Kansasmen’sbasketball,thedefendingnationalchampion,willbeginthe2022-23seasonwithoutcoachBillSelf,theprogramannouncedonWednesday.
SelfandassistantcoachKurtisTownsendwilleachserveafour-gamesuspensiontobegintheseason.
JeffGoodmanofStadiumwasthefirsttobreakthenews.
AccordingtoGoodman,theself-imposedsanctionsstemfromthe2017NCAAinvestigationintotheJayhawksprogram.
TheNCAAaccusedSelfandTownsendof“embracing,welcoming,andencouraging”representativesofAdidas,KU’slong-timeapparelpartner,torecruitplayersontheprogram’sbehalf,aneffortthatallegedlyinvolvedimproperbenefits.
NormRoberts,aformerSt.John’scoachandaSelfassistantsince2012,willserveasinterimheadcoachduringthesuspension.
KansaswillopentheregularseasonathomeagainstOmahaonNov.7.
SelfwillalsomissagameagainstNorthDakotaStateonNovember10,abigneutral-sitematchupwithDukeinIndianapolisonNovember15,andafinalhomegameagainstSouthernUtahonNovember18.
ThetwocoachesarescheduledtoreturnfortheBattle4AtlantisopeneragainstNCStateonNovember23intheBahamas.
Inastatement,Selfsaid,“CoachTownsendandIacceptandsupportKU’sdecisiontoself-imposethesesanctions.”
“WeareingoodhandswithCoachRoberts,andIamconfidentthathewilldoanexcellentjobleadingourteamfromthebench.”
I’mproudofhowourguyshandledthesituation,andI’mlookingforwardtogettingbackonthebenchforourgameagainstNCState.”
TheNCAAissuedKansasitsinitialnoticeofallegationsinSeptember2019.
TheNCAAhaschargedtheprogramwithfiveLevelIinfractions,themostseriouslevel,aswellasachargeofheadcoachresponsibilityandalackofinstitutionalcontrol.
SelfandTownsendwerebothpulledfromtherecruitingtrailbetweenAprilandJulyofthisyear,astheNCAAcontinueditslengthyinvestigationintotheJayhawksprogram.
ThatabsencewasalsomentionedinKansas’self-disciplineannouncement.
Aspartofitsself-imposedsanction,Kansashasreducedthenumberofofficialvisitstofourduringthe2022-23and2023-24academicyears.
Theteamwilllosethreescholarshipsoverthenextthreeseasonsandwillbesubjectedtoa“six-weekbanonrecruitingcommunications,asix-weekbanonunofficialvisits,andathirteen-dayreductioninthenumberofpermissiblerecruitingdaysduringthe2022-23calendaryear.”
Duringthe2022LateNightinthePhogevent,theprogramalsodeclinedtohostofficialvisitors.
“Wearehopefulthatthesedifficultself-imposedsanctionswillaidintheresolutionofthecase,”KansasathleticdirectorTravisGoffsaid.
“Inthemeantime,wewillcontinuetosupportouroutstandingMen’sBasketballstudent-athletesandcoaches.”
NormRoberts,anassistantcoach,willserveasinterimheadcoachforthefirstfourgames.
Weareunabletocommentindepthuntilthismatterhasbeenfullyresolvedduetoconfidentialityguidelinesrelatedtoinfractioncases.”
DouglasA.Girod,schoolchancellor,addedthattheuniversityhas“unwaveringsupport”forSelfandtheJayhawksprogram,andthathehopestheself-imposedsanctionswill“moveusclosertoresolvingthismatter.”
