KU, Self respond to major NCAA allegations: ‘Misguided, unprecedented, and meritless’
The University of Kansas on Thursday night issued its official response to the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations against the KU men’s basketball and football programs, with a main assertion that the NCAA was overstepping its bounds when it declared both Adidas representatives and former coach Larry Brown boosters of the school.
In an overview, KU claims “several facts” are in dispute regarding the NCAA’s allegations regarding the Jayhawks men’s basketball program, which are the most severe and stem from federal criminal trials for fraud against Adidas representatives in 2018.
KU coach Bill Self’s lawyers — Scott Tompsett and William M. Sullivan — also issued a 77-page response to the allegations against Self, saying the charges were “based on a misguided, unprecedented, and meritless interpretation and application of NCAA booster and recruiting legislation.”
The school’s deadline to respond to the NCAA was Thursday.
In the NCAA’s original notice of allegations that was issued Sept. 23 and released by the university, KU was charged with seven violations: five for men’s basketball and two for football. The school later received an amended notice of allegations on Jan. 30 that added an eighth violation relating to the football team.
The NCAA alleges Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend violated rules during the recruitment of Billy Preston and Silvio De Sousa to KU, while also saying Brown “impermissibly” contacted De Sousa’s legal guardian Fenny Falmagne. These allegations were related, in part, to the federal testimony of former Adidas representative T.J. Gassnola, who said he offered and provided impermissible benefits and had impermissible recruiting contacts with Preston (name redacted), while documenting $89,000 in payments to Preston’s family (name redacted).
The NCAA, in addition, claimed that Self did not promote an atmosphere of compliance and hit KU with a lack of institutional control charge — considered among the NCAA’s worst infractions.
If found responsible, the violations carry severe penalties, with the potential of suspensions or even a show cause order for Self and Townsend. The KU basketball program could face probation, scholarship losses, an NCAA Tournament ban or vacation of the 2018 Final Four in which De Sousa participated.
Part of KU’s assertion Thursday was that the NCAA did not have jurisdiction to use evidence and sidebar conversations from the 2018 federal trials as verifiable proof in this particular infractions case.
Counsel for both Self and Townsend repeatedly brought up the assertion that KU’s coaches could not have violated NCAA rules because they did not know at the time that Adidas representatives would potentially be cited as school boosters. As Self’s attorneys phrased it: “(Coaches) are not expected or required to have a crystal ball to predict how rules will be interpreted and applied in the future.”
In February, Josephine Potuto, University of Nebraska law professor and past chair of the NCAA Division I infractions committee, told The Star that the NCAA’s definition of a booster — “a representative of the institution’s athletic interests” — is intentionally vague and serves an important purpose, meaning “an institution is going to be more vigilant about the third parties that are out there.”
Attorneys for both Self and Townsend argued in their responses that many of the conversations between KU basketball staff members and Adidas representatives like Gassnola and Merl Code were commonplace for high-major coaches. KU also warned against potential “far reaching ramifications” if the NCAA applied this precedent to all schools, believing many former and current student-athletes could be deemed ineligible because of their participation on teams or in events sponsored by shoe companies like Nike, Under Armour or Adidas.
KU also argued that Brown, who coached at the school from 1983-88, should not be considered a lifelong school booster. KU cited that he did not donate money to the school’s athletic program, and also labeled his conversations with Self and Townsend cited in the NCAA’s allegations as “casual and innocuous.”
On multiple instances, KU referenced its strong compliance program, saying it had one of the best departments in the nation and also one that was nationally recognized by peer institutions.
Self’s lawyers also hammered at the NCAA for potentially prejudging the case with public comments it made during the investigation process. In particular, they highlighted quotes from NCAA vice presidents Kevin Lennon and Stan Wilcox in separate news articles from May 2019 speaking to potential punishments coming for schools that had been mentioned in the federal trials.
“The NCAA executive administration publicly implicated Self in NCAA violations before the enforcement staff had even completed its investigation,” Self’s lawyers wrote, “in violation of the clear dictates and overarching impartial spirit of the NCAA infractions process.”
Another detail revealed with Thursday’s response: Self’s lawyers say that he was the one that self-reported to KU’s compliance department when he discovered that Preston’s family might be getting paid by Gassnola. Preston’s mother, Nicole Player (name redacted), was interviewed by KU two days later, with Player admitting she did accept money from Gassnola while saying it did not relate to Preston’s enrollment at KU but instead was a “purely personal transaction,” according to Self’s counsel.
Townsend’s attorney Stu Brown, in a 75-page response, also spoke frequently about his belief that the Adidas representatives Townsend spoke with were not boosters. Stu Brown said Townsend openly acknowledged his communication with Gassnola, Code and Brown, saying those talks were “the type of routine and permissible communication that college coaches have on a regular basis as a normal part of their jobs” while claiming they did not involve improper recruiting assistance.
The NCAA was forceful in its original allegations from September against both Self and Townsend, as evidenced in one line in the notice that stated the two KU basketball staff members, along with Adidas representatives, “intentionally and willfully engaged in NCAA violations and blatantly disregarded the NCAA constitution and bylaws.”
The next step in the case goes to the NCAA’s enforcement staff, which will respond to the university’s response. Then the NCAA infractions committee will deliberate and issue findings and punishments. That process will take several months to complete.
Regarding the three football violations, KU noted that it self-reported those discoveries and would accept responsibility for those infractions.
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 6:32 PM.
