Ex-KU players Billy Preston and Silvio De Sousa paid a price. Bill Self? Not so much | Opinion

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self shouldn’t worry. His reputation and legacy remain intact.

In an interview Wednesday with ESPN, the longtime Kansas basketball coach told the outlet he believes a yearslong NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations at KU tarnished his reputation.

“I think my reputation has been tarnished immensely,” Self said during Big 12 Conference media day at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

I think not.

Self is one of college basketball’s highest-paid coaches. He has a lifelong contract at KU that pays him more than $5 million annually.

During the 2021-22 season, Self’s total compensation topped $10 million, according to USA Today. His bank account surely isn’t hurting.

Others involved with 2017’s federal investigation into corruption in college basketball can’t say the same.

What shall we make of the saga of former KU power forward Billy Preston? Six years later, he is the forgotten collateral damage in this mess.

Attempts to reach Preston and his mother, Nicole Player, for comment were unsuccessful. In the past, both accused KU coaches of being aware of illicit payments from KU sponsor Adidas to secure Preston’s commitment.

Once a highly-ranked five-star recruit in the class of 2017, Preston’s recruitment caught the NCAA’s eye. He never played in a regular season game for KU.

NCAA investigators questioned how he paid for a vehicle he crashed in a single-car accident on campus. In Jan. 2018, amid the inquiry, Preston left school in the middle of the season to play pro ball in Bosnia. He’s had moderate success as a professional since.

As of the 2023-2024 season, the once-heralded player and surefire NBA draft pick hasn’t appeared in an NBA game.

For his KU career, Preston appeared in two meaningless exhibition games.

In an interview this past spring with ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast “The Bag Game,” Preston said leaving KU without playing a game hurt his draft stock.

“It was impacted a lot,” Preston said on the podcast. “If I was able to play that whole year at KU it would’ve been a whole different outcome.”

The school’s pursuit in 2017 of former KU big man Silvio De Sousa was at the center of the Jayhawks’ four-year fight with the NCAA.

Because of illegal payments from an Adidas consultant to De Sousa’s handler, the star player was ruled ineligible as a sophomore. Kansas appealed the NCAA’s punishment and won. He played parts of three seasons at KU.

Still, De Sousa never maximized his massive potential as a Jayhawk. He played a major role in an ugly on-court brawl with rival Kansas State. De Sousa hasn’t played in the NBA either, but has fared well as a pro player overseas.

In a federal criminal trial in 2018, T.J. Gassnola, a former Adidas rep, admitted in federal court that he paid the families of Preston, De Sousa and other high-profile players.

Under oath, Gassnola testified he concealed the payments from KU coaches.

So there’s that.

Kansas dodged serious consequences after being accused of playing loose with NCAA rules. As part of its recent agreement with an independent panel bankrolled by the NCAA, KU was docked 15 wins from the 2017-18 season and fined $5,000 plus 1% of the men’s basketball budget.

Recruiting restrictions were put in place. But the program escaped a dreaded — and financially costly — postseason ban from the NCAA tournament.

Hall of Fame coach Bill Self’s reputation is just fine

Self is a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach. He can still attract top talent from the high school ranks and NCAA transfer portal to Lawrence. And he is only two seasons removed from winning a national championship.

Quite frankly, his rep is just fine.

Self should count his blessings. Unlike other head coaches caught in the middle of the FBI’s investigation into corruption in college basketball, he is still employed.

Top KU assistant coach Kurtis Townsend is fortunate he still has a job. In 2017, Townsend was heard on a FBI wiretap discussing what it would take to entice future first-round NBA draft pick Zion Williamson to Lawrence, a blatant violation of NCAA rules.

Townsend, a longtime assistant, mustn’t forget: Four assistant coaches at other schools were indicted on wire fraud and other charges in the probe.

Some pleaded guilty to various infractions and spent three months in federal prison. None is back coaching major college basketball.

Townsend was cleared by the NCAA of wrongdoing, too, according to KU officials. He should thank his lucky stars he avoided more than an in-house suspension and the recruiting restrictions KU self-imposed on him and Self last season.

Under the NCAA’s current name, image and likeness rules, athletes can now make money off their skill, talent and influence. Thank goodness.

For their part in this madness, Self and Townsend got off easy. The same can’t be said about former Jayhawk players Preston and De Sousa, whose earning potential was negatively affected by the actions of adults.

Both deserved more from their handlers than offering their talent to the highest bidders.

What say you, KU?