'I'm very happy that it's over'

Kansas had quite the day.

The Jayhawks escaped serious penalties from their NCAA infractions case, and landed a 4-star recruit. But they continue to deal with the fallout of ex-guard Arterio Morris and allegations of rape.

There are extended details about Morris here, but it’s quite graphic and specific, so be warned before clicking. The allegations are enough that it’ll be surprising if Morris plays D-I college basketball again (he’s now enrolled at Garden City CC). The complaint also lists three other basketball players as witnesses, but that doesn’t mean they were present during the alleged crime.

Kansas dismissed Morris last month after the rape allegations surfaced, though expect coach Bill Self to field more questions about the choice to bring in Morris, and what steps the program will take in the future.

Onto the rest of the day.

1. Kansas, Bill Self glad to move on after six years

Kansas spent the last six years fighting five Level I violations from the NCAA. Wednesday, it escaped essentially unscathed. All it cost the Jayhawks was a Final Four.

Sure, that’s an oversimplification. But it’s the crux of what could have been a potentially massive penalty to one of college basketball’s blue bloods.

Cut to the faces of a delighted fan base and a relieved Bill Self. This was about as good of an outcome as KU was gonna get.

The case began in September 2017 as part of an FBI case into corruption in college basketball. Kansas was accused of a pay-for-play scheme where an Adidas consultant funneled money to players Billy Preston (who never played a game for KU) and Silvio De Sousa, who played in 2018 and helped the Jayhawks reach the Final Four.

In May 2020, the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP) — which issued the final rulings on other programs involved with the FBI investigation., including Louisville, Memphis, Arizona, NC State and LSU — took over the case. More than three years later, it ruled that the original five Level I violations assessed against Kansas actually amounted to Level II and Level III violations because the school’s actions were not “premeditated, deliberate or committed after substantial planning.” (Read the full ruling here). The result: three years probation. Case closed.

Did some members of the panel think a lack of hard evidence helped Kansas? Absolutely. But that doesn’t matter because the Jayhawks now get to enter the season distraction free, and maybe even atop the polls. Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend don’t have to consider future suspensions.

Notably, Kansas must vacate all wins where De Sousa played in 2018. That’s 15 victories, including the run to the Final Four. That means no Big 12 regular-season or tournament title that year, and no official NCAA berth.

That ends KU’s tourney streak at 28 (still the NCAA record; Michigan State now has the longest active streak at 25), and Kentucky reclaims the all-time wins record, 2,377 to 2,370.

Neither Self nor Townsend face further NCAA sanctions after KU self-imposed the following penalties on the program during the 2022-23 academic year, plus suspended both coaches for the first four games of the 2022-23 season. Additional penalties (some of which have already been completed) include:

• A financial penalty of $5,000 plus 1% of the men's basketball budget.

• A reduction of scholarships totaling three over the course of the 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years.

• Reduction in total official visits permitted in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years.

• A six-week ban on recruiting communications with all men's basketball prospects for 2022-23.

• A six-week ban on unofficial visits in 2022-23.

• A 14-day reduction in the number of recruiting person days for 2022-23.

• Prohibiting the men's basketball staff from hosting any official visits during the 2022 Late Night event.

It also means the IARP essentially didn’t levy any significant penalties in reviewing the NCAA violations, which was a great thing for the programs. (And not so good for Oklahoma State. The Cowboys certainly noticed.)

If you’re wondering what was the point of it all, you’re not alone. Time to move on.

2. Finality sets in at Pac-12 media day

Arizona’s officially the favorite to win the Pac-12 — wild to think it’s the first time in six years league media has tabbed the Wildcats — in what will be the final season of the Pac-12 we’ve all known through the years.

Next year, Zona, ASU, Colorado and Utah are off to the Big 12. UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington are headed to the Big Ten. Cal and Stanford will be in the ACC. Washington State and Oregon State, TBD.

It made for a subdued day in Las Vegas.

“I mean, it’s already hit you,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said of the sense of finality. “You get your schedule, last media day, all these things that are happening, so I’m sure people are going to be sentimental.”

That was a shared opinion from most of the coaches, who spent just as much time discussing what’s ahead next season as they did this season.

Not that everything will just end. UCLA and Arizona will try to continue their rivalry. Lloyd and Bruins coach Mick Cronin both told The Field of 68 that the programs intend to schedule each other as non-conference games. It’s just a matter of logistics.

