Now that NCAA allegations are out in the air, Kansas basketball is going to take a hit to its credibility on the recruiting trail. How can Bill Self still pull top recruits and ultimately win with the NCAA on his back?
Kansas basketball is in a tough spot for the future. Now that the NCAA has officially given Kansas a notice of allegations, the school will have to go through the long and drawn-out process of defending itself. Punishments won’t even be given out until well after the 2019-20 season, which is a punishment in itself.
Right now, Kansas is already paying for its alleged wrongdoing by having the fear of sanctions brought up to every recruit the school is targeting.
It’s a super simple tactic that rival schools like Kentucky, Duke, and North Carolina can use to convince potential players that Kansas is a bad choice. All they have to do is mention that Kansas may have a post-season ban or a competitive disadvantage due to loss of scholarships.
As a matter of fact, five-star guard Caleb Love just canceled a visit to Kansas that was supposed to take place on October 11. Whether it was a coincidence or not, the timing points toward the allegations playing a role.
It’s unfortunate, but the NCAA can use Kansas’ bad publicity to its advantage. The university will want to clear its name as soon as possible to avoid losing out on top recruits in the future, but there’s no way of stopping it in the short-term.
Not all is lost though, and Kansas can still win despite the threat of sanctions. The 2019-20 season should be ultimately unaffected other than the bad publicity.
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Looking back in the history books, North Carolina faced a similar situation when the Tarheels were charged with a lack of institutional control similar to Kansas. North Carolina ended up getting off scot-free, despite creating fake classes for its students to take. It was a seven-year process, but ultimately no punishments came of the allegations.
In terms of recruiting North Carolina did see a dip in their average recruiting class ranking.
Yet, between 2010 and 2017, North Carolina won an NCAA tournament, had a national runner-up, and won the ACC regular-season title four times; all while dealing with the NCAA.
The Tarheels proved that they could still win, so why can’t Kansas do the same thing, especially considering Kansas’ excellent track record with developing 3-4 year college players?
The problem with basing expectations off NCAA precedent is that the NCAA doesn’t seem to recognize precedent, unlike the law in the United States’ legal system where everything is based on the history of similar rulings.
So despite North Carolina getting off the hook, Kansas may or may not be so lucky.
One thing to remember is that this won’t be the end of Kansas basketball as we know it. Schools have come back from worse, and so far Kansas has handled everything about as well as could be expected.
It’s hard not to, but fans still shouldn’t stress about the future, mostly because they can’t control it. Enjoy the next season, since the Jayhawks have a chance to win it all.