+ Jeff Goodman writes that Purdue is a much different team than it was a season ago when he watched the Boilermakers get crushed by Duke. (Fox Sports)

+ Andy Katz writes that Purdue can thank its upperclassmen for the big win over West Virginia. (ESPN)

+ Rick Bozich writes that the Michigan Wolverines are falling far below expectations. (Fox Sports)

+ KJ breaks down Michigan State and Northwestern. (The Only Colors)

+ Michigan State opens its defense of Big Ten championship against pesky Northwestern. (Grand Rapids Press)

+ Illinois steps out of conference on Saturday for a matchup with Gonzaga at the United Center. (The News Gazette)

+ The latest on Evan Turner of Ohio State is that he’s yet to be cleared for contact in practice. (Columbus Dispatch Hoops and Scoops)

+ Myron Medcalf writes that Minnesota freshman Royce White is back. Sort of. (Star Tribune Gold in the Barn)

+ Medcalf also writes that the loss of Ralph Sampson will stretch Minnesota’s bench even thinner today at Iowa. (Star Tribune)

Indiana is now involved with two solid juniors — Brandon Knight, a 6-3 point guard from outside Miami, considered the top point guard in the 2010 class. Knight already has offers from Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Georgia Tech and Miami.

The Hoosiers are also making a push on Moses Morgan, a 6-5 wingman from Las Vegas. He’s the son of former IU player Winston Morgan, who played at Anderson Madison Heights. Michigan appears to be the leader on Morgan, who moved into the top 100 prospects in the 2010 class last winter.

It’s the first I’ve heard of IU being involved with either player but it certainly makes sense as Knight is making a push for the No. 1 overall spot in the 2010 class and Morgan’s father is a former Indiana player.

– Terry Hutchens tackles several topics on his blog, including (but not limited to): Verdell Jones, Maurice Sutton, big men and Rick Greenspan.

– Former Purdue coach and Big Ten Network studio analyst Gene Keady is baffled by what Kelvin Sampson did at IU. Note to Gene: we’re in the same boat as you.

– Rick Bozich of The Louisville Courier-Journal agrees with Bob Knight and writes that the one-and-done rule was one of the worst things to happen in college basketball. In case you missed it, PostmanE had an interesting piece on The Dagger @ Y! a few days ago about O.J. Mayo and the one-and-done rule.

– Ben Homrig of The Indiana Daily Student encourages former IU basketball and football player James Hardy to get it together. Hardy, meanwhile, is calling the recent altercation with his father a mixup and has apologized. Try to stay on the good side of Commissioner Goodell, Mr. Hardy.

– The new Rivals 150 is out for 2009 and Derek Elston is No. 96, Maurice Creek is No. 136 and Bobby Capobianco is No. 138. What should this mean to you? Absolutely nothing.

– Quinn Buckner is ‘living in the now,’ according to The South Bend Tribune. I’m really not sure what that means, but you can read about it here.

Some of the names of those who participated (and among my favorite college hoops scribes in the country): Pat Forde of ESPN.com, Blair Kerkhoff of The Kansas City Star and Skip Myslenski of The Chicago Tribune. It’s also important to note that Greg Doyel of CBS Sportsline wasn’t included, which immediately brings more credibility to the survey.

Here were the results:

Ten points were awarded for a first-place vote, nine for second and on down to one point for a 10th-place vote.

The voting (first-place votes in parentheses):

1. North Carolina (23) 293 points; 2. UCLA (4) 264; 3. Kansas (1) 208; 4. Duke (2) 171; 5. Florida 126; 6. Texas 106; 7. Louisville 99; 8. Kentucky 89; 9. Memphis 73; 10. Georgetown 62.

Also receiving votes: Michigan State 45, Connecticut 36, Indiana 24, Ohio State 19, Tennessee 13, Arizona 9, Stanford 4, Gonzaga 4, Wisconsin 3, Washington State 2, Xavier 2, Southern California 1, Marquette 1, Pittsburgh 1.

To be perfectly honest, I was surprised to see IU this high on the survey given the recent tournament success (or lack thereof) and the uncertainty regarding the program due to possible NCAA sanctions. However, I think the results speak highly for not only the tradition of the program but also the potential for success under Tom Crean moving forward.

A few other random observations: Loved to see Louisville ahead of Kentucky. That is sure to irk Big Blue Nation and for that, we’re thankful. Texas seemed a bit high to me given they’ve only been to one Final Four under Rick Barnes, but they do recruit well and have ridiculous facilities in Austin.

