Armon Bassett is back from his suspension. A.J. Ratliff has been cleared.

It's only a matter of time before Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson is finally able to utilize his full team.

Bassett will return from a three-game suspension Saturday against Chicago State. Ratliff, who missed the first semester due to academics, was cleared prior to the Coppin State game this past Saturday - but suffered a sprained ankle in practice and his status is still unclear for this weekend.

``Hopefully the Christmas break helped him, but I don't know because I haven't seen him since Saturday," Sampson said.

Sanpson is also hopeful that freshman big man Eli Holman is getting close to returning after suffering a pair of torn ligaments in his left wrist in the win over Kentucky. Holman won't play against Chicago State, but Sampson is hopeful he'll be back for the Big Ten opener at Iowa a week from today.

Sampson said his primary concern with this team was its chemistry. He added a ton of new faces - freshman Eric Gordon, Jordan Crawford, Brandon McGee and Eli Holman and junior college standouts Jamarcus Ellis and DeAndre Thomas.

``There's been no selfishness," he said. "Everyone understands that Eric and D.J. are the two best players and guys have really accepted their roles."

Sampson said that Gordon has been as advertised thus far, but his concern is that the freshman scoring guard may settle for shots beyond the arc since defenders are sagging off on him.

``I don't want him falling in love with the 3-point shot," Sampson said.

Here are some other Sampson notes:

 

- Jamarcus Ellis is his ultimate role player while the other Chicago native, the 300-pound Thomas, is the team jokester.

- On Thomas' shorts - ``You can house a small family in those."

- Gordon never has a bad practice and is as humble of a superstar as he's been around. ``He doesn't talk much. He just works hard and our kids respect him."

- D.J. White's scoring and rebounding numbers have both improved substantially despite the fact he's playing fewer minutes. ``I'm able to keep him fresh this year," Sampson said. "Last year we had no depth in the frontcourt and he had to play even when he was in foul trouble."

- Sampson is trying to get his point guards, Crawford and Bassett, to become more vocal.

- Seven kids on the current team earned a 3.0 or higher in the classroom.

WOLFPACK SUFFER ANOTHER BLOW

North Carolina State was just starting to pick up some momentum after a disappointing start - and then Sidney Lowe's team took another hit.

Wolfpack point guard Farnold Degand, who had started all 10 games this season, will miss the rest of the year after tearing his ACL late in Sunday night's win against Cincinnati.

The point guard situation was considered to be the primary area of concern heading into the season. However, Degand had been solid - averaging 6.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting 50 percent from long distance.

Now Lowe won't have much choice, but to go with freshman Javi Gonzalez and sophomore Marques Johnson, a transfer from Tennessee who isn't a pure point guard.

Gonzalez has averaged 11.1 minutes per game so far this season and Johnson has yet to see any action after becoming eligible after the first semester.