KU fans unload on NCAA after Billy Preston leaves for Bosnian team
The Billy Preston saga abruptly ended on Saturday morning.
Preston, a freshman forward, signed with BC Ikogea in Bosnia, and that ended the process of him waiting for his amateur status to be cleared by the NCAA.
Preston, who was Rivals.com’s eighth-ranked player in the class of 2017, never played in the Jayhawks’ 18 regular-season games, because KU looked into the “financial picture” regarding his vehicle after a one-car accident on campus and later sent its findings to the NCAA.
The NCAA never issued a ruling on Preston’s eligibility, and so he made the move overseas.
“My family and I have decided that it is in my best interest to sign with BC ikogea of the Adriatic League in Bosnia,” Preston wrote in a Twitter statement. “We have fully cooperated with the NCAA and were prepared to continue but it has been 67 days since this process began, and there is no end in sight.”
Many KU fans were not happy with the NCAA.
Nice job @NCAA for the way you handled the Billy Preston case. Even if he violated a rule then sitting out a semester of play should have been good enough. Hope you enjoy all the revenue you make off these student athletes!
— matt anderson (@andue33) January 20, 2018
NCAA screws KU again. What an unbelievable disaster the Billy Preston situation was
— Trevor Lininger (@RockChalkTL1993) January 20, 2018
Doesn't say or do anything, but Billy Preston has a 1 car accident on campus and the NCAA holds him out for 2 months "Pending investigation"
— Colby Arie (@ColbyArie) January 20, 2018
My feelings toward the NCAA right now given the Billy Preston news: pic.twitter.com/F04d9CEpc2
— Rich Homie Svi (@aaamackay) January 20, 2018
Good for Billy Preston. The NCAA dropped the ball horribly with this one. Willing to drag this process out to sabotage Preston's playing career and KU's season. Shame on you.
— Ryan Patti (@ryanwpatti) January 20, 2018
I don't care if Billy Preston was given a car by someone or if it was legit, but the effing @ncaa is a joke! How does it take SO long to investigate it to come to a resolution. Guilty/not guilty, just make, a, decision so all can move on! But saying nothing, is pitiful. #kubball
— Jeff Foster (@jfos4) January 20, 2018
Regarding Billy Preston, I don't believe the NCAA has reached a decision yet. I believe the family rightfully got tired of waiting on the #NCAA. #KUbball #Jayhawks
— Creighton Coover (@kucr8ton) January 20, 2018
What a mess! This makes @NCAA look very poor! @KUAthletics and the @NCAA need to come clean on what happened here! #NeedTheTruth
— Jeff Hawkins (@jshawk1) January 20, 2018
NCAA later today: Billy Preston cleared of any wrongdoing. However by signing with Bosnian team he is no longer an amateur and cannot play for KU.
— slaterman (@slaterman) January 20, 2018
Hard to blame @nolimitbill for this. The @NCAA is a joke. At least make a decision one way or another. If he’s ineligible, then he’s ineligible. But not rendering a decision after all this time is ridiculous.
— €ric (@RealEricPorter) January 20, 2018
Shame on the @NCAA for what they made Billy Preston do! Good luck to you and your career man!!! Wish you the best!
— Hilarryous (@Mr_Hoova) January 20, 2018
We fans might not know the specifics but don’t you think the @NCAA does? Or do they not investigate things for themselves? If they had proof Preston and/or his family accepted gifts this would have been over months ago. NCAA governance is a joke. UNC and PSU cases prove that.
— Kip RoyalHawk (@shkempticismr) January 20, 2018
@NCAA is trash, I fell bad for Preston who would had a great career at KU but y’all took thousand of years to clear him. Y’all really hate us huh
— Fatso (@Peta_hhh) January 20, 2018
Good job @NCAA with you post office style of service (slow as molasses) you’ve ruined yet another kids college experience. Now he’s off to try and get some experience and exposer outside the NCAA https://t.co/hUjtE0hoVi
— Joshua Grauer (@american_infide) January 20, 2018
You should be ashamed of yourselves @ncaa regarding the Billy Preston issue. Thank goodness you guys aren’t in charge of assessing emergency room trauma because the funeral would have come and gone before you finally figured out the situation. #pathetic #kubball #GoodLuckBilly
— Brock Templeman (@AhTheTempleman) January 20, 2018
Other Jayhawks fans simply wished Preston good luck with his new team:
Had a feeling we would never see Preston in a KU uniform again. The kid loved KU from even before he signed. All he tweeted about last year was making a run at the title. Wish him best of luck overseas.
— Alex Crume (@acrume24) January 20, 2018
But good luck to you #BillyPreston!!! I’m surprised you put up with this BS for this long.
— Heather Johnson (@BluekuHeather) January 20, 2018
If you watched the sidelines at games nobody could say Billy Preston wasn’t a good teammate or all in. What a weird situation. Good luck Billy. #kubball
— kylebecker (@kylebecker30) January 20, 2018
It's nice to have a resolution to the Preston situation finally. Both parties can move forward. I suspect the NCAA ruled him ineligible a while ago, and we've been appealing. #KUbball
— Rob Zerwekh (@zerwekh) January 20, 2018
I hope for nothing but success in your future Billy Preston!! Rock Chalk and good luck!!!
— Tony Bombardier (@tonybomb) January 20, 2018
Pete Grathoff: 816-234-4330, @pgrathoff
This story was originally published January 20, 2018 at 10:46 AM.