That’s a welcome bit of news, even if it’s not official (yet). As for other official news from media day, the full breakdown of how the media picked programs to finish is below.

1. Arizona (18) – 303 pts
2. USC (4), 264
3. UCLA (4), 249
4. Oregon, 228
5. Colorado, 210
6. ASU, 148
7. Utah, 139
8. Stanford, 131
9. Washington, 108
10. WSU, 94
11. Cal, 67
12. Oregon St., 42

Compare that to The Almanac’s predicated order and one thing jumps out: Pac-12 writers have much more faith in Arizona State this season. The Sun Devils are slated to be in the top half of the league, while The Almanac thinks they’ll finish 10th. Given that they lost nine players to the transfer portal and four of their top five scorers, the skepticism is warranted. But we’ll see.

3. More must-know news from Wednesday

Sometimes, there’s too much news for the usual Starting Five headlines, especially when the stories deserve more context than just being added to the Fast Break.

When that happens, it’s time for some bullet points.

• In an expected move, AJ Dybantsa reclassified to 2025, and immediately became the No. 1 prospect in the class. He’s older than former top prospect Cameron Boozer, and gives ‘25 some incredible talent at the top. The new No. 1 player in the class of 2026? Dybantsa’s Prolific Prep teammate Tyran Stokes.

• Xavier announced Zach Freemantle would be out until at least January. Jerome Hunter has been out indefinitely since the summer. Musketeers coach Sean Miller said on Wednesday that he doesn’t expect either to play this season.

• Rick Pitino says all the St. John’s turnover during the offseason was because most of the players dis-respected ex-coach Mike Anderson. “They weren’t going to class, they just weren’t getting St. John’s. They weren’t doing it the right way, and I told them it wasn’t gonna work. They weren’t fitting in.” Does “fitting in” also mean they couldn’t fit into playing time?

4. Jayhawks stocking up on 2024 talent

Kansas did its part on Wednesday to test the Rule of 3 when it landed its third Top 50 recruit of 2024.

Passmore, a 6-5 shooting guard out of North Carolina, is a big, powerful wing who’s a beast in transition — seriously, watch this dunk over future Kansas teammate Flory Bidunga — and could be a handful on the defensive end. He’s not a great shooter, but his athleticism has made up for that, and will serve him well in the Big 12.

The gives Kansas the No. 3 overall class for 2024, and the coaching staff is making a hard push to land more talent (though adding sharpshooting wing Liam McNeeley seems unlikely). Passmore, Bidunga and point guard Labaron Philon should all contribute and have a chance to start right away.

In other 2024 recruiting news:

• Forward Reece Hagy will head to Air Force.

• Weber State added guard Trevor Hennig.

• Lamar picked up guard Jayden Gambrell.

5. Patriot League is a two-team race (maybe)

Colgate owns the Patriot League.

Matt Langel’s program is 44-4 in league play over the last three seasons, and is coming off a 26-9 campaign in which it lost just one league game. It’s got two players on the preseason all-conference team, Ryan Moffatt and Keegan Records, the latter of whom is the pick for preseason POY and DPOY.

All that adds up to another awesome season for the Raiders. Until you glance at the preseason Patriot League poll and notice that Lehigh snagged two first-place votes. Hmm.

Sure, they’ve also got two all-league players in guards Keith Higgins and Tyler Whitney-Sidney. But is that really enough to catch Colgate?

As Jim Root explains in The Almanac, it just might be.

It’ll take a lot to dethrone Colgate, and might not be possible without an injury. The Raiders are a remarkably efficient offense and Records is the type of player who always produces.

Still, a little drama would be a good thing in a league where dominance has been the name of the game.

Don’t sleep on these guys

You’ve heard plenty about Purdue and Michigan State this season. Illinois, Maryland and Indiana as well. But there are a handful of teams, such as Iowa, Michigan and Northwestern, who made the NCAA Tournament last season, but aren’t getting any attention this season. Would any of those three make it again?

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Links as wonder why you delayed that Disney trip (since they just raised prices again).

• John Calipari expects big men Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso to play by mid-December.

• You know its peak preview season when the All-Marfo team rolls out.

• Gonzaga to the Big 12 might be worth $10 million a year, but the logistics beyond that are challenging.

• MWC Commissioner Gloria Nevarez discussed the potential for a promotion/relegation system.

• Don’t forget: Rob Dauster and Jeff Goodman will pull double duty today for LIVE coverage from MWC and WCC media days.

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