Kelvin Sampson wants to restore his reputation and continue his career, and he hopes he took a step in that direction by accepting a job as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday.

But Sampson will pass on the chance to explain his version of a messy divorce with Indiana University until after an NCAA hearing in mid-June.

"More will come out, and I'll be more than happy to talk after that," Sampson said.

Sampson's new boss, Bucks coach Scott Skiles, cautioned people not to jump to conclusions about Sampson's character.

"Maybe when this all comes out, it will end up not being as serious as originally thought," Skiles said.

Sampson, who resigned from Indiana on Feb. 22 and accepted a $750,000 buyout after an NCAA report charged him with five major rules violations, agreed to become an assistant to Skiles earlier this month and was introduced in a news conference Monday.

Skiles said Sampson deserved another chance.

"I've been the direct beneficiary of second and third chances in my own life, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to return the favor for some things people did for me," Skiles said.

BARKLEY PAYS UP: Charles Barkley said Monday that he will stop gambling, at least for now, less than a week after acknowledging he owed a $400,000 casino debt to The Wynn Las Vegas resort.

"I like to go into Vegas, it's a fun place, but you know what, I've got to stop gambling. That's the bottom line," Barkley said during TNT's pregame show before Game 7 between the San Antonio Spurs and the New Orleans Hornets. "I am not going to gamble anymore. For right now, the next year or two, I'm not going to gamble."

Barkley thanked fans for being supportive and said the debt has been paid. He reiterated he had no financial woes.

LAWYERS SAY FORMER REF DESERVES PROBATION: Lawyers for disgraced basketball referee Tim Donaghy say their client deserves to be sentenced to probation because he cooperated in the probe into NBA betting and because he has "a pathological gambling condition."

The lawyers say in a Brooklyn federal court filing Monday that Donaghy "provided crucial facts to government investigators" probing the NBA betting scheme. They say the information "will lead to future reforms" of the NBA.

NBA executive Joel Litvin calls the filing a "desperate act of a convicted felon who is hoping to avoid prison time."

The referee pleaded guilty last year to felony charges for taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games he officiated. Sentencing will be Thursday.