LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas men’s basketball program was put on probation and ordered to take down its 2018 Final Four banner but escaped a postseason ban Wednesday, when an independent panel created by the NCAA to handle complex cases downgraded five Level I violations lodged against the Jayhawks.
The violations stem from a 2017 federal investigation into college basketball corruption, and hinged on whether representatives of the apparel company Adidas were considered boosters when two of them arranged payments to prospective recruits.
Kansas officials never disputed that payments were made, only that they had no knowledge of them, and they appealed the violations through the Independent Accountability Resolution Process. Their hearing took place in April and the ruling was announced less than a month before the start of the college basketball season in which the powerhouse Jayhawks will be a national championship contender.
“Today’s decision by the Independent Resolution Panel confirms what we’ve said since the beginning: the major infractions of which we were accused were unfounded,” Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod and athletic director Travis Goff said in a statement. “Most importantly, the panel decision unequivocally confirms our coaches were not involved in – or had knowledge of – payments to student-athletes.”
The panel concluded the apparel company’s consultant “was a representative of Kansas’ athletics interests” beginning in August 2017, resulting in multiple Level II and Level III violations. But it found “no credible and persuasive information” to suggest that Kansas officials failed to cooperate, lacked institutional control or failed to monitor its men’s basketball program.
Among the penalties, the 2018 Final Four banner was ordered to be removed from Allen Fieldhouse, and any wins involving forward Silvio De Sousa — identified as “student-athlete No. 1” and central to the case — would be stripped from all records. The school also was given a variety of recruiting restrictions, which add to penalties that were self-imposed last year.
The panel made a point to avoid giving Kansas a postseason ban, though. The Jayhawks, led by Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson and with several key players returning, is expected to be preseason No. 1 when the AP poll is released next week.
“We have the penalties we’ve imposed, but we don’t want that to be a reflection on current student-athletes, or impose any limitations on current student-athletes,” said Christina Guerola Sarchio, the chief member for the Independent Resolution Panel hearing the case, said on a Zoom meeting to discuss the case.
Kansas won the 2022 national title while going through the IARP process. That championship is not affected.
The case against Kansas, which included minor infractions involving its football program, was the final one pending for the soon-to-be disbanded IARP after it sanctioned former LSU and current McNeese State men’s basketball coach Will Wade in June.
Kansas officials suspended Self and top assistant Kurtis Townsend for the first four games of last season, along with imposing several recruiting restrictions, potentially mitigating any penalties that IARP would hand down.
Along with barring the two coaches from off-campus recruiting last summer, the school self-reduced the number of official visits that it would allow during the 2023-24 academic year, reduced the total number of scholarships by three over a three-year span and reduced the number of recruiting days during the current year by 13 days.
“The NCAA membership has acknowledged the significance of these self-imposed penalties,” Sarchio said.
The case against Kansas stemmed from an FBI investigation that ensnared several schools, including Auburn, Arizona, LSU, Louisville and North Carolina State, and led to convictions of shoe company executives, a middleman and several assistant coaches.
Kansas initially was charged by the NCAA with five Level I violations, which are considered the most severe, including a charge of lack of institutional control and an allegation that Self had failed to keep the program in compliance.
