Kansas hits back hard at NCAA
The University of Kansas forcefully objected to charges that its storied men’s basketball program, currently No. 1 in the nation, and its football programs had committed significant violations tied primarily to recruiting when it issued its formal response to the NCAA’s notice of allegations Thursday night.
In a series of documents totaling nearly 300 pages of arguments and supporting materials, the school claims several facts involving Bill Self ’s basketball program are in dispute, including charges that Kansas lacked institutional control and its Hall of Fame coach and his assistant, Kurtis Townsend, had committed high-level violations.
“There is no reasonable conclusion that members of the university, including the men’s basketball staff, knew or should have known about any violations of NCAA rules,” the response said. “Self had no knowledge of any NCAA rules violations or illicit conduct exhibited by Adidas, its employees or its consultants. Voluminous evidence demonstrates uncontestably that Coach Self did, in fact, promote an atmosphere of compliance.”
The NCAA issued its original notice of allegations Sept. 23, which included five violations for men’s basketball — all Level 1, the most severe — and two lesser violations for football. The school then received an amended notice Jan. 30 that added an eighth, low-level violation involving the current football staff led by Les Miles.
While the NCAA’s notice does not detail what Kansas is accused of doing, the program was among the most prominent in an NCAA probe into a pay-for-play scheme that began with an FBI investigation into apparel company Adidas. One of its former employees testified at trial that he made payments to the family of one Kansas recruit and the guardian of a current player, and text messages presented in court revealed a close relationship between Self and the Adidas employee.
The school had until Thursday’s deadline to issue its response. Ultimately, a hearing will be scheduled and Kansas will present its case. The NCAA will then issue its ruling, often within several months, and the school retains the right to appeal.
“To be candid with you, I haven’t had much to do with it,” Self said Wednesday night, shortly after the Jayhawks beat TCU in their home finale to clinch a share of the Big 12 regular-season title. “I haven’t let that bog me down as a distraction. It certainly won’t moving forward. That was something that had to happen from a mandatory standpoint, but it is no more than what it was three or four moths ago. It’s the next play.”
Kansas is hardly the only big-name program involved in the case. North Carolina State received notice of two violations, among them a failure-tomonitor charge against former coach Mark Gottfied. Arizona, Auburn, Southern California and Creighton are among the other programs that have been caught in the crosshairs.
UConn upsets Houston: Christian Vital scored 26 points in his final home game and UConn beat No. 21 Houston 77-71.
Freshman James Bouknight added 17 points and Isaiah Whaley had 13 for the Huskies (18-12, 9-8 American Athletic Conference), who won their fourth straight game, but just their second this season over a ranked opponent.
Quentin Grimes scored 24 points and Caleb Mills added 20 for Houston (22-8, 12-5), which fell into a tie for second place in the conference.
UConn took control with a 15-2 run in the second half while Houston dealt with foul trouble.
Aztecs survive scare: Jordan Schakel scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half as No. 5 San Diego State rallied for a 73-60 win over Air Force in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament Thursday in Las Vegas.
Schakel, who shot 1 of 5 in the first half, hit four 3-pointers in the second half for the top-seeded Aztecs (29-1), who rode a 21-3 run to their 13th consecutive quarterfinal victory.
Yanni Wetzell and Malachi Flynn had 16 points each for San Diego State, which is hoping to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.