I highly doubt that he is reconsidering his decision to attend Alabama. I’m not quite sure why these elite recruits are still choosing these mid level schools with average coaches. I think its one of two reasons:

1. PT is more important than winning.

2. If they do care about winning, (meaning winning an NCAA championship, final 4 appearance, even a conference championship) they have been drinking too much of the cool-aid fed to them during the recruiting process. Its clear that its not going to happen… lets take an early look at last year’s examples…

Cal: After finishing 8th out of 12 last year in their league, they landed two top 10 recruits. They are currently 4-2 and on a two game losing streak yet they have not even played another ranked team.

Miss St.: After finishing 12th out of 14 in their conference last year, they landed a top 10 recruit which many claimed to be a top 5 guy. They are currently 3-3 even though they haven’t played a ranked team yet. One of those losses came against the perennial doormat of the Big12 in Texas Tech.

LSU: After finishing 3rd in their league they landed the top overall recruit and have been at the top of the hype train all offseason. Unlike the other two teams listed above, I actually think this team will make the NCAA tournament this year despite their current 3-2 record (also yet to play a ranked team) and two game losing streak.

So… lets take a look at TFerg’s Alabama choice. How are they doing so far this year?

After an early season embarrassment loss to unranked Dayton 80-48, their current 4-2 season is at a historic high right now as they have defeated two ranked teams in a row for the first time since 2006! (beat #20 Wich St, and #17 ND). Wow, almost 10 years since they have last done that. I guess these are the kinds of things one can expect to celebrate at one of these type of programs.

Of course its still early and teams can get hot late and go on a run but its rare. The early indications that I see tell me that these schools are not changing very much from previous seasons based on these star recruits joining the team.

@jayballer54 Try to think of it this way, there are only 13 spots on the roster (scholarship spots) and when you subtract returning players, we can really only “win” on recruiting on a handful of players each year due to that alone. Don’t let the “misses” get you down.

Well how about that for timing, there is the first domino! Wow, that’s a big commitment that really wasn’t on the radar until Friday. Amazing.

Good, really didn’t want this guy. Not interested in the players that think they are above the program.

Piss poor game last night, team looked terrible in many ways. The biggest question I have after letting it set in for a while is “What is wrong with Coach Self?” Forget what I saw last night, its what I didn’t see. I didn’t see Coach Self getting heated, face red, trying to light a fire under the team that played flat, no energy, putrid defense, and just went through the motions. They weren’t diving for loose balls and lost almost all of the 50/50 balls, rebounding was terrible and got out worked for them all game, and so many stupid turnovers. Where is the Coach Self that I come to know and love? So many times last night somebody would have a bonehead turnover and I’d expect Self to lay into him but nothing. I knew they were going to lose last night in the first few minutes of the second half when nothing had changed. The energy level was the same, still not competing for rebounds, still playing lax defense, I knew at that point that they would lose. I’m used to seeing the team come out with a newfound energy after halftime with everybody suspecting the paint on the walls was being peeled off by Self’s “motivational” halftime talks. But not this time. Nothing. No fire on the sideline, no fire at halftime, nothing.

What is wrong with Coach Self??

@HighEliteMajor this is perhaps the best post i’ve ever read on here by anyone, i needed this. Thank you.

mayjay said:

I am having a hard time figuring out which posts are being responded to when there is just a name and no quote or specific player mentioned since we have multiple parallel posts from multiple posters about multiple players! Can y’all at least include the kid’s name rather than just “he”? Thanks!

Who are you responding to?

No. 7 recruit commits to Kansas

Cheick Diallo told ESPN’s Paul Biancardi that he felt Kansas was the best place for him: “I can earn playing time right away. I played against Joel Embiid in high school and watched his development. I need to work on a lot of things and feel Coach Self can help my game.”

@jayballer54 @JayHawkFanToo yep ok, that’s what I thought. I think the post could be read a few different ways which is why there was some confusion.

