A calendar mistake will cost Indiana on the recruiting trail.
The school has admitted to a secondary NCAA rules infraction that involved head basketball coach Tom Crean and assistant coach Tim Buckley.
Indiana plans to count the improper contact as one of two permissible ones, will disallow a second contact with the recruit and give up two recruiting days this season. Buckley also received a letter of admonishment from the school.
According to the university report, the violation occurred Oct. 6 with an unnamed player when Buckley told Crean he could contact a recruit from the Class of 2012 on that day. But the contact period had ended the previous day. When the coaches realized the error, after Crean had already spoken with the recruit, the school said they notified the compliance department.
''Coach Crean immediately reported an inadvertent recruiting contact violation to our compliance office, and we are following our normal procedures,'' the school said in a statement.
Athletic director Fred Glass declined any additional comment.
Secondary infractions are often self-reported to the NCAA and rarely require additional action taken beyond what the school imposes.
At Indiana, though, the acknowledgment is sure to raise eyebrows because the program is still reeling from the biggest NCAA violations to hit the school since 1960.
In October 2007, then-coach Kelvin Sampson admitted he and his staff had made a series of impermissible phone calls to recruits. When the NCAA investigated, it turned up five major infractions - one of which was later downgraded to a secondary violation.
Before that season ended, Sampson and assistant coach Rob Senderoff lost their jobs.
Crean was hired in April to clean up the mess and he cleaned house. He brought in a new staff and started his first season with only two returning players.
The Hoosiers have not had a winning season since.
Crean's fourth season officially opens Saturday night with the annual Hoosier Hysteria festivities after taking two blows this week - the secondary violation and Monday's news that starting guard Maurice Creek had surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon.
