“Six Years And All We Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt?”

Obviously I’m reaching a bit with my subject line. For it to work you have to imagine it is one of the geniuses at the NCAA asking the question when they realize that after six years of investigation and invective and irritation the biggest outcome of their inquiry into the Kansas basketball program is that the second half of the Jayhawks’ 2018 season, when Silvio de Sousa played, gets wiped from the record books. NCAA officials will soon arrive at homes of KU fans to confiscate our 2018 Final Four t-shirts, because Malik Newman never dropped 32 on Duke in the Elite Eight.[1]

All things considered, I’m fine removing a Final Four banner in exchange for closing this chapter and moving on. Pretty much everything about this case went KU’s way. Well, other than taking six years and wrecking multiple recruiting classes. All KU did with those “subpar” recruiting classes was be the pre-Covid favorite to win the title in 2020 and win a national championship in 2022.

This case came down to overreach by the NCAA, simple and plain. Was there evidence that Bill Self and his staff were aware that Adidas was funneling money to players? Yes, but not nearly as compelling evidence as other schools that were involved in this round of investigations. But KU also turned in Billy Preston before he ever played a game at Kansas, Zion Williamson went to Duke, and DeAndre Ayton went to Arizona.[2] Silvio de Sousa was the only player involved in the investigation that actually played for the Jayhawks. And, as some salty KU fans pointed out, the NCAA had vetted his eligibility not once but twice, each time ruling him fit to play.

The biggest takeaway from all of this is that these sham NCAA “investigations” into player eligibility are as bogus as when schools say they’ve done a “thorough review” of a player’s status and cleared them to play. Very odd that despite, again, TWO different NCAA reviews of de Sousa’s status, they gave him the green light to play each time yet he’s the basis of the most significant penalties against the Jayhawks. Seems like some of those investigators should go on probation.

We knew this was coming, though. The NCAA’s IARP group had already let Arizona, LSU, Louisville, and North Carolina State off with minimal penalties. There was no way Kansas, with far less concrete evidence against them, would get hammered.

That doesn’t mean I wasn’t worried. The NCAA has taken a lot of fire in the press for this entire process. I did fear that with KU being last on the list, the NCAA might put its thumb on the scales and overrule what the independent investigation group presented to them. Those worries were fueled by multiple rumors that at different times over the past two years KU and the IARP had presented the NCAA with what amounted to plea deals, and the NCAA had rejected them. This was the NCAA’s final chance to save face in a moment when every aspect of their authority over college sports is being questioned.

Fortunately sanity ruled the day.

The penalties added to what KU had already implemented are not insignificant. In addition to KU’s 2018 Final Four, the school loses 15 wins, knocking them back behind Kentucky in the all-time wins list.[3] Plus they lose their 14th consecutive Big 12 title, a Big 12 tournament title, and their all-time best NCAA appearance streak actually ended in 2017. That may not satisfy the haters, but in a sport that is hyper aware of all the history it is built upon, those are clear media guide touch points that KU can no longer claim.

Sorry, I can’t say that with a straight face. None of that history book shit matters. We all saw KU beat Duke in the ’18 Elite Eight (and Villanova destroy KU a week later in the Final Four). We saw Devonté Graham’s crazy shot crawl in during the final minute against Texas Tech to clinch the Big 12 title. We all saw Graham and Newman hit shot after shot in the second half of the Big 12 tournament championship game against West Virginia. All those games might be removed from the official record, or stamped with an asterisk, but that doesn’t erase the memories of what we watched.

We Jayhawk fans should be counting our blessings and thanking the Hoops Gods today that the NCAA is too incompetent to run an investigation properly. There was plenty of evidence to hammer KU. As I’ve said many times over the past six years, I have zero doubt that Self (and the other head coaches involved in the investigation) was well aware of what Adidas was doing. Just as all the Nike coaches knew how Nike was assisting their recruiting efforts, no matter how much they insist otherwise. From all accounts that don’t come from mouthpieces of the NCAA, though, the organization handled every aspect of these investigations terribly. They overreached. They moved the goalposts throughout the process. Their initial charges were based on cherry picked evidence from the federal cases against Adidas employees, which each school could easily counter with other evidence both presented in those federal trials and accepted by the juries and judges as fact. The IARP being run by attorneys rather than NCAA employees made bringing a half-assed case a losing bet.

After six years we’re finally done. KU is still eligible to play in this year’s tournament, and every tournament going forward. Bill Self gets to keep his job. Other than a few recruiting restrictions over the next couple years, the worst penalties are all in the past. Seems like a pretty good deal for the Jayhawks.

I might have to wear my 2018 Final Four shirt to the gym today.