NCAA goes hard at Bill Self. But his lawyers say it’s ‘only reinforced (his) resolve’
The NCAA continued a pointed attack against Kansas basketball coach Bill Self in its Thursday response to KU Athletics, saying there were multiple times where he was “directly involved” with the school’s five alleged Level I violations.
While specifically discussing Self’s Level I coach control charge, the NCAA claimed he failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance, “due to his personal involvement in some violations and his failure to take steps” to prevent others.
The NCAA later said that Self “knowingly engaged” Adidas and representatives like T.J. Gassnola in the recruitment of top prospects. Gassnola previously testified in federal court that he made payments of $90,000 on behalf of Adidas to the mother of former KU player Billy Preston and $2,500 to the guardian of current KU player Silvio De Sousa.
Also, in part, the NCAA stated its belief that Self failed to keep Gassnola from interacting with top recruits while also knowing Gassnola had impermissible contact there, saying Self encouraged those talks.
“By both his action and inaction, Self failed to establish a culture where there were clear expectations regarding rules compliance,” the NCAA said, “or the reporting of potential or actual violations to the institution’s compliance staff.”
Self’s attorneys Scott Tompsett and Bill Sullivan released a statement on Self’s behalf Thursday night, stating the NCAA’s allegations are an “incomplete collection of misleading assertions, conclusory statements and groundless insinuations.”
“The enforcement staff’s most recent submission only highlights its unrepentant and misguided insistence upon misapplying NCAA bylaws and misinterpreting case precedent to achieve a preconceived result,” the lawyers’ statement said, “and has only reinforced Coach Self’s resolve, with the public support of Chancellor (Douglas) Girod, athletic director Jeff Long and all of KU, to defeat these meritless and irresponsible allegations once and for all.”
The NCAA went on to say in its response that Self failed to properly monitor his staff, and in particular assistant coach Kurtis Townsend, who had repeated interactions with Gassnola. The NCAA stated Self failed to ask pointed questions or identify red flags.
“In sum, Self failed on multiple aspects of head coach responsibility ... “ the NCAA said.
In a document footnote, the NCAA also appeared to be perturbed by Self wearing an oversized Adidas logo T-shirt in a KU Late Night promo. The September social media video was widely perceived nationally as a trolling of the NCAA.
“It is noteworthy, despite the widely publicized federal Southern District of New York trial and September 23, 2019, issuance of the notice of allegations, the institution and Self chose to promote the October 4, 2019 Late Night event using a video of Self wearing an Adidas basketball shirt and a large necklace featuring a money symbol,” the NCAA wrote.
In its summary, the NCAA shared its frustration that KU’s response to the amended notice of allegations — released March 5 — did not accept more culpability for its alleged actions.
“For over three years, Adidas and Gassnola and its other staff had unfettered access to the institution’s storied men’s basketball program and, during that time, they engaged in multiple Level I violations,” the NCAA said. “Not only did the institution fail to recognize these breakdowns then, it is disappointing they refuse to take responsibility for them now.”
A KU statement released Thursday countered that NCAA stance, saying “the enforcement staff’s assertion that KU refuses to accept responsibility is wrong. The University absolutely would accept responsibility if it believed that violations had occurred, as we have demonstrated with other self-reported infractions.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 8:30 PM.