So my question for you, ITH faithful: Where do you put IU on your list of programs if you had to buy 10 and why? As always, your thoughts are welcome in the comments.

(No, the picture of the stock ticker isn’t supposed to be IU’s stock. The school isn’t publicly traded, duh. But if they were, INDU would so be their ticker symbol. Props to PostmanE for digging up that photo.)

Just talked to Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski. Asked him if he was worried that he might lose his basketball coach, Sean Miller, to Indiana after Xavier’s marvelous NCAA Tournament run finally ends.

“No,” Bobinski said.

Miller and Indiana have been mentioned as a possibile marriage. But Bobinski said it’s not going to happen. Why?

“Because he (Miller) told me so,” Bobinski said.

Also, Marquette coach Tom Crean didn’t jump at the chance to comment on the IU opening, according to Bozich:

I also asked Marquette coach Tom Crean about the Indiana opening Thursday night before Western Kentucky’s game against UCLA. I’ve know Crean for 15 years, but it’s fair to say he was not a big fan of my question.

This is what Crean said: “I’ve got no idea (who the next coach at Indiana will be). It’s out of my area of jurisdiction.”

I’ve got to be honest: I was really enamored with the possibility of getting Miller to Bloomington, but things aren’t looking good here. As far as Crean is concerned, I’m really indifferent. If we had to settle for him after exhausting several options, I would embrace his hiring and live with it. But he’s definitely not in my top five.

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He’s doing a lot better today. That was a nasty fall. I didn’t really see it. I was blocked out when he fell, so I didn’t realize how bad it was until after the game. He didn’t come down directly on the tailbone, it was more to the side.

It was a really nasty fall. We’re not practicing today, but he couldn’t practice today if we were. Hopefully he’ll be able to go on Thursday.

Sampson added that he expects Gordon to be ready to go on Saturday against Kentucky.

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.

Mike DeCourcy, The Sporting News: The NCAA punished Sampson by confining him to his bedroom — but then opened the window and offered to help him shimmy down the tree. The sanctions dared Sampson to find a way around them and still involve himself in recruiting players for IU. That is not what discipline is supposed to be about. From the very start, Sampson was allowed to continue text-messaging recruits. One player I spoke with in July 2006 said he texted frequently with Sampson and got the chance to build a relationship with the coach. The player wound up signing elsewhere, but it was clear the sanctions were not having the necessary punitive impact.

Mike Lopresti, USA Today: Obviously, the basketball coach at Indiana University is a phone-aholic. Please, somebody stop Kelvin Sampson before he dials again. Sampson has not gotten the message, which is odd for a guy who apparently checks his cellphone every 45 seconds. The problem is how he keeps letting his fingers do the walking into trouble. The rash of recruiting call no-nos that landed him in the soup in Oklahoma should have been enough to get his full attention. Now, this new cloud emerges at Indiana.

And now, two of the more extreme takes:

Kent Benson, former IU player: Here we get rid of a legend (Bob Knight) who had a perfectly clean record in 30 years of coaching at Indiana University. We put a zero tolerance rule on him and he was gone. For the athletic director and trustees to allow this to happen, it’s an absolute travesty. It’s an embarrassment to the former players and the university. They need to do the right thing. If no tolerance means no tolerance, they should get rid of him. And (athletic director Rick Greenspan) should be right behind him.

Bob Kravitz, Indianapolis Star: At this point, Indiana University doesn’t just have the right to fire coach Kelvin Sampson for just cause. It has a moral imperative to close the book on his short and sordid stewardship of the school’s once-storied basketball program. And once Sampson is gone, send athletic director Rick Greenspan on his way, as well. Maybe they can carpool. Sampson was Greenspan’s signature hire after Mike Davis was sent packing, a signature hire who came here with an NCAA storm cloud hanging over his head and a dubious history with graduation rates. Now, IU and a local law firm have uncovered additional phone-related improprieties, some more major than others. And while the school’s grandstanding decision to self-report might assuage its institutional guilt, it will not alter the emerging view of IU as a sleazy operator.

Personally, I think calling for Sampson to be fired is a bit over the top, but that’s just me. Our current poll shows that some of you are ready to fire him and for those of you who voted that way, I’m interested in hearing your justification and rationale. I’m certainly not excusing his actions, but my detailed study of these violations doesn’t conclude that firing him is the solution. Instead, I’m going to give AD Rick Greenspan the benefit of the doubt and let this all play out. The punishment should fit the crime and I feel like it does. The unfortunate reality is that this news has already put a stain on a once promising season. Let’s hope that once the ball starts bouncing early next month, the focus shifts back onto the court.