Would be very happy to see TF commit to KU. Really love the loyal kids that know KU and know its where they want to be and don’t waste all of the coaches time dragging things out. If TF commits, the KU coaches can focus their efforts on the other recruits and building a better team for next year. You never know but it could be the difference in landing a recruit or two. Or perhaps more importantly, landing the right recruit or two for KU.

@wissox nicely done!

I can’t imagine how we could ever survive without government working on these critical issues that plague our society.

And there’s why this thing isn’t going away. If you don’t care about people 3 degrees removed from you, than you don’t care about people in general and that may be fine for you but to me it’s the biggest problem in our culture today. To think that people 3 degrees removed have no bearing on your life, well-being and livelihood is just ignorant.

There need to be services and support for those struggling financially amid a shut down but just letting things go as they are now is just unacceptable. Over 2000 people died from COVID yesterday in the U.S. I guess that’s fine for you as long as you didn’t know any of them.

Wow dude, WTF is the matter with you @benshawks08 ? How the hell do you draw these conclusions from my post? This is extremely insulting and should be deleted. I came nowhere near saying i don’t care about people or people dying is fine with me. That’s completely asinine to suggest that. Maybe the biggest problems with our culture today is that we have teachers that either can’t read or willingly put ridiculous words in people’s mouths that were never said or implied.

@benshawks08 if acting in the best interests of my family over the interests of someone three degrees removed from me makes me selfish, call me selfish all day long i don’t care. My family wears our masks, takes germ spreading seriously, and try our best not to get ourselves or anyone else sick. They are my priority and always will be no matter what names people want to call me.

The ironic thing about this all is you are using your perspective as a teacher to diminish other people’s views and don’t even realize it. Its the same thing you called me selfish for. As a teacher, you are measuring the importance of school vs a bar or school vs a gym and saying school is unquestionably more important to “everyone.” Tell that to the families of the owners of the bar and gym that government has mandated must close their doors because their business isn’t important. Sorry sir, this business you worked your a$$ off to build, that provides income to feed and shelter your family, must close for an indeterminate amount of time because someone who comes here could possibly pickup the virus and then spread it to someone else who spreads it to someone else who spreads it to someone else that dies from it.

It goes beyond gyms and bars but you chose those examples to make your argument appear to be a simple choice. The small mom and pop retail stores that could be three generations of life savings put into the business are told they aren’t essential and must close until government says so. But their main competition - Target across the street is considered essential and can remain open. I could go buy a tennis racket at Dick’s Sporting Goods but can’t get a haircut. Apparently its considered acceptable risk if someone gets the virus from a Target store and spreads it to others but not if they get it from a gym and it spreads to others.

Its a tough situation and there isn’t a good answer that works well for everyone. Hopefully this vaccine is ready soon and things can get back to normal. This virus already stole a championship from our Hawks, hopefully it doesn’t take more games away from us. I mean, seeing them beat up on Kentucky sounds pretty essential to me!

Good morning Bucketeers, thanks for not beating me up too bad. I’ve been following this site for a loooong time and its part of my daily ritual to check in and read about our beloved Jayhawks. Even though the responses have been mostly civil i really don’t enjoy having any disagreements with posters on here that have become some of my favorites to read each day.

At the end of the day, this whole C-19 debate comes down to each individual’s perspective and whats most important to their family. Mine is from a middle ageish person with young kids and a family circle focused in the medical field. While i could continue the back and forth about why coronaviruses are a classification of viruses considered one of the causes of the common cold, its not worth going down this hole. I hold a lot of people on this site in high regard and don’t want my perspective on the issue to be taken as though I am diminishing the significance of the pandemic.

There is always a second side of the coin. Lockdowns save lives (C19; flu; fewer car accidents) but also destroy lives (Jobs; Businesses Lost; Stunted Education, Divorces; Drugs). America being the land of the free has always let you choose what side of the coin you want to be on until recently. NFL and MLB let the players decide, several decided to opt out and keep themselves away from greater exposure potential. That was their choice and nobody should fault them for it. But now government decides for you which can be a slippery slope. You may like what side the government chose for you this time but you might not like it the next time. Once we relinquish our decision making power its tough to get it back. I mean, haven’t we all seen what happened with Skynet in The Terminator?

