As NCAA cloud hangs over program, KU keeps Self, Townsend off recruiting trail

NCAA

According to CBS Sports, the University of Kansas men’s basketball program took head coach Bill Self and assistant head coach Kurtis Townsend “off the road” for July recruiting, instead using assistants Norm Roberts and Jeremy Case for off-campus work.

Kansas has been fighting five Level I allegations that includes “lack of institutional control”, against Self and Townsend, related to an FBI investigation into bribery and corruption in college basketball recruiting.  The specific allegations targeting Kansas were made in September 2019, with KU officials responding to the allegations proclaiming their innocence in May 2020.  Over the past two plus years, the case has been fairly quiet, with Kansas, in the meanwhile, winning the 2022 national championship with a win over North Carolina in early April.

The move to take Self and Townsend away from face-to-face recruiting could be viewed as an “olive branch”, or an effort to give the program self-imposed sanctions, as Kansas continues to privately fight the NCAA while publicly awaiting a final decision from the organization.

Photo credit – Dirk / Wikimedia Commons / Ames, IA