Most national recruiting services rank Mackey below Mason County and UK recruit Darius Miller as well as University Heights and Mississippi St. recruit Scott Hopson.

That’s not the case with Bolus and I’m guessing a lot of that has to do with the fact that Mackey was the best player on the best team in the state last year. I’m really not sure if Bud is the best of the three players, but it makes for an interesting debate nonetheless.

- A quick note: IU football coach Bill Lynch will appear Wednesday just after 2 p.m. on a new Louisville based radio show with Demling and Courier-Journal Sports Columnist Rick Bozich called the Zonebusters. Those of you in the Louisville area can hear the show on 1570 AM and for those of you who are out of the area, you can stream the show at 1570thezone.com.

Zeller’s first trip takes him to North Carolina on Sept. 15. The following weekend, he’s off to Indiana. On Oct. 12, the five-star center will visit Notre Dame. His final visit comes on Oct. 19, when he’ll visit Purdue.

With the schools all on an equal playing field going into the visits, Zeller says he is hoping to get that “this is the place” feeling during the trips.

I said before that it’d be pivotal for IU to get either the Midnight Madness visit or the final visit and they came up empty on both. After seeing this schedule, I’m a lot less optimistic about our chances to land Zeller, but stranger things have happened.

This will be interesting to follow over the next couple of months. I’m interested in hearing where you guys, the readers, think Zeller will end up.

- As you know, Kelvin Sampson participated in Fuzzy Zoeller’s Wolf Challenge yesterday and he had a few quotes about the incoming recruiting class. Here’s a few of the more notable quotations, courtesy of Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal:

“We should be better across the board,” Sampson said. “I love E.J. (Gordon), but Jordan Crawford (another freshman) is going to surprise people. He can really play. So can Brandon McGhee.

“All those kids can help us. We’ve got more guys who can help make us more of an attacking team. We should be able to get more baskets and get to the free-throw line more.”

Besides the quotes, the article is a very solid commentary on Sampson’s golf game and the return of Dan Dakich to IU.

- And finally, Hoosier Hills Hoops has a Q & A with Evansville Memorial senior-to-be Kyle Kuric that’s worth a look. Kuric talks about his interest in IU towards the end of his talk with Matt Denison.

Rick Bozich: Louisville Courier-Journal: Nights like last night are the reason this is the best college basketball area in the country. When I arrived at New Albany High School gym before 5:30 p.m. yesterday, there were already nearly a hundred people waiting outside, eager to be there when the doors opened at 6 for the scrimmage game between Indiana recruits and a group of Southern Indiana high school players.

To watch a scrimmage. Top that Tobacco Road. Don’t think so. …

Eli Holman showed he has the potential to give Sampson quality minutes around the basket. He’ll give D.J. White something he didn’t have last season — help on the glass and a guy who can allow White to go to the bench for a few minutes. Holman was the biggest surprise to me. He is more polished than I thought he would be. Nice tough. And he can really, really run.

Doug Wilson, Bloomington Herald-Times: Ellis, at 6-foot-5, has different skills than any Hoosier guard of recent years. He drew defenders to him and whipped the ball to open teammates. His stat line: 12 points, 14 assists, 16 rebounds. … The big question about Holman — besides his academic eligibility, which has now been resolved — has been his lack of polish offensively. All he did Thursday was score 30 points with 10 rebounds and six blocks.

Sure it was against smaller, less athletic players, but I saw Ben Allen play in a similar recruit game against similar players two years ago and have a lot of trouble capitalizing on his height advantage. The IU recruits lost that game.

No knock on Allen or any of the recent Hoosier big men, but none of them outside of D.J. White has had physical ability like Holman.

(It’s OK Doug — you can knock Ben Allen. We don’t mind.)

Jody Demling, Louisville Courier-Journal Recruiting: Mackey said he hoped the showing with his future teammates would end any speculation that he might be wavering on his commitment.

“I like the colors (of the Indiana jersey he was wearing),” Mackey said. “I’m an Indiana boy now. And it feels great.”

There’s a bit more scattered about the interwebs, but not as much of note. What’s universally evident is the palpable sense of excitment, even among those that are supposed to take stern, objective stances toward their teams. Can we just start the season already?

Also, yes, that is a photo of Eli Holman, and yes, he is likely to be my favorite player this year. In case you were wondering.