BLOOMINGTON — Indiana University coach Kelvin Sampson is back on the basketball recruiting road, and imagine the possibilities.

Bob Gibbons can. The national recruiting expert has watched Sampson overcome NCAA sanctions for phone call violations to put together perhaps the best recruiting classes of his 24-year career - his last season at Oklahoma and the incoming freshman group for IU. Both classes rated in the top 10 nationally.

“He gets better and better,” says Gibbons, the longtime publisher of All-Star Report. “It's that old saying, ‘The best is yet to be.'”

Of course, much of the recent credit goes to Hoosier assistant coaches Jeff Meyer, Ray McCallum and Rob Senderoff, who hit the recruiting trail when Sampson couldn't.

Still, Sampson's recruiting prowess is well-known, and now that his no-off-campus-recruiting penalty is over, he'll really flex his salesman muscles.

“Kelvin has always been a terrific recruiter,” Gibbons says. “He relates well to parents wherever he's been.”

Sampson has been all over the country this month evaluating prospects. That includes keeping tabs on a pair of elite commitments for 2008 in guard Bud Mackey (rated No. 7 at his position and No. 36 overall) and forward Devin Ebanks (No. 2 and No. 9).

“Ebanks is the headliner of the class,” says Dave Telep, the national recruiting director for Scout.com, an Internet recruiting service. “He brings the most upside. He's a tall perimeter player. He can pass, handle the ball and shoot, and he has a high basketball IQ. He has the chance to be a special player.

“Mackey is a guy who hasn't defined what position he is. He's very talented. I think his long-term future is at point guard, but his athleticism and frame are big assets at wherever he plays.”

If Sampson lands a few more standouts (top targets include 6-foot-11 center Tyler Zeller from Washington, Ind.; power forward Jamychal Green from Alabama; and point guard Dashan Harris from Florida), IU will again have a class ranking among America's best.

And that could lead to the championships Sampson mentioned when taking the Hoosier job in 2006.

“Yes, there was some controversy with some phone calls made at Oklahoma,” Gibbons says, “but that's ancient history now. Kelvin will restore Indiana basketball to the highest level.”

Sampson was in Georgetown, Ky., recently to check on the 6-4 Mackey, who is recovering from knee surgery to repair torn cartilage. He also was at a recent AAU tournament in Louisville to watch Bishop Luers High School sophomore DeShaun Thomas.

Landing Thomas won't be easy. Coaches such as Purdue's Matt Painter, Ohio State's Thad Matta, North Carolina's Roy Williams and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski also are after this 6-8 standout, who averaged 29 points and 13 rebounds as a high school freshman and who has been compared - unfairly, inaccurately and overzealously - to a high school-age LeBron James.

“Once you remove that incorrect (James) assessment,” Telep says, “you're talking about the top-ranked sophomore in America. He's bigger, stronger, faster and more physical than his counterparts. He has a feel for the game, and he has a skill set that will take him places. This is a guy who is ahead of the curve.”

Thomas, who won't get to college until 2010, is back in the recruiting hunt after first orally committing, and then de-committing, to Ohio State last month. The fallout from that had his AAU coaches at Spiece Indy Heat 16 banning any media college-choice questions during the Louisville tournament.

Still, the Buckeyes seem to be the favorites. Matta has had Indiana recruiting success by landing Indianapolis prep superstars Greg Oden and Michael Conley. And to understand how much he wants Thomas, consider Matta was at the Louisville event (which Thomas' Spiece team won) despite recent back surgery that caused him to walk with a cane.

Don't expect any IU recruiting worries as another Fort Wayne player, former North Side standout Eshaunte Jones, reopens his recruiting. Jones, who will attend prep school next year, is interested in looking at Illinois, UCLA, Tennessee and Missouri.

Jones' AAU coach, Eric Vaughn, indicated the Hoosiers are still a possibility, but don't bet on Jones ever wearing the Cream 'n' Crimson. Sampson will be around, and that, Telep says, will make all the difference.

“When you look at Kelvin as a coach and a recruiter, he's taken the responsibilities… seriously. He's delivering on the promise he made the day he was hired to bring talent into the program.

“This is a good point to be an IU fan.”

And an even better one for Sampson's travel agent.