Can’t taste or smell? Oh the humanity! The obvious answer is that government must step in and shut down all schools and stunt our kids’ growth, force people to lose their businesses/livelihoods/jobs by closing restaurants, businesses, etc. that they have worked their lives to build because some people temporarily can’t taste their coffee. I hope that comes off as insensitive to many of you because its meant to be a bit of a wake up call. This is a politically exaggerated virus and a lot of people have fallen into the trap. Of course there are very real concerns about people’s heath that need to be taken seriously (the elderly, high risk people) just like every year with the flu, and i genuinely hope anyone that is struggling with the virus fully recovers. However i just don’t think the rest of the world should be forced to grind to a halt over such a small percent of people that have serious issues.

Our family circle has had about a dozen people we know get C19, most had mild to no symptoms. Others said it was worse than a common cold but not as bad as the flu. Another actually had C19 and the flu at the same time and just said it was a little rough, a few days of bad headaches, but was back to work in a few weeks. On the other hand, i have a friend that owns a very popular daycare franchise, multiple locations, that has gone from very successful and thinking about early retirement to now be on the verge of bankruptcy. I’ve spoken to owners of many local businesses we love that say if round 2 of shutdowns was to hit our state (which it appears to be happening) that they definitely won’t survive.

Ironically, allergies force me to lose my taste and smell every year. I guess it never occurred to me to just stay inside my house, stop living my life, and hide until allergy season is over because of the horror of losing my taste and smell. No offense to anyone but if the worst thing you have is temporarily losing your taste and smell, you’re doing pretty good. Enjoy your life and don’t let minor setbacks stop you from doing it.

Its a good time to come back Jaybate so i can maybe get at least one upvote!

@DanR yeah, forcing people to give up the core fundamental for why this country was founded because of a cold that 99% of people recover from is such a brilliant idea. All those covid free dictatorships out there are such a shining beacon of hope for what we should aspire to be.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in What we all knew was happening at Duke with Zion is finally hitting the fan.:

@drgnslayr said in What we all knew was happening at Duke with Zion is finally hitting the fan.:

@Texas-Hawk-10

KU played no part in those payments and were found to be victims in that process. What is alleged at Duke is Duke participated in payment to Zion’s family.

Doesn’t matter if KU knew or not. Players received impermissible benefits and then played games for KU which means KU played ineligible players. KU has acknowledged this and are not arguing against that so they will get punishments for that. What IARP decision will affect is anything beyond what I previously said in regards to punishment. If the IARP upholds the NCAA’s case against KU, then all of those level 1 violations get upheld which brings coaching suspensions, show-cause bans, and postseason bans into play as well. Those penalties aren’t in play for what KU has acknowledged has happened.

What players are you referring to exactly? The only player i’m aware of is Silvio which was through his “handler”, and he got his largest impermissible benefit from Under Armor to go to Maryland. He would never have gotten anything from Adidas if it wasn’t for UA/MD giving his handler money to begin with. All of which KU elected to sit out Silvio over a year for already.

@HighEliteMajor said in NOA response from KU discussion:

It’s a move of complete desperation. Discovery goes both ways and as I have did before, Self, Townsend, et. al., don’t want to be under oath.

While @Texas-Hawk-10 is late to the party on the scorched earth (I pointed this out a while back) … I was the one that said just after Self’s infamous denial (lies) in October of 2018. That we should make it clear before the NCAA made findings that we’d go scorched earth. Now? Good luck. The NCAA can’t give in at this stage.

I also said after Self’s infamous denials (lies), the risk was very high that this ends Self’s tenure at KU. Largely scoffed at by most everyone here. Folks guaranteeing that was wrong.

So now when Self references doing what everyone else did - cheating - makes you really wonder about those denials (lies). As I have said repeatedly, if you say everyone else does it, you are admitting the impropriety.

