Can't Kansas keep its nose clean?
Posted: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 6:05 PM
Filed Under:
Big 12, Recruiting
Trouble keeps finding the defending champs. The last time was an eligibility question.
This time, all it took was a greeting.
Kansas coach Bill Self was in Springfield, Mo. last week to watch highly touted prospect John Wall. Afterward, he reportedly went up to Wall and complimented him on his game.
“I’m not supposed to be talking to you, and you know that, but I just wanted to tell you it was a great win,” according to a report in the Springfield News-Leader.
Self, to his credit, didn’t deny the conversation took place, calling the report “accurate.” He was candid about the incident after the Jayhawks beat Texas A&M on Monday.
“I don’t know if the exact quote is accurate,” Self said. “After the game was over, like I always do, like every coach always does, I had to catch a plane. So I went back to tell the coaches ‘ Congratulations, good win.’ I was approached and shook a hand and said ‘I can’t talk to you, but you played really well.’ ”
Self said if the exchange was a problem, then Kansas’ administration will “deal with it.” Kansas is looking into the report.
The problem with the whole thing stems from the NCAA’s rules surrounding when Self said hello.
Coaches are in a no-contact, evaluation-only period where the rules prohibit “any face-to-face encounter that is prearranged … at the site of organized competition or practice … regardless of whether any conversation occurs.” Basically, no dialogue in excess of a greeting.
Is it a rule violation? Probably, though it’s up to the NCAA. Is it nitpicking? Sure. But is it really cheating?
(This is just months after ex-Jayhawk Darrell Arthur and Kansas dealt with questions about Arthur’s high-school eligibility. Officials investigated if Arthur’s grades were improperly altered, which raised the question if Kansas’ new national title would be forfeited. The issue was dropped, then re-opened in October.)
Keep in mind, Kansas already was on probation.
The school self-reported violations in 2006. The NCAA alleged the school demonstrated a lack of institutional control within its athletic department from 1997 to 2003. In October of 2006, the NCAA placed Kansas on three years’ probation.
The school will likely report Self’s exchange with Wall sometime later this year (probably after the season), but it’s unclear when the NCAA will address the issue. I can’t see anything being resolved before the 2009-10 season begins.
The tricky part will be how tough the NCAA wants to be on Kansas and Self. If it sticks with its usual “rules are rules” stance, more probation is likely to follow. How much the current probation weighs on the decision will be the bigger question. How long can a school stay on probation, anyway?
