Hey everybody, my name is JT. I’ve posted here a few times under a few different accounts. I wonder if anyone read the post from Jesse Newell that was posted yesterday? Judging from numerous Self reactions, it seems that double teaming the post was not KU’s game plan.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article207598239.html

It seems that with the way that KU plays defense and the amount of time that they spend learning it that old habits die hard. Maybe with 38 games in it was like teaching an old dog to learn a new trick. Not just Doke, but De Sousa and Garrett as well. I do wonder why, like others, we didn’t see Mitch or a five guard line up when what we were doing was clearing not working. Maybe Self thought with Lightfoot or Garrett in that they would win pounding the ball in the basket instead? Maybe he thought his players would eventually start playing to the game plan? Maybe he thought that Nova would eventually come down from three point heaven? I don’t know. But this is where I would like to see Self start improving: In games that we are surely going to win or surely going to lose (like OK State twice, Arizona State, Washington, Texas Tech), do something he doesn’t think will work but try anyways. Play a 5 guard line up for 10 minutes. Invent a weird new zone. Tell Doke, hey you’re not going to guard the paint anymore, you’re going to stand in this corner and keep anyone from making a three at this here corner and everyone else will guard the rest of the floor. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Even though it probably won’t work, maybe you’ll get a new creative inspiration. Maybe you’ll see something different. Maybe your players will surprise you. Although, I guess Self already did try something crazy this year with Doke at the end of a game in Oklahoma…

I also was in favor of pounding the ball inside heading into the game. Not just to foul up their players, but also for lobs when the opponent tries to help, and because I thought we would have a better rebounding advantage with Doke and De Sousa and shots closer to the basket. I wonder if we could have done a high zone with Doke in the paint, since that was what he was going to do anyways and best equipped to do. But whatever we would have done differently would have just been a different reason why we lost. Villanova was one of the best teams most of the regular season and all of the NCAA tourney. They had the 2nd best offense in the KenPom era, with a heck of a defense as well. We played not good defense all year and overachieved. Villanova was clearly the best team in the country Saturday night. Nothing to be ashamed there.

@HighEliteMajor , you say the system isn’t broken. I want to introduce a thought experiment. Let’s say De Sousa’s guardian took cash money from an Addidas agent to pay off an earlier payment from UA that was intended to steer De Sousa to Maryland. De Sousa doesn’t know about the money and signs an affidavit of his amatuer status with the NCAA. No one from KU was involved and had any knowledge. Later, the NCAA finds out that the guardian took money and declares that Silvio was ineligible for the past season. The NCAA then vacates every game that Silvio played in and as a result, KU’s Big 12 conference championship, tourney championship, and Final Four are vacated. If that were to happen, is that fair? Is that fair to Bill Self, Devonte Graham and Svi? Is that fair to De Sousa? Is that fair to the fans? No one is going to jail. It’s just a vacated season. Bill Self is still in the Hall of Fame and players may have earned themselves a shot at the NBA. But those achievements matter to people, don’t they? Don’t they matter to you?

How do you stop players or parents or guardians from taking money? Do you think it’s possible to stop people from accepting money? Do you think it’s possible to know about every such transaction? Is KU supposed to audit every single financial transaction of all family members and any other connections to a player? Is that even possible? How can you punish a player or an organization for what a family member did in secret? What would have happened if Billy Preston didn’t get in a one car accident before the season?

I personally think the players deserve more compensation. The schools and organizations may own the courts and the TV rights, but I’m not tuning in to see a Jayhawk on a court. I’m tuning in to see the players. Billions of dollars are being made from these kids. But I don’t know how you would do it, and no one cares about my opinion anyways. Furthermore, even if I were to make suggestions, that is not the same as telling someone what to do. I like the idea of allowing endorsements, but I’m not eager to read about Romeo Langford getting paid $250k from a booster to go to KU. And if you allowed endorsements, I acknowledge that it may be great for KU basketball but horrible for KU football. Not my call though to say a kid can’t make money by posting a few things on Instagram every month. That’s money that could lift a family out of poverty, and the opportunity could be taken away in just one bad fall.

I don’t know what the answer is. Doesn’t really affect me either way. But I would sure hate to see KU get a Final Four and a conference championship streak vacated because a family member took money in secret.

What’s pathetic, HEM, is your constant need to be right, be right first, and claim moral superiority. “While @Texas-Hawk-10 is late to the party on the scorched earth (I pointed this out a while back)” - get over yourself, man.

Bill Self is not admitting to cheating. He is admitting that he talks to shoeco reps and asks for help. He is not admitting to asking shoeco reps to pay players to come to Kansas, and there is still no evidence that anyone on the staff has done so. What he is claiming is that everyone works with shoeco reps as such and that it has never been impermissible before. Bill Self is not stupid, and his lawyers would not advise him to admit to committing violations and then sue the NCAA for defamation.

Hahaha. @HighEliteMajor , you are certainly modest, I’ll give you that. But, I do not see the contradiction. Bill Self said "nor are we aware of any third-party involvement to do so.” There has been nothing to come out to contradict that claim.

