By SAM LANCE
It’s been a long six years, but the Kansas NCAA Infractions Case and IARP process is finally behind Bill Self and the Jayhawks.
Last Wednesday, the IARP ruled that Kansas committed no Level-1 violations. Instead, the Jayhawks were hit with a plethora of punishments, which most notably included 15 vacated wins and banners from the 2017-18 season, as well as the loss off three scholarship spots every season through 2025-26.
But with all of this now behind Kansas?
“It’s time to go for the throat,” Self said. “We went through four years of time where I don’t think we recruited a top-20 player. I mean, folks, we’ve gone through periods of time in our tenure here where we’re one of three or one of four [schools] with four of the best 15 players in the country every year.”
Per 247Sports, the highest recruit Kansas has landed since the infractions case began is Quentin Grimes (No. 13 in 2018). No other recruit since 2018 has landed in the top-20 besides Bryce Thompson and Elmarko Jackson, who both finished ranked right at No. 20.
For reference, Self had recruited seven top-20 players the previous five recruiting classes from 2013-2017, and five of those seven were ranked top-5 nationally.
“Fortunately for us, the guys that we recruited turned out to be better than those guys in many ways, whether it be Ochai [Agbaji], Christian [Braun] or Jalen [Wilson], or whoever,” Self said. “So I think the opportunity now to actually go for it, it’s back where it was prior to when all of this went down. And I’m really excited about that.”
Self has already hit the ground running in the class of 2024 by signing the No. 8 overall recruit in Flory Bidunga, and two top-50 guards in Labaron Philon and Rakease Passmore.
Kansas is also still in the mix with top 2024 names like Dylan Harper and Zoom Diallo.
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