Pioneers

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) &mdash; First-year guard Gradey Dick scored a season-high 25 points to help No. 3 Kansas beat North Carolina State 80-74 in Wednesday&rsquo;s Battle 4 Atlantis opener, giving coach Bill Self a successful return to the bench after a four-game suspension.
Dick had 18 on six 3-pointers in the first half before going 1 for 8 from the field after halftime. Jalen Wilson added 19 points and 11 rebounds for the reigning national champion Jayhawks (5-0), who blew an eight-point halftime lead and a nine-point second-half lead before grinding it out in the final minutes.
Casey Morsell scored 21 points to lead the Wolfpack (4-1), while Terquavion Smith added 19 points.
N.C. State played a fast pace, picked up full court and stayed within arm&rsquo;s reach of Kansas the entire way but couldn&rsquo;t take a second-half lead even after tying it five times, the last coming at 63-all on Jack Clark&rsquo;s jumper with 7:14 left.
Kansas had imposed the suspension on Self and assistant Kurtis Townsend as part of the fallout from a pending NCAA infractions case tied to the federal investigation into corruption within the sport.
Self was allowed to coach practices, so he remained involved with the team up until gameday. The rest of the time, he said, he got a dose of the helpless perspective of a fan while assistant Norm Roberts led the team. He said he couldn&rsquo;t even take notes until he watched the game on a replay.
As he emerged from the tunnel Wednesday, he was greeted with loud cheers from a boisterous Kansas fan section. He had a slight smile as one fan dangled a Jayhawks national championship banner as he walked by and gave several fans a line of high-fives as he headed to the court.
But Dick quickly took the spotlight with a barrage of outside shots. He went 6 for 9 from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes, the last seeing him knock down one through light contact from Morsell and fall to the floor just before the halftime horn.
Dick got up with an emphatic shout and clapping, while Morsell could only respond with a frustrated shrug as Kansas took a 39-31 lead into the break.
BIG PICTURE
N.C. State: This was N.C. State&rsquo;s first appearance at Atlantis since 2017 at the start of Kevin Keatts&rsquo; coaching tenure. That Wolfpack team opened that tournament with a stunning upset of No. 2 Arizona and this year&rsquo;s bunch flirted with another while giving Kansas fits all the way to the final minutes.
Kansas: The 6-foot-8 Dick is off to a strong start. He came in averaging 16.8 points while shooting 10 of 20 from 3-point range, then surpassed his (short) season high of 23 points from the opener against Omaha.
UP NEXT
N.C. State: The Wolfpack will face the Wisconsin-Dayton loser in Thursday&rsquo;s consolation bracket.
Kansas: The Jayhawks advanced to Thursday&rsquo;s semifinals to face the Wisconsin-Dayton winner.

Bill Self had a successful return to the Jayhawks bench after a four-game suspension.

