| 14 July 2009
A lot of Beaker fans will be quick to tell you what a great guy Bill Self is and how clean a program he runs. But there seems to be quite a bit of evidence to the contrary. kU is now looking into a conversation Self reportedly had over the weekend with blue chip recruit John Wall at the Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Mo. That poses a bit of a problem being as coaches are not allowed to have any sort of contact other than greetings with recruits during the NCAA's evaluation period. This conversation was chronicled in a column by Springfield News-Leader preps reporter Allen Vaughan:
- Best Watergate-like moment: Like us reporters normally do when seeking interviews, we wait outside locker rooms for players and coaches to come out. Since there weren't enough locker rooms to hold all eight teams, some were placed back at Hammons Student Center.Interesting. Very interesting. I'm from southwest Missouri, have met Allen and have read his work since he started at the News-Leader. You can argue all you want about how wrong Self was for blatantly breaking the NCAA's rules, but I'll tell you that Allen isn't a reporter that tries to sensationalize things to try to stir things up. I'll guarantee you this conversation transpired exactly the way he described it. Hopefully the NCAA doesn't bitch out and actually does something about this.
Yes, it's a haul from JQH to HSC, so I was the only one hanging out. There was no accidental foot traffic.
That's what was so curious when Kansas coach Bill Self came rolling through. I was puzzled because it's an evaluation period in the NCAA's eyes, meaning coaches and recruits can have no contact, except for an exchange of greetings.
Of course, Wall is the top uncommitted recruit. Self had to know I was a reporter and even said hello to me.
I just thought he'd stand there, maybe even wave to Wall to let him know he was there. Instead, when the Holy Rams poured out of the locker room, Self was excited:
Self: "Johnny, great win man. You really played well."
Wall: "Thanks."
Self: "I'm not supposed to be talking to you, and you know that, but I just wanted to tell you that was a great win."
Then Self vanished.
I called Missouri State NCAA compliance officer Kyle Yates, curious of Self's behavior. Yates insisted what Self did was wrong, but not unique, as I suspected.
"(He) definitely shouldn't have done that, but it's not uncommon," Yates said. "If he would have sat him down and had a conversation, that would have been a big deal."
Still, it was no accident he was there in that isolated location. And Memphis coaches John Calipari and Orlando Antigua didn't do it either.
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