The University of Kansas said an independent panel has downgraded five violations by the NCAA against the men’s basketball program and head coach Bill Self.
The violations are the result of an 2017 investigation into corruption in college basketball programs, and it centered on whether two representatives of the apparel firm Adidas were considered boosters when two of them arranged for payments to prospective recruits. An FBI investigation involved Auburn, Arizona, LSU, Louisville and North Carolina State, and it led to convictions for several assistant coaches, along with shoe company executives and a middleman.
KU officials argued the two were not considered boosters, and they said they had no knowledge of the payments. The school appealed the Level I violations and a hearing was held in April before an Independent Accountability Review Process panel that was set up by the NCAA. The panel downgraded the infractions to Level II status and said that Self should be charged with a Level II violation and serve no other penalties. Self was suspended for four games by the university during the 2022-23 season.
The panel ordered KU to remove its 2018 Final Four banner from Allen Fieldhouse, and wins involving forward Silvio De Sousa should be removed from the record. The team will be on probation for three years, and it will not be under a postseason ban.
The IARP panel will be disbanded now that the investigation is complete. Many of the alleged infractions are no longer against the rules because of the new name, image and likeness guidelines that have been put in place for college athletics.
[ photo: The University of Kansas – Facebook ]
