Kansas may not learn about Cheick Diallo’s NCAA eligibility for another couple of weeks or so, according to head coach Bill Self.
“He’s been cleared to practice,” Self told hosts Steven St. John and Nate Bukaty of “The Border Patrol” on WHB-AM 810, via NBCSports.com. “[His status] is depending on what they find throughout from the information we submit to them whenever we get it all together.
“A lot of people think, ‘Well, why wouldn’t it all be together?’ Well there’s a lot of reasons why. It’s because they told us recently some things that they just wanted. Instead of just throwing it to them piece by piece, they requested we to just submit it all together, so it may be a couple of more weeks before we’re able to submit everything when you’re talking about getting information from schools in Mali and everything like that.
“But we hope in two weeks, maybe three weeks, before we have a definite answer. But right now, Cheick is like everybody else. He’s practicing.”
The 6-foot-9 Diallo was the MVP of the McDonald’s All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic and chose Kansas over Kentucky, St. John’s and other programs.
His former school, Our Savior New American, is under review by the NCAA and is the same school that produced new St. John’s commit Kassoum Yakwe. Both are natives of Mali.
Self also said the Jayhawks will carry on with or without Diallo.
“We’ve talked about it a lot, but we’re not going to change how we play,” he told CBSSports.com. “There are no guarantees and everybody is doing their part in terms of looking into it [Diallo’s eligibility], but I believe that we’ll play with him so we’re going to prepare like that. But that doesn’t mean that we will. Sometimes what I believe is also what I hope. I think we’ll play the same way with or without Cheick. It was definitely force our hand to be different without him. The one most pleasant surprise though that we’ve had so far has been Carlton Bragg. So I feel confident that we’ve got enough punch up front, but we just won’t be very big.
Diallo is projected as the No. 11 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.
Photo: Getty Images
