Kansas basketball coach Bill Self won't face additional penalties from infractions case

Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self will not face additional penalties from an NCAA infractions case that dates to 2017, the NCAA's Independent Resolution Panel announced on Wednesday, finding that Kansas' self-imposed penalties in the 2022-23 basketball season were sufficient.

According to a statement from the Independent Resolution Panel, "the University of Kansas was held responsible for the inducements and extra benefit provided by two representatives of athletics interests in its men’s basketball program."

Wednesday’s decision ends an NCAA infractions and legal process that goes back to the original FBI investigation into college basketball corruption that became public more than six years ago with the arrest of several assistant coaches at various programs and Adidas marketing executive Jim Gatto. 

Kansas was formally brought into the probe in an April 2018 indictment that alleged Gatto and Adidas-affiliated youth coach T.J. Gassnola had worked to facilitate the recruitments of Billy Preston and Silvio De Sousa to Kansas through illicit payments. 

Gassnola cooperated with the federal government and received probation as part of his plea deal. Gatto was sentenced to nine months in prison in March 2019. 

Kansas received a notice of allegations from the NCAA on Sept. 23, 2019, charging the school with five Level 1 (most serious) violations, including lack of institutional control, and directly charging Self and assistant Kurtis Townsend with having knowledge of the payments. 

The school disputed the NCAA's entire theory of the case, which framed Adidas and its representatives as boosters of Kansas basketball. 

In May 2020, Kansas’ case was moved from the normal NCAA infractions process to the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP), which was invented following the FBI scandal as an off-ramp for more complex cases that would be investigated and adjudicated by panels of investigators and attorneys who do not work in college athletics.

The IARP process — which was granted total independence and not subject to any NCAA review — has generally yielded lenient penalties compared to the historical norm for major violations. With the Kansas case now concluded, the IARP is being shut down.

Kansas won the 2022 NCAA title while in investigative limbo. At the beginning of last season, Kansas self-imposed a four-game suspension for Self and Townsend, along with various recruiting restrictions, hoping to head off more significant penalties. 

The Jayhawks are likely to be among the top-ranked teams in the USA TODAY Sports preseason men's basketball coaches poll, which will be released Oct. 16.