No. 3 Kansas beats NC State in coach Bill Self’s return

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson had 21 points and nine rebounds, Gradey Dick added 12 points, and No. 5 Kansas tuned up for the Champions Classic next week by routing perennial Summit League contender North Dakota State 82-59 on Thursday night.
MJ Rice added 10 points in his college debut, and the Jayhawks (2-0) ramped up the defensive pressure against the Bison (0-2), building a 48-19 lead by halftime and coasting to their Division I-leading 13th consecutive victory.
They did so without coach Bill Self, who along with assistant Kurtis Townsend served the second game of school-imposed four-game suspensions. The penalty, part of the fallout of an FBI investigation into college basketball, also will keep Self from the bench for the Jayhawks&rsquo; showdown against No. 5 Duke on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
Grant Nelson had 11 points and Boden Skunberg scored 10 for the Bison (0-2).
North Dakota State gave the Jayhawks all they could handle when they met in December 2020 in Allen Fieldhouse, leading for more than 28 minutes only for the Jayhawks to score the final seven points and eke out a four-point win.
It wasn&rsquo;t nearly as close Thursday night.
Wilson got off to a hot start, scoring 17 points in the first half, and Rice provided some additional energy with a high-flying dunk after missing the Jayhawks&rsquo; opening win over Omaha with a back injury earlier in the week.
But it wasn&rsquo;t until Wilson&rsquo;s bucket with about 12 minutes to go that the game got out of hand.
Kansas proceeded to score 10 straight points, highlighted by Rice&rsquo;s ally-oop dunk, and the run stretched to 13-2 on a 3-pointer by Joseph Yesufu. And when the Bison finally got a bucket, Yesufu answered with another 3, triggering another 11-0 run that gave the Jayhawks a 40-16 lead by the under-4 minute media timeout.
The Jayhawks shot 56% from the field in the half, helped along by four ally-oop dunks, while the Bison resorted to shooting desperation 3-pointers late in the shot clock. Twenty of their 28 shots in the first half came from beyond the arc.
The Bison never threatened Kansas in the second half.
THE TAKEAWAY
The Jayhawks were brutally efficient on offense, but they really shined on defense. Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar Jr. has lived up to his billing as a perimeter stopper, and KJ Adams Jr. and Ernest Udeh Jr. dominated the paint. On nights when shots aren&rsquo;t falling, the Jayhawks will be able to lean on their defense to keep them in games.
UP NEXT
While the Jayhawks head to Indianapolis to face the Blue Devils in one of the marquee nonconference games of the season, the Bison travel back to Fargo for their home opener against Pacific on Sunday.

Jalen Wilson had 21 points and nine rebounds, Gradey Dick added 12 points, and No. 5 Kansas tuned up for the Champions Classic.

