Kansas basketball vs. the NCAA: Neither side is backing down
The Kansas basketball-NCAA feud warmed up a bit yesterday after another checkpoint in the allegations process was met, and neither side is backing down.
The Kansas Jayhawks keep going back and forth with the NCAA, and both sides are too deep in to back out now. That means everyone is doubling down, which led to some pretty fiery statements from both sides regarding Kansas basketball’s Notice of Allegations.
Yesterday, the NCAA’s reply to Kansas’ response to the initial allegations was made public along with a statement from KU athletics. In that statement, the Kansas brass reiterated its support of both head coach Bill Self and the Kansas basketball program as a whole:
"“[Kansas] absolutely would accept responsibility if it believed that violations had occurred, as we have demonstrated with other self-reported infractions. Chancellor Girod, Jeff Long and KU stand firmly behind Coach Self, his staff and our men’s basketball program, as well as our robust compliance program.”"
The gist of the statement hasn’t really changed at all from Kansas’ previous stance: ” the allegations brought against our men’s basketball program are simply baseless and littered with false representations.”
The “false representations” part in particular probably refers to the fact that the NCAA is trying to label Adidas as a booster of the school, which is ludicrous. If that’s the case, prepare for a major shift in college athletics and how teams interact with their respective brands.
Another laughable excerpt from the NCAA’s response is how they were upset about Bill Self wearing an Adidas shirt with a dollar sign chain in a promotional Late Night in the Phog video from 2019.
Trending. All-time Roy Williams Jayhawks team. light
The main takeaway from the shots fired between the two sides yesterday is that both sides are going to fight as hard as they can to come out on top. They both have too much invested, and the next step is a hearing that probably won’t be too soon. After that, Kansas has the right to appeal should they choose to do so.
For a timeline that’s continuously updated with each new development, refer to KU vs. the NCAA: Updated timeline.