Skiles set to hire Sampson?

ESPN.com is reported Milwaukee has emerged as the most likely landing spot for former Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson.

NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com on Thursday that Sampson and the Bucks are discussing an assistant coach’s role at the urging of new Bucks coach Scott Skiles.

A source told the Sun-Times Skiles may decide to start fresh with his staff of assistant coaches and not rehire some of the same coaches he had with the Bulls.

NCAA violations led Kelvin Sampson to leave Indiana in February. He accepted a $750,000 buyout in exchange for his resignation.

Skiles has targeted two men who worked in the college game this season — Sampson and University of New Mexico associate head coach Craig Neal — to be part of his first staff in Milwaukee. Sources say Wisconsin native and former Bucks forward Joe Wolf, who has coached two teams in the D-League, is another candidate.

Since his forced resignation from Indiana in February, Sampson has spent the past two months with the San Antonio Spurs as an unofficial observer. Sampson was summoned to Texas by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, with whom he has remained close since they worked together as assistants under Denver Nuggets coach George Karl on Team USA in 2002.

Sampson left Indiana in February, accepting a $750,000 buyout in exchange for his resignation and waiving his right to seek further damages from the university after an NCAA report charged the 52-year-old with five major NCAA recruiting violations.