Wilson leads No. 5 Kansas to 82-59 rout of North Dakota St

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Jeremy Roach scored 16 first-half points to help seventh-ranked Duke open Jon Scheyer&rsquo;s coaching tenure with a 71-44 win over Jacksonville on Monday night.
Freshman Mark Mitchell had a team-high 18 points for the Blue Devils, who used a 25-4 run spanning halftime to blow the game open.
It was a quality start to a season of massive change for the Blue Devils, starting with Scheyer taking over for retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski. Duke has 11 new players, including the nation&rsquo;s No. 1-ranked recruiting class and two power-conference transfers. The Blue Devils didn&rsquo;t have top freshmen Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead for this one as they recover from preseason injuries.
Mike Marsh scored 15 points to lead the Dolphins, who shot 34% and missed 18 of 19 3-pointers before making two meaningless 3s late.
NO. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 69, UNC WILMINGTON 56
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Caleb Love and RJ Davis scored 17 points apiece and North Carolina began a season of grand expectations by pulling away from UNC Wilmington.
Armando Bacot added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Tar Heels, who were perhaps most impressive at the defensive end. UNCW shot 29.8% from the field.
The Tar Heels, who were the NCAA Tournament runner-up in April, began the new season with the top ranking for the first time in seven years. It&rsquo;s a record 10th time that North Carolina has been ranked No. 1 to start a season &mdash; one more than rival Duke.
Trazarien White scored 19 points for UNCW, which faced a top-ranked team for the first time in program history.
NO. 2 GONZAGA 104, NORTH FLORIDA 63
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 22 points, Julian Strawther added 16 and No. 2 Gonzaga used a big first-half run to beat North Florida in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Anton Watson had 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals for Gonzaga, which won its 68th consecutive home game, the nation&rsquo;s longest such streak.
Carter Hendricksen scored 16 points, Jadyn Parker 13 and Jose Placer 12 for North Florida, a veteran-laden team from the Atlantic Sun Conference that returned its top four scorers from last season.
NO. 3 HOUSTON 83, NORTHERN COLORADO 36
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser scored 21 points, J&rsquo;Wan Roberts added 12 points and six rebounds, and Houston opened the season by beating Northern Colorado.
Sasser, a preseason All-American, scored 11 points in the first half. He finished 7 of 14 from the field and made 4 of 8 3-pointers. The senior guard missed the second half of last season and all of Houston&rsquo;s run to the Elite Eight with a toe injury.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson won his 700th career game and 200th with the Cougars.
Matt Johnson II, Riley Abercrombie and Caleb Shaw each scored eight points for the Bears.
NO. 4 KENTUCKY 95, HOWARD 63
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Antonio Reeves scored 22 points, CJ Fredrick had 20 and Kentucky beat Howard with All-American Oscar Tshiebwe and two other players sidelined.
Tshiebwe had a procedure last month on his right knee. Point guard Sahvir Wheeler (right leg) and sophomore forward Daimion Collins (personal reasons) were also out, but the Wildcats still shot 55% against the overmatched Bison.
Jacob Toppin and freshman Cason Wallace each added 15 points for Kentucky.
Kobe Dickson scored 17 points and Elijah Hawkins had 14 for Howard, which shot 34%.
NO. 5 KANSAS 89, OMAHA 64
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Gradey Dick added 23 points in his debut, and Kansas began defense of its national championship without suspended coach Bill Self by routing Omaha.
Bobby Pettiford Jr. added 13 points, Dajuan Harris had 11 points and eight assists, and Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar Jr. scored 10 for the Jayhawks, who broke open a close game in the second half with two big runs.
Self served the first of a four-game punishment along with assistant Kurtis Townsend as part of the fallout from a 2017 federal investigation into college basketball corruption.
Jaeden Marshall scored 13 points and Luke Jungers had 12 for the Mavericks.
NO. 5 BAYLOR 117, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 53
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Adam Flagler scored 21 points to lead six players in double figures as Baylor won the opener of its 20th season with coach Scott Drew.
Flagler, a preseason All-Big 12 pick who also was the Bears&rsquo; leading scorer last season, also had eight assists and one of his four 3-pointers started a 24-0 run midway through the first half.
LJ Cryer had 16 points and Dale Bonner, another returning guard, had 14.
Alvin Stredic scored 14 points and Terry Collins 10 for Mississippi Valley State in its first game for new coach George Ivory.
NO. 9 CREIGHTON 72, ST. THOMAS 60
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Baylor Scheierman made back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half to give Creighton the lead for good.
Arthur Kaluma scored 17 points, Trey Alexander had 12 and Scheierman added 11 as the Bluejays won their 25th opener in 26 years.
St. Thomas, a Summit League member beginning its second season in Division I, gave the Bluejays all they could handle until the last few minutes. Andrew Rohde had 15 points to lead the Tommies.
NO. 10 ARKANSAS 76, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 58
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Trevon Brazile had 21 points and 12 rebounds in his debut as Arkansas won its season opener.
Brazile, a sophomore transfer from Missouri, scored six straight points during an 11-0 run early in the second half that gave Arkansas a 16-point lead with 15 minutes left.
Wichita State transfer Ricky Council led the Razorbacks with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting.
Grant Nelson and Boden Skunberg had 17 points apiece to lead North Dakota State.
NO. 11 TENNESSEE 75, TENNESSEE TECH 43
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Tyreke Key came off the bench to score 17 points and Tennessee beat Tennessee Tech in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Key, an Indiana State transfer, connected on 4 of 8 3-pointers to ignite a sluggish Volunteer offense. Zakai Zeigler scored all but two of his 12 points in the second half.
Brett Thompson led the Golden Eagles with 15 points.
NO. 12 TEXAS 72, UTEP 57
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Tyrese Hunter scored 18 points to lead Texas past UTEP in the debut of its new arena.
Hunter, a transfer from Iowa State, was 6-of-8 shooting and added five rebounds. Ze&rsquo;Ri Onyema led UTEP with 10 points.