Mike Brey recently told The Athletic, “I never thought of it like that. If there’s money changing hands, then yeah, they’re a booster, but I don’t think any of us look at the support we get from sneaker companies and think of that as violations. They’re giving us information to help close the deal (with recruits). Every one of us works the shoe company angle to help us get players,” Brey says. “I speak to those guys as much as I would speak to parents. No question if there was an Under Armour event somewhere, I’d get a call from someone at Under Armour saying, ‘Hey Mike, did you see this 15-year-old kid in Dallas? He’s in our program, you gotta get on him.’ I’m not saying they’d cheat to get him, but damn right they’re helping, absolutely.”

Bill Self is claiming that the NCAA never said that you couldn’t talk to shoeco reps about recruits, that every other coach does it, the NCAA knows they do it, and they have never said that’s impermissible. There is no evidence that he was aware that the shoeco companies were influencing recruits with impermissible benefits. You could say, “Bill Self is not dumb, he knew what was going on” but there is no evidence that he was aware or any evidence that he was encouraging the shoeco reps to take those actions. Now, there is nothing on tape where Bill Self or Kurtis Townsend said, “We need to do whatever it takes to get this guy within the framework of NCAA rules,” and that’s the only thing that I could see as shaky as far as a lack of institutional control. We don’t know if they have had those conversations or what their relationship is like. But when Kurtis Townsend is on tape saying that, we don’t know that he means “we need to do whatever it takes (to get Zion), including offering impermissible benefits” or if he means “we need to do everything we can under the letter of the law.” And considering that Zion went elsewhere, it seems safe to assume that KU didn’t pursue illegal benefits. I’m sure they could have found someone with deep, deep pockets to bring Zion to KU for a season, or at least match Addidas’s financial offering.

In this case, Addidas was acting out of it’s own best interest, and I wouldn’t doubt that other shoeco reps are as well. But there is no evidence that Bill Self and TJ Gassnola had implicitly aligned their business interests together through impermissible benefits." You could assume or imply that they did, but there is NO evidence.

I agree completely that college is strictly a place for academics and to get a degree. Which is why I think games should not be broadcast in the first place. Showing games on TV totally perverts the school as an institution of learning. Tickets should only be made available for students and alumni that want to show their support to the student athletes. Scholarships should only be made available to those that excel academically. Coaches shouldn’t even be able to recruit kids outside of the school; rosters should be filled through open tryouts available only to current students. Nor should coaches make more than professors, lest to confuse students what’s more important. Nor should student athletes get special treatment or live in special quarters. Players can get a random dorm room and lift weights at the rec center like any other student.

Hahaha. @HighEliteMajor , you are certainly modest, I’ll give you that. But, I do not see the contradiction. Bill Self said "nor are we aware of any third-party involvement to do so.” There has been nothing to come out to contradict that claim.

Mike Brey recently told The Athletic, “I never thought of it like that. If there’s money changing hands, then yeah, they’re a booster, but I don’t think any of us look at the support we get from sneaker companies and think of that as violations. They’re giving us information to help close the deal (with recruits). Every one of us works the shoe company angle to help us get players,” Brey says. “I speak to those guys as much as I would speak to parents. No question if there was an Under Armour event somewhere, I’d get a call from someone at Under Armour saying, ‘Hey Mike, did you see this 15-year-old kid in Dallas? He’s in our program, you gotta get on him.’ I’m not saying they’d cheat to get him, but damn right they’re helping, absolutely.”

Bill Self is claiming that the NCAA never said that you couldn’t talk to shoeco reps about recruits, that every other coach does it, the NCAA knows they do it, and they have never said that’s impermissible. There is no evidence that he was aware that the shoeco companies were influencing recruits with impermissible benefits. You could say, “Bill Self is not dumb, he knew what was going on” but there is no evidence that he was aware or any evidence that he was encouraging the shoeco reps to take those actions. Now, there is nothing on tape where Bill Self or Kurtis Townsend said, “We need to do whatever it takes to get this guy within the framework of NCAA rules,” and that’s the only thing that I could see as shaky as far as a lack of institutional control. We don’t know if they have had those conversations or what their relationship is like. But when Kurtis Townsend is on tape saying that, we don’t know that he means “we need to do whatever it takes (to get Zion), including offering impermissible benefits” or if he means “we need to do everything we can under the letter of the law.” And considering that Zion went elsewhere, it seems safe to assume that KU didn’t pursue illegal benefits. I’m sure they could have found someone with deep, deep pockets to bring Zion to KU for a season, or at least match Addidas’s financial offering.

In this case, Addidas was acting out of it’s own best interest, and I wouldn’t doubt that other shoeco reps are as well. But there is no evidence that Bill Self and TJ Gassnola had implicitly aligned their business interests together through impermissible benefits." You could assume or imply that they did, but there is NO evidence.

What’s pathetic, HEM, is your constant need to be right, be right first, and claim moral superiority. “While @Texas-Hawk-10 is late to the party on the scorched earth (I pointed this out a while back)” - get over yourself, man.

