As Kansas asks for split review, NCAA admits stakes are high
Kansas has taken the next step in its battle with the NCAA over alleged violations in its basketball program. Only this time, the university has added a twist.
As expected, Kansas agreed with the NCAA that its case be referred to the Independent Accountability Resolution Process, a separate body from the Committee on Infractions. After a test back-and-forth with the COI, KU is looking for another set of eyes and ears to study its case.
Memphis and North Carolina State are among the schools involved in the FBI investigation into college basketball corruption who are having their cases decided by the IARP. The IARP was created in response to recommendations issued by the Commission on College Basketball, chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2018.
As Matt Tait of the Lawrence Journal-World points out, “The five-person committee, called the Independent Resolution Panel, has no direct ties to the NCAA and also does not leave KU with the option to appeal the committee’s decision. There also is no timeline for the IRP to decide whether to hear KU’s case. It also remains unclear how harsh or lenient the panel may be in doling out punishments, because neither of the cases currently in the process has been finalized.”
Thing is, Kansas’ football program was also part of the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations. The school wants the football case handled by the Committee on Infractions, separate from the basketball case.
In the basketball case, Kansas is charged with five Level I rules violations, including lack of institutional control. Bill Self is charged with head-coach responsibility violations. The football program is charged with two Level II violations and one Level III violation under former coach David Beaty.
“The type of violations that KU self-reported in football are regularly processed through the peer review model, and therefore, the COI is best positioned to resolve any remaining issues and to do so in a prompt manner,” the school said in its response, reports ESPN. “Here, it is clear that there is a significant difference between allegations involving men’s basketball and those involving football. Specifically, the football allegations were self-reported, the institution and enforcement staff substantially agree on all aspects of the football allegations, the allegations involve only Level II and Level III violations, and the football allegations are not contemporaneous with the men’s basketball allegations.”
The interesting part of this is how it might affect future cases, including the NCAA’s case against Louisville. Like Kansas, U of L has vowed to fight back against the charges levied by the Committee on Infractions.
The fact that Oklahoma State, who dealt with the COI, received a one-year postseason basketball ban and three years of probation was taken as a bad sign for Kansas and Louisville (schools that have received a Notice of Allegations) and LSU and Arizona (schools expected to receive a Notice of Allegations).
With Kansas being one of college basketball’s most storied programs, the NCAA admits the stakes are high.
“The case involves one of the premier men’s basketball programs in the country, one of the winningest head coaches in Division I men’s basketball history who is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and alleged violations that are central to a federal lawsuit,” COI chair Carol Cartwright, former president at Bowling Green and Kent State, wrote on May 18. “Few cases have so much at stake. The stakes are particularly high for the Kansas men’s basketball program. The Level I allegations include an illicit recruiting scheme, other recruiting violations, a head coach responsibility violation and lack of institutional control.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 7:47 AM.
