NCAA faces potentially embarrassing scenario of under-investigation Kansas winning title
Dan Wolken
USA TODAY
February 26, 2020
Remember, the NCAA last September delivered a Notice of Allegations to Kansas that ranks among the most scathing documents ever produced by its enforcement division. The thrust of the NCAA’s case is that ex-Adidas marketing executive Jim Gatto and a bag man named T.J. Gassnola funneled cash to multiple prospects under the guise of recruiting them to Kansas.
And in a dramatic departure from the way it often handles high-profile coaches, the NCAA went directly after Self in the strongest possible terms and charged him with three Level 1 (most serious) violations, alleging that he was in on the scheme in some cases and actively encouraged Gassnola’s help in securing top players.
It’s impossible to read the NCAA’s litany of charges and come to any conclusion other than it wants to run Self, a national championship coach and surefire Hall of Famer, all the way out of the sport. And yet the response from Kansas can pretty much be summed up like this: “Oh yeah? Make me.”
While Kansas has not yet made public its official rebuttal to the NCAA, which is a key part of the process that precedes a date with the Committee on Infractions, it indicated in an initial statement that it disputes the NCAA’s fundamental theory that Adidas and Gassnola should be classified as Kansas boosters who broke NCAA rules. Kansas also rejected the assertion that Self did anything wrong and has done nothing to indicate it will do anything but stand by him. Over the last five months, Kansas has essentially made defiance a strategy.
And maybe, at least from a short-term results standpoint, it’s a good one. The Jayhawks have lost just three times this year: By two points to Duke, by one to Villanova and by 12 to No. 2-ranked Baylor, a loss it avenged last weekend in Waco. The Ken Pomeroy efficiency ratings say Kansas is the best in the country and the only one ranked among the best seven teams on both offense and defense. And in a year where most of the top draft picks won’t be playing in March, Kansas is loaded with upperclassmen who are also borderline NBA players, which has become the most effective formula for building a team to go deep in March.
At this moment, it’s simply obvious: No team is more likely to win a national title this year than Kansas.
Nobody knows what lies beyond that, and the ultimate resolution won’t come for months and months, perhaps even bleeding into the 2020-21 season. But if Self is hoisting the trophy on a confetti-splashed stage April 6 in Atlanta, it will be impossible to escape the image of a triumphant cheater getting the best of the NCAA’s feeble bureaucracy once again.
Dan Wolken
USA TODAY
February 26, 2020
Remember, the NCAA last September delivered a Notice of Allegations to Kansas that ranks among the most scathing documents ever produced by its enforcement division. The thrust of the NCAA’s case is that ex-Adidas marketing executive Jim Gatto and a bag man named T.J. Gassnola funneled cash to multiple prospects under the guise of recruiting them to Kansas.
And in a dramatic departure from the way it often handles high-profile coaches, the NCAA went directly after Self in the strongest possible terms and charged him with three Level 1 (most serious) violations, alleging that he was in on the scheme in some cases and actively encouraged Gassnola’s help in securing top players.
It’s impossible to read the NCAA’s litany of charges and come to any conclusion other than it wants to run Self, a national championship coach and surefire Hall of Famer, all the way out of the sport. And yet the response from Kansas can pretty much be summed up like this: “Oh yeah? Make me.”
While Kansas has not yet made public its official rebuttal to the NCAA, which is a key part of the process that precedes a date with the Committee on Infractions, it indicated in an initial statement that it disputes the NCAA’s fundamental theory that Adidas and Gassnola should be classified as Kansas boosters who broke NCAA rules. Kansas also rejected the assertion that Self did anything wrong and has done nothing to indicate it will do anything but stand by him. Over the last five months, Kansas has essentially made defiance a strategy.
And maybe, at least from a short-term results standpoint, it’s a good one. The Jayhawks have lost just three times this year: By two points to Duke, by one to Villanova and by 12 to No. 2-ranked Baylor, a loss it avenged last weekend in Waco. The Ken Pomeroy efficiency ratings say Kansas is the best in the country and the only one ranked among the best seven teams on both offense and defense. And in a year where most of the top draft picks won’t be playing in March, Kansas is loaded with upperclassmen who are also borderline NBA players, which has become the most effective formula for building a team to go deep in March.
At this moment, it’s simply obvious: No team is more likely to win a national title this year than Kansas.
Nobody knows what lies beyond that, and the ultimate resolution won’t come for months and months, perhaps even bleeding into the 2020-21 season. But if Self is hoisting the trophy on a confetti-splashed stage April 6 in Atlanta, it will be impossible to escape the image of a triumphant cheater getting the best of the NCAA’s feeble bureaucracy once again.