Texas this season moved to the $375 million Moody Center on the edge of campus, leaving behind the old Frank Erwin Center after 45 years.
NO. 13 INDIANA 88, MOREHEAD STATE 53
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Preseason All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis and freshman Malik Reneau each scored 15 points, helping Indiana beat Morehead State in the season opener for both teams.
The Hoosiers have won all six matchups in the series and are 26-0 all-time against Ohio Valley Conference foes.
Mark Freeman led the Eagles with 14 points, and Drew Thelwell had 11 for the OVC favorites.
NO. 14 TCU 73, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 72
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Mike Miles hit a 3-pointer with 51 seconds remaining to finally put TCU ahead to stay against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which built an early 20-point lead in the season opener for both teams.
Miles, the preseason Big 12 player of the year, hit from deep beyond the top of the key for a 71-68 lead.
Emanuel Miller had 15 of his 19 points in the second half, and Miles finished with 15 points for the Horned Frogs. They returned all five starters and five other scholarship players after winning their first NCAA Tournament game since 1987.
Shaun Doss had 25 points with four of Arkansas-Pine Bluff&rsquo;s 13 3-pointers.
NO. 15 AUBURN 70, GEORGE MASON 52
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Wendell Green Jr. scored 16 points while K.D. Johnson and Johni Broome each had 12 to lead Auburn to a season-opening win over George Mason.
The Tigers weren&rsquo;t really challenged much in their first game since losing NBA first-round draft picks Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler.
Ronald Polite III led George Mason with 10 points, and Victor Bailey Jr. had nine.
NO. 16 VILLANOVA 81, LA SALLE 68
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) &mdash; Caleb Daniels scored 24 points to make coach Kyle Neptune a winner in his Villanova debut.
Neptune replaced Hall of Famer Jay Wright, who retired in the offseason. The Wildcats returned three starters (a fourth, Justin Moore, was injured) from the team that lost a national semifinal game to Kansas. Eric Dixon added 20 points for Villanova.
Daniels made his first five 3-pointers and the Wildcats used an early 10-0 run to put away their city rival and spoiled 74-year-old coach Fran Dunphy&rsquo;s return to the bench.
Josh Nickelberry scored 22 points to lead the Explorers.
NO. 17 ARIZONA 117, NICHOLLS STATE 75
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis scored 23 points and Arizona went on a massive opening run to begin its second season under coach Tommy Lloyd with a rout.
Ballo scored 18 points, helping Arizona set a school record with 71.7% shooting from the floor against the reigning Southland Conference regular-season champions. The Wildcats opened the game with a 30-4 run.
Micah Thomas led Nicholls State with 20 points.
NO. 18 VIRGINIA 73, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 61
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman sparked a 15-2 second-half run, and Virginia beat North Carolina Central after blowing a 16-point first-half lead.
Armaan Franklin led Virginia with 21 points in the season opener for both teams, and Francisco Caffaro had 10.
Justin Wright scored 20 and Eric Boone had 18 for the Eagles, who used a 12-0 run just after halftime to go ahead. But Clark hit a 3 and Beekman followed with a steal and a breakaway.
NO. 19 SAN DIEGO STATE 80, CAL STATE FULLERTON 57
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Darrion Trammell hit three 3-pointers during a 29-10 run to open the second half and finished with 18 points as San Diego State beat Cal State Fullerton.
Fellow newcomer Jaedon LeDee and Lamont Butler scored 11 points apiece and Nathan Mensah had 10 for the Aztecs, who won their 10th straight season opener and their 17th in 18 seasons.
Vincent Lee scored 11 and Jalen Harris 10 for the Titans, the defending Big West Conference champions.
NO. 20 ALABAMA 75, LONGWOOD 54
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Freshman Brandon Miller had 14 points and 13 rebounds in his debut as Alabama beat Longwood.
Fellow freshman Rylan Griffen also scored 14 for the Crimson Tide, and point guard Mark Sears had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Freshman guard Jaden Bradley added 11 points and six boards.
Alabama held Longwood to 27% shooting and blocked nine shots. Michael Christmas led Longwood with 12 points.
NO. 21 OREGON 80, FLORIDA A&amp;M 45
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) &mdash; N&rsquo;Faly Dante had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Oregon opened with an easy win over Florida A&amp;M.
Keeshawn Barthelemy added 13 points for the Ducks, ranked to start the season for the ninth straight year. Will Richardson scored 11.
Jordan Tillmon and Jordan Chatman had eight points apiece for the Rattlers, who have 11 new players. Florida A&amp;M coach Robert McCullum was on Oregon coach Dana Altman&rsquo;s staff from 2014-17.
NO. 22 MICHIGAN 75, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 56
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Hunter Dickinson had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and freshman Jett Howard added 21 points in Michigan&rsquo;s season-opening win.
After Purdue Fort Wayne opened an 8-4 lead, Michigan went on a 20-0 run to take control.
Quinton Morton-Robertson scored 15 points and Bobby Planutis added 13 for the Mastodons.
NO. 23 ILLINOIS 87, EASTERN ILLINOIS 57
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 24 points and Coleman Hawkins had 23 points and 12 rebounds as Illinois cruised past Eastern Illinois.
Dain Dainja added 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Illini, who outrebounded the Panthers 53-30 in the opener for both teams.
Kinyon Hodges scored 14 points and Yaakema Rose added 10 for Eastern Illinois.
NO. 24 DAYTON 73, LINDENWOOD 46
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Mustapha Amzil scored 14 points, DaRon Holmes II and R.J. Blakney each had 13 and Dayton beat Lindenwood in a sluggish opener for both teams.
Dayton was without injured point guard Malachi Smith and didn&rsquo;t play particularly well until late, but it had a large margin for error against Lindenwood, which was playing its first game after moving up to Division I.
Chris Childs had 15 points for the Lions, who shot 33% from the field.
NO. 25 TEXAS TECH 73, NORTHWESTERN STATE 49
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash; Daniel Batcho had 12 points and 10 rebounds as Texas Tech rolled past Northwestern State in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Texas Tech broke it open late in the first half and led 42-23 at halftime.
Isaac Haney led Northwestern State with 16 points.

