NEW ORLEANS — Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self expects a resolution involving the NCAA's infractions case against his program sometime in the near future.
"I can't comment on anything that's ongoing with the case, about anything, but I do hope that the end is soon. I believe we're getting closer. And I know that no one probably from any party has wanted this to go as long as it has," Self said, adding, "But I do believe that the end is soon."
Self responded to the one question put to him this week in New Orleans about the length of time it has taken for a decision to be reached by the Independent Accountability Resolution Process that is overseeing KU's case. The NCAA has alleged five Level I violations against Self and his program that center around payments made by representatives of Adidas, KU's apparel sponsor, to prospective recruits.
On Thursday, NCAA president Mark Emmert was asked about KU's longstanding infractions case. KU received its notice of allegations on Sept. 23, 2019, meaning the 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons were played with KU under NCAA investigation.
"The enforcement process that you're referring to, of course, is the cases that came out of the Southern District of New York. Those cases moved into a brand new, independent process. I think by anybody's estimation they've taken way too long. It took two years before anything could be done with those cases because of the engagement of the Department of Justice. And so you automatically start out two years behind the curve, which is crazy, obviously," Emmert said.
He continued: "And then it's just been really slow in getting through that new independent process that's wound up reinvestigating the entire case.
"So I think that the work that's going on right now, especially with the transformation committee and a group that's working with the membership to try and accelerate the enforcement model is going to be really important. "To me there's a few things that need to be included in enforcement. And first it's got to be fair. It's got to be swift. And it's got to not punish the innocent, if you will, those that weren't involved in those activities.
"And that's where the membership's got to be in all of this, as they shape a new process or rebuild the one that's in place."
