Could KU’s Big 12 tourney semifinal game against TCU be Self’s last in KC? I doubt it
.JPG "Will “Aw Shucks Bill” or his top assistant pay the price for breaking NCAA rules?")
Could Friday’s Big 12 Tournament semifinal game between KU and TCU at T-Mobile Center be Bill Self’s last in Kansas City as coach of the Jayhawks? I doubt it. In the win-at-all-costs world of college athletics, honorable coaches such as K-State’s Bruce Weber and Mizzou’s Cuonzo Martin are vilified for not skirting the rules of amateurism. At KU, where money rules and Adidas-sponsored bag men lurk, an alleged cheater like Self is celebrated.
Weber didn’t beat archrival Kansas enough to keep his job in Manhattan. He resigned on Thursday, saying he would like to lead a program that “would appreciate a coach that graduates players, wins championships, supports the university and embraces the community.”
This week, Martin could have possibly coached his last game at Mizzou. Meanwhile Self remains the face of a program the NCAA believes lured high end talent to Lawrence with impermissible benefits.
Under Self, the Jayhawks cheated and got caught, the NCAA alleges.
KU will take the court Friday against the Horned Frogs with the stench of a years-long NCAA investigation still looming. Major recruiting violations occurred at KU under Self’s watch, NCAA officials contend. Plausible deniability aside, will “Aw Shucks Bill” or his top assistant pay the price for breaking the rules?
A penalty has yet to be decided. Sanctions could range anywhere from a slap on the wrist — Auburn’s Bruce Pearl received a two-game ban for a recruiting malfeasance — to a postseason ban and a reduction of scholarships.
Attorneys for KU are working feverishly with an independent panel to resolve the issue with minimum damage to the storied hoops program. A dreaded show-cause penalty would effectively end Self’s reign in Lawrence.
The landscape of college athletics has changed. Student-athletes are now entitled to a piece of a billion-dollar-per-year pie thanks to name, image and likeness legislation in several states and new NCAA bylaws. Athletic departments with big budgets and well-connected donors will continue to hire the Selfs and Pearls — winners, they’re called — of the world. And that leaves coaches of integrity like Weber and Martin on the outside looking in.