It was a quality start to a season of massive change for the Blue Devils, starting with Jon Scheyer taking over Duke's program.

Roach leads No. 7 Duke past Jacksonville in Scheyer’s debut

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; There will be something missing from what should have been a festive occasion Monday night at Kansas, when the No. 5 Jayhawks celebrate their latest national championship before opening the new season against Omaha.
Namely, their head coach Bill Self.
Rather than following his team to the court for pregame introductions, Self will probably be sitting at home, forced to watch on TV while beginning a four-game suspension. Kansas officials imposed the punishment on its coach and assistant Kurtis Townsend as part of the fallout of a lengthy FBI investigation into college basketball corruption.
Norm Roberts, who spent six seasons as the head coach at St. John&rsquo;s, will serve as the acting coach.
&ldquo;Norm and I have been together off-and-on since &rsquo;95,&rdquo; Self said, &ldquo;and he&rsquo;ll probably be a voice that the players probably enjoy and respect hearing far more than they have been hearing.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s something (where) hopefully we can become more mature,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;and if that&rsquo;s the case, it&rsquo;s still not good by any stretch. But I have to own it, though, and our players have to make the most of it, and I believe they will.&rdquo;
Self was allowed to coach the Jayhawks in their lone exhibition, when they overcame a sluggish start against Division II Pittsburg State in a 94-63 win. And the terms of the school-administered suspension allow him to coach the Jayhawks any day but game day, which means the Hall of Fame coach will still largely determine the game plan.
He just won&rsquo;t be on the sidelines against Omaha, North Dakota State and Southern Utah or a showdown against seventh-ranked Duke in the Champions Classic next week in Indianapolis.
Self and Townsend will be back on the bench to face North Carolina State at the Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 23.
&ldquo;Norm will go into the game knowing who the first big off the bench is, who the first guard off the bench is. He knows what plays we&rsquo;ll script,&rdquo; Self said, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;ll be in charge. He will be in charge. I&rsquo;ll be at practice, but everything that happens after 12 a.m., that&rsquo;s going to be Norm&rsquo;s call. And as a coach, you really hope nothing happens after 12 a.m.&rdquo;
Jeremy Case, who helped the Jayhawks win the 2008 national title, will be alongside Roberts on the bench. The Jayhawks also can use Joe Dooley, a longtime assistant and now director of student-athlete development, and Brady Morningstar, a former player who usually serves as the video coordinator, as fill-in coaches on game day.
Still, it&rsquo;s hard to substitute for a two-time national champion coach who&rsquo;s won more than 81% of his games at Kansas.
&ldquo;Norm will do a great job. The guy has been a head coach in the Big East,&rdquo; Self said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been together a long time, and there&rsquo;s a correlation in us being successful and who your coaches are, and we&rsquo;ve had the best staff. I don&rsquo;t know anybody can compare the staff we&rsquo;ve had over time, and Norm has been a huge part of that.&rdquo;
The suspensions, along with a series of recruiting penalties, were punishment for an infractions case that stems from a federal investigation in 2017 that led to the conviction of a shoe company executive, a middleman who worked with them and several assistant coaches. It involved Kansas along with Arizona, LSU, Louisville and North Carolina State.
When it came to the Jayhawks, the issue was whether representatives of apparel company Adidas were acting as boosters &mdash; the school contends they were not &mdash; when they arranged payments to prospective recruits. Kansas never disputed that the payments were made, only that it had any knowledge the inducements were happening.
The school asked that the case be decided by the Independent Accountability Resolution Process, which was created to handle particularly complex cases and acts outside the purview of the NCAA. But the soon-to-be disbanded panel has been painfully slow in its work, and it remains unclear when &mdash; or even if &mdash; there will ever be a conclusion.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t understand all the nuances that go on,&rdquo; Self said, &ldquo;and to be real candid with you, if I don&rsquo;t understand it, it&rsquo;s hard for anyone else to understand it, because I&rsquo;m right in the middle of it.&rdquo;
Rather than wait out the process, Kansas imposed penalties last week in a gesture it hopes will mitigate any additional punishment. Self will sit out the next four games &mdash; an important developmental period for his young team &mdash; and put his trust in Roberts, who hasn&rsquo;t been a head coach since he was fired by St. John&rsquo;s in 2010.
&ldquo;We have a culture that&rsquo;s been built here,&rdquo; Roberts said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been with Bill a long time. We kind of end each others&rsquo; sentences. And we talk about how faces change but expectations don&rsquo;t. Our players know our expectations are what they are at Kansas, and what we do on the court doesn&rsquo;t change.&rdquo;