Why would the NCAA, an entity run by and supported by the colleges, be scared of this silly and baseless lawsuit threat?

Absolute desperation with the walls closing in. Good grief, look at OSU’s penalties. Those are much worse than the consensus “slap on the wrist” we routinely heard here.

The hammer is coming.

I’m sorry, but I have called this from the start. I’ve listened to folks attack, call names, make accusations, and say utterly senseless things related to this issue in response.

Yet many folks here have persisted with the opinion to attack the NCAA, to sue, all this complete baloney. Look where we are now.

There was one posting flurry where challenging Self’s honesty, when we all know he’s a liar, led to outrageous attacks and name calling from many here. And utterly stupid analogies to speeding. Just the worst of this site.

Now look at your hero. He’s pathetic.

This is horrible. Self has put us here.

We now see our coach do what no other coach has really done. Desperate and again, embarrassing.

Bill Self, the liar, needs to resign. Now. Please. It’s time. He is causing further damage to the program and university. A complete embarrassment.

You’ve been right about a lot of stuff over the years, i certainly hope this is not one of them. In this day and age where we live in the United States of Apology i’m glad Self is not bending over and apologizing to the NCAA bully. He is standing up to them and is being a fighter. I like that. Could this decision create a worse result in the end? Yep. But i’m ok with that. The NCAA is selectively enforcing its rules and giving out punishments dis-proportionally to programs based on bias with KU being its “make an example” target. While they have the power to do so, its not right. I’d rather go down as a fighter vs laying down just to be the NCAA’s trophy mounted on the wall above their fireplace.

But is that 100% true? Or did Adidas pay those players to attend an Adidas school?

Unless TJ Gassnola perjured himself after he pled guilty, then his testimony is solid enough to trust at face value. His testimony indicated that money changed hands on behalf of himself and Adidas to representatives of players (family members or guardians) to encourage players to commit to Kansas, NC State, Louisville, whatever school was recruiting the player at the time. The $20,000 payment Gassnola was attempting to make to Silvio’s guardian, but never made due to the announcement of the investigation was so Silvio’s guardian could pay back money to Under Armour who had allegedly paid $60,000 to bring Silvio to Maryland. I believe Billy Preston’s mom received $120,000 from Gassnola to attend KU.

It still amazes me how harsh everyone thinks these supposed infractions are. To me, its weak af. Its not against NCAA rules to give a person money to attend a school. Any incoming student can get money from a friend, a company, whoever and attend the school requested. Adidas can give a standard student all the money they want to attend a school and not break any rules. The problem is when the person is an ncaa athlete. Where does that line begin? Are you considered an ncaa athlete if you never participate in an NCAA event? Preston didn’t play a second of ball at KU in a regular season game. To me, that makes him basically like every other student at KU that has never played in a game and thus no infraction was made. Was he close? Heck yeah. But KU should be praised for catching it and making the right move to hold him out.

Silvio is another one. This kid bucks the system and says i want to attend KU despite UA throwing money at his “handler” to go to Maryland. Doesn’t want the money or more likely doesn’t even know about it and chooses KU because thats where he wants to go. The handler looks to Adidas for help paying back UA which may or may not have happened depending on who’s story you believe. Let me ask a hypothetical, what if Adidas didn’t pay anything to Silvio’s handler or never was asked to? You have a kid who’s “handler” was given money to attend Maryland, but he attends KU instead. Is KU still in violation? This could possibly be what happened and UA is not being talked about at all in this.

I guess there was something about $2,500 that Silvio got for something but the kid sat out over a year for it. Seems like it could have been paid back fairly easily or the year plus punishment is more than enough. The punishments don’t quite fit the crime. The ncaa seems to always be excessively extreme towards KU whenever something isn’t right relative to their actions towards other players at other schools.

I’m not ignorant where i think there isn’t this stuff happening a lot behind the scenes at almost all the schools, including KU. However, if you’re going to bring a case and try to drop the hammer to make an example of someone, you’d think they’d get some better evidence to support their case.