Bill Self is not admitting to cheating. He is admitting that he talks to shoeco reps and asks for help. He is not admitting to asking shoeco reps to pay players to come to Kansas, and there is still no evidence that anyone on the staff has done so. What he is claiming is that everyone works with shoeco reps as such and that it has never been impermissible before. Bill Self is not stupid, and his lawyers would not advise him to admit to committing violations and then sue the NCAA for defamation.

I agree completely that college is strictly a place for academics and to get a degree. Which is why I think games should not be broadcast in the first place. Showing games on TV totally perverts the school as an institution of learning. Tickets should only be made available for students and alumni that want to show their support to the student athletes. Scholarships should only be made available to those that excel academically. Coaches shouldn’t even be able to recruit kids outside of the school; rosters should be filled through open tryouts available only to current students. Nor should coaches make more than professors, lest to confuse students what’s more important. Nor should student athletes get special treatment or live in special quarters. Players can get a random dorm room and lift weights at the rec center like any other student.

@HighEliteMajor , you say the system isn’t broken. I want to introduce a thought experiment. Let’s say De Sousa’s guardian took cash money from an Addidas agent to pay off an earlier payment from UA that was intended to steer De Sousa to Maryland. De Sousa doesn’t know about the money and signs an affidavit of his amatuer status with the NCAA. No one from KU was involved and had any knowledge. Later, the NCAA finds out that the guardian took money and declares that Silvio was ineligible for the past season. The NCAA then vacates every game that Silvio played in and as a result, KU’s Big 12 conference championship, tourney championship, and Final Four are vacated. If that were to happen, is that fair? Is that fair to Bill Self, Devonte Graham and Svi? Is that fair to De Sousa? Is that fair to the fans? No one is going to jail. It’s just a vacated season. Bill Self is still in the Hall of Fame and players may have earned themselves a shot at the NBA. But those achievements matter to people, don’t they? Don’t they matter to you?

How do you stop players or parents or guardians from taking money? Do you think it’s possible to stop people from accepting money? Do you think it’s possible to know about every such transaction? Is KU supposed to audit every single financial transaction of all family members and any other connections to a player? Is that even possible? How can you punish a player or an organization for what a family member did in secret? What would have happened if Billy Preston didn’t get in a one car accident before the season?

I personally think the players deserve more compensation. The schools and organizations may own the courts and the TV rights, but I’m not tuning in to see a Jayhawk on a court. I’m tuning in to see the players. Billions of dollars are being made from these kids. But I don’t know how you would do it, and no one cares about my opinion anyways. Furthermore, even if I were to make suggestions, that is not the same as telling someone what to do. I like the idea of allowing endorsements, but I’m not eager to read about Romeo Langford getting paid $250k from a booster to go to KU. And if you allowed endorsements, I acknowledge that it may be great for KU basketball but horrible for KU football. Not my call though to say a kid can’t make money by posting a few things on Instagram every month. That’s money that could lift a family out of poverty, and the opportunity could be taken away in just one bad fall.

I don’t know what the answer is. Doesn’t really affect me either way. But I would sure hate to see KU get a Final Four and a conference championship streak vacated because a family member took money in secret.

Hey everybody, my name is JT. I’ve posted here a few times under a few different accounts. I wonder if anyone read the post from Jesse Newell that was posted yesterday? Judging from numerous Self reactions, it seems that double teaming the post was not KU’s game plan.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article207598239.html

It seems that with the way that KU plays defense and the amount of time that they spend learning it that old habits die hard. Maybe with 38 games in it was like teaching an old dog to learn a new trick. Not just Doke, but De Sousa and Garrett as well. I do wonder why, like others, we didn’t see Mitch or a five guard line up when what we were doing was clearing not working. Maybe Self thought with Lightfoot or Garrett in that they would win pounding the ball in the basket instead? Maybe he thought his players would eventually start playing to the game plan? Maybe he thought that Nova would eventually come down from three point heaven? I don’t know. But this is where I would like to see Self start improving: In games that we are surely going to win or surely going to lose (like OK State twice, Arizona State, Washington, Texas Tech), do something he doesn’t think will work but try anyways. Play a 5 guard line up for 10 minutes. Invent a weird new zone. Tell Doke, hey you’re not going to guard the paint anymore, you’re going to stand in this corner and keep anyone from making a three at this here corner and everyone else will guard the rest of the floor. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Even though it probably won’t work, maybe you’ll get a new creative inspiration. Maybe you’ll see something different. Maybe your players will surprise you. Although, I guess Self already did try something crazy this year with Doke at the end of a game in Oklahoma…

I also was in favor of pounding the ball inside heading into the game. Not just to foul up their players, but also for lobs when the opponent tries to help, and because I thought we would have a better rebounding advantage with Doke and De Sousa and shots closer to the basket. I wonder if we could have done a high zone with Doke in the paint, since that was what he was going to do anyways and best equipped to do. But whatever we would have done differently would have just been a different reason why we lost. Villanova was one of the best teams most of the regular season and all of the NCAA tourney. They had the 2nd best offense in the KenPom era, with a heck of a defense as well. We played not good defense all year and overachieved. Villanova was clearly the best team in the country Saturday night. Nothing to be ashamed there.