Rather than following his team to the court for pregame introductions, Bill Self will begin a four-game suspension.

No. 5 Kansas opening season without Hall of Fame coach Self

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Kansas suspended Hall of Fame coach Bill Self and top assistant Kurtis Townsend for the first four games of the season Wednesday, along with imposing several recruiting restrictions, as part of the fallout from a lengthy FBI investigation into college basketball corruption.
Norm Roberts will be the acting coach for the defending national champions beginning with their opener Monday night against Omaha. Self and Townsend also will miss games against North Dakota State and Southern Utah along with a high-profile showdown between the No. 5 Jayhawks and No. 7 Duke in the Champions Classic.
Self and Townsend will rejoin the team to face North Carolina State at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas on Nov. 23.
The school already had barred the two coaches from off-campus recruiting this past summer. It will also reduce the number of official visits during the 2023-24 academic year, reduce the total number of scholarships by three over a three-year span and reduce the number of permissible recruiting days during the upcoming year by 13 days.
There were no official visitors this year for Late Night at the Phog, the annual celebration to kick off the season.
&ldquo;Coach Townsend and I accept and support KU&rsquo;s decision,&rdquo; Self said in a statement. &ldquo;We are in good hands with Coach Roberts, and I am confident that he will do a great job on the bench leading our team. I am proud of the way our guys have handled this situation and I look forward to returning to the bench for our game against N.C. State.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The infractions case against Kansas stems from a federal investigation in 2017 that led to the conviction of shoe company executives, a middleman who worked with them and several assistant coaches.
Kansas was among the schools named in the case, along with Arizona, LSU, Louisville and N.C. State.
The Kansas case hinged on whether representatives of apparel company Adidas were considered boosters &mdash; the school contends they were not &mdash; when two of them arranged payments to prospective recruits. The school never disputed that the payments were made, only that it had any knowledge that the inducements were happening.
Auburn received four years of probation through a traditional NCAA infractions process for a similar case, but Kansas joined other schools in appealing its case to an Independent Accountability Review Panel, which was among the proposals made by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2018 to reform the sport.
The panel works outside the purview of the NCAA and was designed to handle particularly complex cases. But its work has been painfully slow &mdash; NCAA president Mark Emmert acknowledged the process takes &ldquo;way too long&rdquo; &mdash; and Kansas decided to self-impose restrictions while continuing to wait for the IARP to announce its decision.
&ldquo;We are hopeful these difficult self-imposed sanctions will assist in bringing the case to a conclusion,&rdquo; Kansas athletic director Travis Goff said in a statement, and declining any additional comment. &ldquo;Until then, we will continue to focus on supporting our outstanding men&rsquo;s basketball student-athletes and coaches.&rdquo;
Kansas had already doubled down on Self by signing him to a new contract in April 2021.
Under the terms of the five-year deal, Self gets one additional year after the conclusion of each season &mdash; in effect, making it a lifetime contract. It guaranteed him $5.41 million per year with a base salary of $225,000, a professional services contract of $2.75 million and an annual $2.435 million retention bonus.
The contract includes a clause that states the school cannot fire Self for cause &ldquo;due to any current infractions matter that involves conduct that occurred on or prior to&rdquo; the signing of the deal. And while he would have to forfeit half of his base salary and professional services pay while serving any Big 12 or NCAA suspension, it&rsquo;s unclear whether that includes any self-imposed suspensions such as the one handed down Wednesday.
&ldquo;Throughout this process, we have had ongoing conversations with all the involved parties,&rdquo; Kansas chancellor Douglas A. Girod said in a statement. &ldquo;We believe the actions we are announcing today move us closer to resolving this matter.&rdquo;
Making the Kansas case more complex, though, is the rapidly shifting landscape of college sports. Some of the alleged infractions from the 2017 investigation would no longer be against the rules following name, image and likeness legislation, which has allowed athletes in all sports to begin making money from endorsements and other off-the-field business arrangements.
Meanwhile, the days of postseason bans and crippling scholarship reductions as punishments appear to be ending.
Memphis was placed on three years of probation in August and slapped with a public reprimand and fine for violations in the recruitment of James Wiseman, now with the Golden State Warriors. But the Tigers escaped any scholarship penalties or postseason bans because the IARP said it did not want to punish current athletes.
Even as the IARP continues to work on several cases, the NCAA&rsquo;s Division I Transformation Committee earlier this year put forth a recommendation to end the process. The proposal was swiftly adopted by the Division I Board of Directors.
&ldquo;We look forward to commenting further when this process is fully resolved,&rdquo; Girod said of the IARP process. &ldquo;Until then, I want to reiterate our unwavering support of Coach Self and our men&rsquo;s basketball program.&rdquo;

