IARP decision on KU basketball’s NCAA infractions case expected to come Wednesday
Update: The IARP has issued its long-awaited ruling in KU’s infractions case.
The IARP’s long-awaited infractions report, which would include rulings on possible NCAA sanctions, is expected to be delivered to Kansas’ athletic department on Wednesday, according to a published report by SI.com’s Pat Forde.
The IARP would not confirm the report when contacted Tuesday by The Star via email.
“To protect the integrity of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process, neither the involved parties nor the NCAA can provide details about any of the infractions cases until a public notification of the Independent Resolution Panel’s decision has been issued,” IARP communications representative Amy Hanna indicated in an email.
The Star was able to confirm through another source that the IARP decision on KU’s case indeed is expected Wednesday.
KU’s three-day hearing in front of the Independent Review Panel was held six months ago with a decision on possible penalties apparently to be revealed in the near future. According to the IARP Website, “The Independent Accountability Resolution Process is an independent process that reviews and determines whether there are violations of NCAA Bylaws in select, complex infractions cases in NCAA Division I athletics.”
The announcement of penalties would stem from the NCAA’s investigation into corruption in college hoops that began in 2017.
KU coach Bill Self had no comment about Forde’s report when contacted by The Star. A KU Athletics Department official did not immediately return a request for comment on Forde’s report.
In late August, KU athletic director Travis Goff told The Star: “We don’t have any details around the when (ruling would be issued). I think there’s been a natural evolution, like initially earlier in my tenure, you start thinking: ‘Okay, well it’s probably going to hit by X,’ (and) then that doesn’t happen. Then, ‘It must be hitting by Y.’
“I don’t think we are hyper-focused (on it) because it’s so far out of our control. At the end of the day, we just have to be prepared for whatever it’s going to be, and we’ve got to handle it really well. I’m confident that’s what we’re going to do.”
KU, which received a notice of five alleged Level I violations in the men’s basketball program on Sept. 23, 2019, previously issued self-imposed sanctions including four-game suspensions of Self and assistant Kurtis Townsend and recruiting restrictions announced on Nov. 2, 2022.
Self and assistant Townsend were suspended the first four games of the 2022-23 season. That’s after Self and Townsend were held off the road during the June and July live recruiting period in the summer of 2022.
Also KU last November took away three men’s basketball scholarships over three recruiting years. KU also took away official recruiting visits for the 2022 Late Night in the Phog and also erased four official recruiting visits during the 2022-23 recruiting year and upcoming 2023-24 recruiting year.
Also, KU put in place a six-week stoppage of recruiting communications, six-week ban on unofficial visits and 13-day reduction in the number of permissible recruiting days during the 2022-23 calendar year.
The NCAA investigation into KU hoops started in 2017 after the FBI investigation into corruption in college hoops involved KU as well as other schools including Auburn, Oklahoma State, USC, Louisville, Arizona and Miami.
The allegations against KU included a head coach responsibility charge levied against Self as well as a lack of institutional control.
No current players have any connection to the investigation.
Possible penalties could include KU being banned from participation in the 2023-24 postseason, suspensions of Self and/or Townsend, vacating some victories, financial penalties and additional restrictions on recruiting. Or the IARP could rule that KU’s self-imposed sanctions were sufficient with no further punishment required.
In the NCAAs case against KU, it was alleged former KU player Silvio De Sousa’s guardian received $2,500 from former Adidas consultant T.J. Gassnola. KU held De Sousa out of the 2018-19 season prior to the NCAA ruling in February of 2019 making the forward from Angola ineligible for the rest of the season and all of the following season. De Sousa won an appeal and played 18 games in 2019-20.
It also was alleged former KU player Billy Preston’s mom received money from Gassnola to attend KU. Preston never played a game at KU, being held out by the Jayhawks at the start of the 2017-18 season and his leaving the program later in the campaign.
KU maintained it had done nothing wrong and in fact was named a victim of Adidas in a federal indictment vs. Adidas officials. The Jayhawks’ first apparent admission of some wrongdoing came via the self-imposed sanctions.
This story was originally published October 10, 2023 at 2:28 PM with the headline "IARP decision on KU basketball’s NCAA infractions case expected to come Wednesday."
