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If the NCAA cares as much about its rules as its rules, here's an idea: suspend Bill Self. Tell him to sit on his couch while Kansas starts his basketball season and tell him that assistant coach Kurtis Townsend can join him.
This may seem unfair because Self was not found guilty, he has the right to defend himself, and to that I say: So what?
Players under investigation are required all the time. At the moment, Kansas is holding forward Silvio De Sousa out of competition because he could to be ineligible. Kansas knows that if the NCAA beats De Sousa to accept money later, KU could lose some games. Why is it fair for De Sousa and not for Self?
Self is the one who is 55, the one who earns $ 5 million a year, and the one who is supposed to know and follow each of the NCAA rules. Why does he continue to coach while his player has to sit down?
If you have followed the Adidas lawsuit and you think that Kansas has not broken any rules, let me pause so you can show me your Rock Chalk tattoo. Some highlights:
• Consultant Adidas T.J. Gassnola reportedly paid $ 20,000 to De Sousa's guardian, Fenny Falmagne, to travel to Kansas.
• Gassnola, a former Adidas employee at Meridas Code, wrote, "I'm dropping bags from Fenny's idiot for Kansas to sign up again with Adidas."
• Gassnola also wrote a note summarizing a trip to Lawrence: "Meeting with the coach [Bill] Self and his staff … talked about recruitment goals and the upcoming season. Assured us that we are here to help. "
Adidas Director James Gatto's lawyer, Michael Schachter, told the jury that Gatto had approved the $ 20,000 payment because "the Kansas head coach was aware and asked that a payment be paid to the administrator of Silvio De Sousa ".
And from that, Silvio De Sousa is suspended?
The NCAA has of course not suspended De Sousa. But Kansas knows as well as anyone how it works. The school seems to go through a version of this game every year. Players are held out of the competition as a ludicrous show of "good faith" showing that the school is really respectful of the rules. Kansas sacrifices a pawn (De Sousa) to save his king (Self) because that is what the NCAA implicitly encourages schools to do.
Enough. Tell Self and Townsend, the country's No. 1 team will have to survive without them for a while. They can keep their salary if they wish. This is the problem of Kansas.
De Sousa is at most four years old on campus. Self has a lifetime to coach. So, keeping Sousa out of games is much harder than keeping self out of games.
We have reached the stage of the column where cool children claim that the NCAA rules of amateurism are a joke and that players should be able to accept all that the market supports, even if it is about a black market. I understand the argument. I've made a shape sometimes. But as long as the NCAA has rules, it has an obligation to apply them – and even if you think players should be paid by everyone, there is again no justification for De Sousa sitting while autonomous coaches.
The NCAA will surely conduct a Kansas investigation, but NCAA investigations tend to be lengthy and very rarely confirm all violations. The organization has much less power than the judicial authorities in charge of the Adidas affair. Where there is smoke, an NCAA investigator often says, "There is certainly a lot of smoke." It is difficult to catch people who light the fire.
But if you suspend yourself, you make him bear the burden: this is what was said in court. Prove it badly. Tell us that it is a colossal misunderstanding, conducive to a zany comedy. Do it, Bill and you can still train.
But everyone does it. This will not be Self's official defense, as it would imply admitting his guilt. But that's what he sent via SMS to T.J., adidas consultant and advisor. Gassnola, "that's how [sic] works at UNC and Duke.
That's how it works in a lot of places. That's apparently how it works at LSU and in a few other schools that were affected during the trial, and they should also pay the price. But this is not an excuse. Too many coaches ask players to be accountable, then give the weakest excuse when they get caught doing something wrong.
Self and Kansas have expressed confidence that KU is running a compliant program. University basketball players are laughing or crying about it.
The biggest athletic booster in Kansas is Adidas. Adidas has invested millions of dollars in the program, Adidas has direct access to the basketball coach and it's Adidas who paid the players that Kansas coaches told Adidas they wanted. If this is not a blatant violation of recruitment, there is no blatant violation of recruitment. The NCAA could also fire its law enforcement personnel.
The image of Kansas that was painted in New York is one that has been painted privately in the sport for years. Townsend is a nice company, but I can not imagine one person in college basketball being surprised to see his name appear. Self did not hire Townsend in 2004 to prepare games in the last minute of Big 12 games. It's not about a rogue assistant or a head coach who does not want to know. It's a business activity and Self is the CEO. Why should the CEO skate?
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