN analyst Dick Vitale says that in two to three years, Indiana will be a perennial top-20 program under the leadership of Tom Crean. {Indianapolis Star}

+ Eric Gordon is financially backing a new AAU program, Gordon Elite, and several of the top players from Indiana are already on board. {Basketblog}

+ Crean, Tom Pritchard, Nick Williams and Daniel Moore address the media in advance of Saturday’s Big Ten opener at Carver Hawkeye Arena. {IUHoosiers.com}

Quotable:

“There wasn’t anybody involved in last year who didn’t make a mistake. Everyone would take something back. But they can’t. And, you know, we paid our debt. Look at the situation. No one got out without suffering.” – Armon Bassett on what transpired last year at Indiana.

But for all the unanimous consent to fire on this site, and among ESPN’s chosen local interviewees, last night’s game showcased an atmosphere, and a fanbase, still totally confused and weirded out by what’s happening right in front of them. I watched on TV last night, and it was clear from the Dolby 5.1 that the pregame crowd hadn’t made up its mind to boo Kelvin Sampson, nor had they decided to show solidarity with the embattled coach. Sampson was just sort of there most of the game — drawing angry comments from myself, PostmanR, and my girlfriend, all the while coaching IU to its best win of the season in front of an emotional and raucous home crowd.

Just how the hell are we supposed to feel about that?

I still don’t know. And it was clear from the Kel-vin Samp-son cheer last night — clear from friends on campus who say opinion on KS is split — that I’m not alone. No one who loves IU basketball is totally sure how to feel about all this.

For me, it’s a mixture of sadness, anger, doubt, excitement, revenge, righteousness, forgiveness. It’s hard to say goodbye to someone who knows he needs to leave. It’s hard to force him out when you watch him hug his kids. It breaks the heart to see him cling for dear life in the face of certain failure. And then you remember what he did in the first place — the stupidity and arrogance — and it brings you back to the angry, vengeful thoughts you first had.

And that’s what it is right now. That mixture. That confusion. We’re on the tail end of something, and if the above paragraph was any indication, things aren’t going to be easy to synthesize anytime soon.

— What would have made things simpler was if IU would have played all 40 minutes last night like they played the first five. When it was 15-6 and Michigan State showed no signs of slowing down (and IU showed no signs of offensive potential), the assembled audience in my living room had all but given up. Credit goes to the girlfriend for dropping the old “it’s not over” as a means of encouragement, and wow, was she right. We could have been blatantly angry there, could have sworn at Sampson for not only besmurching the program, but for being a bad coach too. Turns out, last night might have been Sampson’s crowning achievement at IU: a dominating win by a coherent, improving team.

Have we seen a more complete performance all season? A better shooting night? A more varied group of contributions? A harder effort? I’m not sure how much of any performance that involves college students you can credit to outside factors. Anyone that has ever played a sport, competitively or not, knows that one of the true beauties of constant motion is the numb sensation it affords. You don’t have to think about anything else to play basketball; you merely think about ball, hoop, spacing, and technique, and the rest floats away happily until you step off the court. So maybe we can parse what IU did last night away from their coach’s troubles, and hope that that’s the kind of thing we can expect to see when Dan Dakich is (presumably) roaming the sidelines in a week.

Wasn’t it beautiful, though? The screens, the spacing, the power of Eric Gordon? Though Wisconsin was a loss, it was a loss not because of IU’s regression but in spite of their progression. Last night, we saw yet another step in that progression. It was what happens when an entire group of kids — stars or not — figures things out at precisely the same moment. It was great.

– What wasn’t so beautiful was D.J. White’s injury. I won’t lie — when I saw the awkward landing, and the D.J. clutching at the back of his knee, I was sure that his luck had once again caught up with him. Torn ACL? It wasn’t beyond my line of thinking, I’ll admit. But a few minutes and one giant roll of ice later, it looked like D.J. was going to be OK, something confirmed today by this Peegs poster. Good for D.J. — he deserves to finish this season at the peak of his performance.

– A quick note about this Scott Skiles rumor: If you think this has any basis in reality, may God have mercy on your soul. It’s not that I necessarily have a problem with a Skiles hire (though I do), but rather the idea that anyone credible at IU would drop a name this early in the process. They’re hiring an interim coach, at which point they have about six or seven months to hire a new guy. You really think they’re going to settle on the pugnacious, what-the-hell-is-with-this-lineup-oh-God-please-play-Tyrus-Thomas Skiles this early? IU’s search process may be irrevocably effed, but no one’s that stupid.

– Everyone caught that Adam Herbert-Kelvin Sampson embrace, which was funny not only because Kelvin is about to join Herbert in unemployment, but because it reflected something most IU fans are just now figuring out: Sampson was Herbert’s hire.

That was reflected in President Michael McRobbie’s press conference, where he refused to chide Greenspan for the hire, instead saying the AD and his compliance office “did their job.” To me, that smacks of the fact that Greenspan heard the rumors about Sampson more often, and for many more years, than Herbert did, and that Sampson impressed the president and won him as a vital supporter in the search process. This is just speculation, of course. If Sampson was Greenspan’s hire, he deserves to take the fall … but if the dialogue keeps up the way it has been, it seems that Greenspan won’t take the fall for Adam Herbert’s boy. Considering Greenpan’s record, that’s only fair.