Bill Self and Kurtis Townsend will rejoin the team to face North Carolina State at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas on Nov. 23.

Kansas suspends Self for 4 games in ongoing infractions case

<a href="https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1515349297428144129?s=21&amp;t=MKikSKw8NhUBkUkT2Mxozg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In his press conference</a> just before Game 1 against the Jazz, Jason Kidd confirmed that Luka Doncic's calf strain will keep him out at least for Game 1 and will be day-to-day going forward.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Kidd makes it official. Doncic is out. Day-to-day going forward. <a href="https://t.co/2wcNOTHoU3">pic.twitter.com/2wcNOTHoU3</a>
&mdash; Brad Townsend (@townbrad) <a href="https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1515349297428144129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Jason Kidd confirmed that Luka Doncic would be out for Game 1 against the Jazz and will be day-to-day going forward.

Kidd: Luka Doncic is day-to-day with calf injury

Kawhi Leonard took over the court in the Los Angeles Clippers' Game 6 win against Dallas on Friday, and Luka Doncic was well aware.
&ldquo;I mean, he destroyed us,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what it is. He had a hell of a game. And that&rsquo;s what he does.&rdquo;
Source: <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/mavericks/2021/06/04/kawhi-leonard-clippers-dominate-mavs-in-final-minutes-to-force-a-game-7-in-la/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brad Townsend/The Dallas Morning News</a>
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;Leonard scored 45 points to propel the Clippers to a 104-97, and went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field with 12 points in the fourth quarter. He also was the primary defender on Doncic, who scored 29 points on 24 shot attempts.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just based on the mentality [that] you definitely don&rsquo;t want to go home,&rdquo; Leonard said in the article. &ldquo;Just something that I had, you know, always wanted to win the game, try to exert my will on the floor, and my teammates had the same mentality.&rdquo;

Leonard scored 45 points in a huge Game 6 win for the Clippers.

Jase