BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Sources close to Indiana University's administration on Thursday denied news media reports that a decision to remove Kelvin Sampson from his position as men's basketball coach had been made, 6Sports Director Dave Furst reported.

A decision about Sampson's future, however, could be announced Friday -- the day the school's president had said he wants an internal investigation into the NCAA's allegations against the coach to be completed.

6Sports didn't name the sources denying IU had made a decision. But The Associated Press reported IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre and members of the board of trustees denied that Indiana had decided Sampson's fate and would make assistant coach Dan Dakich the interim head coach.

"I don't believe the athletic director has even given the recommendation to the president yet," trustee Patrick Shoulders told the AP.

Trustee Philip Eskew Jr. told the AP that he had been notified by e-mail that Indiana would have an announcement on Sampson's status Friday but did not have details.

Adding to the speculation was a Thursday night team team meeting with athletic director Rick Greenspan. Virtually the whole team left en masse after meeting with Greenspan about 7:45 p.m. and declined comment as they got into their cars and pulled out of the parking lot.

The NCAA has alleged that Sampson and/or some of his assistants committed five major rules violations, some relating to recruiting and some accusing them of misleading IU and the NCAA during investigations. IU President Michael McRobbie gave Greenspan seven days to investigate the allegations, some of which were tied to recruiting violations that IU had self-reported to the NCAA in October.

Sampson's contract, signed in April 2006, includes termination clauses for violations of university or NCAA rules. He was to be paid an annual base salary of $500,000 in a deal that had five years remaining.

On Thursday, school officials met to discuss the Sampson situation as they have been for the past week, Furst reported.

Sampson was in his office Thursday, looking at game tape and preparing for No. 15 IU's Saturday game at Northwestern.

In a statement that the school released Thursday, Sampson commented on the Northwestern game.

"Whenever you play Northwestern, you know you're going to play a team that's going to fight until the end, and it's going to be a tough game, as it always is," Sampson said. "I like the way our team's playing right now. We're going in there knowing it's an important game."

Indiana, 22-4 overall and 11-2 in the Big Ten, is coming off a win over rival Purdue.

In the days leading to Friday's deadline, the basketball team's fan base seemed simultaneously thrilled by the program's resurgence as it garnered a top 15 ranking and appalled by the contention that their coach had not been forthright with the university.

Details Of Allegations

The NCAA has alleged that, among other things, Sampson and two assistants didn't comply with telephone recruiting restrictions that had been imposed because of Sampson's previous violations at Oklahoma. The NCAA also alleged Sampson and one assistant misled IU and/or the NCAA during an investigation.

IU self-reported some recruiting violations last year but claimed they were minor and that there was no indication that Sampson or his staff intentionally sought to circumvent the rules.

IU in October imposed its own sanctions on Sampson -- making him forfeit a $500,000 pay raise and one scholarship next season. Assistant coach Rob Senderoff also was punished by forfeiting any bonuses or salary increases for one year and later resigned.

However, the NCAA report, which was sent to IU two weeks ago, said those and other alleged violations were major -- not minor -- and said Sampson gave "false or misleading information" when investigators probed the situation.

The allegations in the NCAA report are:

That Sampson, assistant coach Rob Senderoff and assistant coach Jeff Meyer failed to comply with sanctions imposed on Sampson for impermissible recruiting calls he made while he was a coach at Oklahoma -- sanctions that followed him to IU when he took the job in 2006. Sampson and Senderoff are alleged to have jointly participated in telephone calls at a time when Sampson was prohibited from being present or taking part when staff members made recruiting calls. Senderoff and Meyer are alleged to have made about 100 calls that exceeded the sanction limits. Senderoff resigned his position Oct. 30.

That Senderoff and Meyer placed at least 25 telephone calls to nine potential recruits that exceeded NCAA limits even if no sanctions had been in place.

That Sampson acted contrary to the NCAA principles of ethical conduct when he knowingly violated recruiting restrictions imposed by the NCAA Committee on Infractions, and that he failed to deport himself in accordance with the generally recognized high standard of honesty normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics by providing the institution and the NCAA enforcement staff false or misleading information, and that he failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance within the men's basketball program and failed to monitor the activities regarding compliance of one or more of his assistant coaches.

That Senderoff acted contrary to the NCAA principles of ethical conduct when he knowingly violated recruiting restrictions imposed by the NCAA Committee on Infractions, and that he failed to deport himself in accordance with the generally recognized high standard of honesty normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics by providing the institution false or misleading information.

That Sampson and Meyer engaged in an impermissible recruiting contact during a two-day sports camp held at Assembly Hall on June 30 and July 1, 2007, and that Meyer provided the potential recruit with an impermissible benefit -- at least one T-shirt and drawstring backpack.

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