– One of the more suprising things, at least to me, about the Sampson sanctions fallout has been the reaction of the national media. I know that media people like to high-horse it from time to time — as my friends will tell you, I enjoy a comfy ride on the back of self-righteousness myself from time to time — but the national outrage and calls for firing have been beyond even the normal mainstream’s call-to-arms. What Kelvin Sampson did was bad, and he deserves to be fired, but with the exception of Hubert Davis last night, nary an opinion to the contrary was heard. Digger Phelps, old Bob Knight tagalong, was especially vehement, as though he’s never done anything nebulously wrong in recruiting in his entire life. (Right.) What’s worse is that I agree with Digger — Kelvin deserves to lose his job! — but Phelps’ anger, and the way apparently every IU fan ESPN interviewed last night wanted Sampson fired, made it seem like this fanbase is unanimous in its discontent. After hearing the chants last night, it seems safe to say that’s not true.

Which is to say: Did anyone expect media to be so harsh? These aren’t die-hards; these are the jaded columnists covering the corruption of the NCAA for years and years. Do they really think Sampson’s crimes are worthy of Barry Bonds-esque scorn? (Does Dick Vitale really deem it necessary to bring up Bob Knight every two seconds, who, it can be argued, did things in Bloomington far more morally reprehensible than overuse his phone line?)

And so here we are again, not sure what to think, afraid to not be angry, confused as ever. That’s the damage here. Sports are supposed to be simple. Black and white. Good vs. evil.

Kelvin Sampson has made them pretty damn confusing.

“I think Eric Gordon is very special and NBA scouts think he’s special. For some people, the game comes so easy too. (Gordon) is one guy that has the NBA scouts salivating. When the draft comes I’m not sure he’ll be the No. 1 pick but I would take him.”

If there’s a better player in college basketball right now than Gordon, I’d love to see him. He’s a unique blend of speed, power and finesse that we may never see again in an Indiana uniform. The NBA mock draft sites are starting to take notice as well. NBAdraft.net recently moved him to the No. 3 slot just behind fellow freshmen Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose.

- ESPN’s Dick Vitale announced today via his Web site that he’s taking a leave of absence after surgery to have lesions removed from his left vocal cords. Here is a snippet of the press release from the World Wide Leader:

ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale had successful surgery today to treat ulcers on his left vocal chord. Vitale plans to return to the air in early February. He will continue to provide his college basketball observations on ESPN.com and dickvitaleonline.com while he recuperates. Vitale is in his 29th season with ESPN and had never missed a game. The surgery was performed by Dr. Steven Zeitels at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Say what you will about Vitale, but the man is great for college basketball. He brings an enthusiasm unmatched by anyone and I’m hoping he’ll be able to return to the job he loves. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery for you, Dickie V. If you’d like to read more on Vitale, I highly recommend PostmanR’s take over at the Postmen.

“Eric Gordon, I think could be the guy on the perimeter like Kevin Durant. I think he’s going to really have people going bananas down there at Indiana. I think Sampson’s recruiting class has been phenomenal. They just got a tough blow with the kid out of Kentucky who got in trouble for next year. It’s just sad when you hear those situations. It really breaks your heart when kids have such an opportunity. He’s certainly innocent until proven guilty, but you read about so many athletes today who just don’t make good decisions in their life and that really bothers me because I love the game so much. I think Indiana will be a major, major factor in the Big Ten.”

Wow, Kevin Durant? The same guy who just won player of the year as a freshman? That’s a lot to live up to, but I wouldn’t put it past our boy, EJ. As far as the comments on the Mackey situation, I have to echo the sentiments of Dickie V. It’s just a sad situation all the way around.

8. Indiana: Kelvin Sampson is thrilled to have diaper dandy Eric Gordon, and the newcomer will make a difference right out of the blocks. DJ White has to have a strong season.

Nothing groundbreaking here from Vitale on the Hoosiers, but some of his other predictions did catch my eye.

First, Michigan State is slotted at No. 7, which is a fair assesment of the team Tom Izzo will put on the floor in East Lansing this season. Ohio State was the only other Big Ten team mentioned, coming in at No. 23.

Two teams I thought Vitale overrated were Duke (surprise, surprise) and Kentucky. Duke is penciled in at No. 12 and I just don’t see where the Blue Devils will be much better than last season. I know, I know, they return everyone of importance from last year’s team with the exception of Josh McRoberts. But they weren’t any good last year. Maybe they’re counting the loss of McRoberts as addition by subtraction. As far as Kentucky goes, they’ll be improved, but they’re still very thin down low and their point guard play is very questionable. The last I checked, those are two important variables.

ESPN still hasn’t addressed Vitale’s obsolete website, which takes me back to the days of dial-up and Compuserve as an ISP. Maybe that’s because this company is so proud of their creation.

THIRD TEAM

F: DJ White, Indiana: White will welcome Eric Gordon to Bloomington, which takes some pressure off of the big man up front.

So, there’s that. Not really sure if this list excludes freshman, as they are simply Diaper Dandies, or if Diaper Dandies can also be Rolls-Royce’s … it’s all very confusing. Instead, let’s thank Vitale for the mention, and plead with him to get the ESPN design monkeys to update his small neck of their internet conglomerate. 1994 called, and it wants its Times New Roman back. Slam!