NCAA Basketball: Kansas and others could face a turbulent 2019-20 term

The upcoming NCAA basketball stanza is almost here, and potential penalties against some major programs will cause a dark cloud to hover over the sport.

As the 2019-20 NCAA basketball campaign gets set to commence, expectations are quite lofty for the Kansas hoops squad, which is widely regarded as a pre-season top-five crew that should strongly contend for a Big 12 championship as well as a deep run in next spring’s March Madness. But, off the court, the Jayhawks have a serious headache to wrap their collective head around.

Kansas revealed on Monday that it has received a Notice of Allegations (NOA) from the NCAA’s enforcement staff, pertaining to alleged violations by the men’s basketball and football teams. Adam Zagoria, writing for the Forbes Web site, notes that the NOA includes “a lack of institutional control charge and a charge directed at” head coach Bill Self, who has guided the Jayhawks to three Final Fours and the 2008 national title.

Zagoria reports that the NOA contains “three Level 1 violations linked primarily to recruiting and cites a lack of institutional control.” These are severe alleged infractions, which often come with them post-season bans, the vacating of wins and scholarship reductions, according to Zagoria.

Kansas has 90 days to submit a response to the NOA. In its statement, the university says that it “will fiercely dispute in detail much of what has been presented.” The lengthy statement adds that Kansas “firmly and fully supports Coach Self and his staff.”

Self, in that statement, says that “it’s no secret that there is tremendous pressure on the NCAA to respond to the federal court proceedings involving college basketball. Compelled to reassure member institutions and the general public that it can police its member institutions, the NCAA enforcement staff has responded in an unnecessarily aggressive manner in submitting today’s unsubstantiated Notice of Allegations, and I, as well as the University, will vigorously dispute what has been alleged.”

The latest bombshell to drop, in Lawrence, Kan., is a reflection of how college hoops, as a whole, is in a tough spot. Debates continue on as to whether student-athletes should have the ability to earn endorsement money, or even get paid directly by their college or university. We’ll leave that topic for another day.

However, the federal government’s two-year investigation into fraud and corruption in college basketball is what’s creating the most-toxic stain on the sport, if you ask me. Several coaches have already gotten fired, N.C. State received a NOA in July, and now it’s the Jayhawks’ turn.

But additional groups are seemingly in the on-deck circle. Zagoria, in his piece, quotes a legal source as saying that other schools will likely get named “over the next few weeks,” along with some in “early 2020.”

Zagoria and numerous separate media stories have mentioned units such as Arizona and Louisville, but this is all mainly speculation at this juncture. We’ll know soon enough which ones will join Kansas and the Wolfpack in having to compete in 2019-20 with a huge eyesore in their purview. It’s a shame what’s transpiring in collegiate hoops. Massive changes are absolutely needed. Colleges and universities have to get held accountable. But so, too, must the NCAA.