From The Couch – Billy Preston Admits the KU Basketball Staff Knew About Payments From Adidas
Former University of Kansas basketball player Billy Preston appeared on an ESPN 30 for 30 podcast this week talking about his recruitment and the NCAA investigation into the Kansas basketball program. The biggest news to come out of the podcast is that Preston and his mother admitted that the basketball staff at Kansas, including head coach Bill Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend, not only knew about the payments that players such as Preston received from Adidas, but instigated the entire process of setting up meetings between the players and Adidas representatives. Kansas has denied knowing about the payments and any wrongdoing, which anyone with an ounce of common sense knows is a blatant lie. Read on…
“Former Kansas men’s basketball forward Billy Preston, who never played in a regular-season game with the Jayhawks due to an ongoing NCAA investigation into his eligibility, said he believes KU staff had knowledge of payments made by Adidas representatives to Preston’s mother, Nicole Player.”…Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 4/20/2023
JM: In perhaps the least surprising news you might ever hear, Preston says what anyone with at least half a brain has always suspected.
“While speaking on ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast The Bag Game this week, Preston was asked if the Kansas staff knew that Adidas associate T.J. Gassnola, who said during a 2018 trial stemming from an FBI investigation into college basketball corruption that he paid around $89,000 to Player, was paying his family money. Preston, who was supposed to begin his collegiate career in 2017, said that the staff did indeed know.”…Madison Williams, SI.com, 4/20/23
JM: Gassnola testified that the Kansas coaching staff was unaware of the payments to Preston (and likely other players.) That never made a bit of sense to me, but it is the reason that the University of Kansas considers itself the “victim” in this case. What a joke.
“They wasn’t blind to that. They weren’t blind to that at all.”…Billy Preston, ESPN 30 for 30 Podcast
JM: Shocker. Podcast host Paula Lavigne asked Preston directly if he knew about the payments to Nicole Player (his mother) or “other people.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Preston said, repeating the word “yeah” four more times. “They wasn’t blind to that. They weren’t blind to that at all.”
“In the podcast, Preston admitted he didn’t like the school using the word “victim” because Kansas was part of the reason he met with Adidas in the first place.”……Madison Williams, SI.com, 4/2
JM: How can Kansas basketball be the “victim” when they are the ones who proactively set everything up? Answer: they aren’t the “victims” and never have been.
“They ain’t no victim; they knew what was going on, too. They put the whole thing together. They set it up. Like, KU was the whole reason we even met.”…Billy Preston, ESPN 30 for 30 Podcast
JM: I hope with Preston’s account of what happened opens the floodgates and other ex-players come forward with their stories. But with the investigation wrapping up, it may be too little too late.
“Victim? If anybody was a victim it was the family that Adidas preyed on. We left the school and weathered the storm and never one time did I come out and say we’re victims. When the reality is, if anybody is a victim here, we’re victims of a corrupt system. We’re a victim of college corruption, corruption that has gone on for decades before us and will continue to go on decades after us.”…Nicole Player (Billy Preston’s mother), ESPN 30 for 30 Podcast
JM: I don’t really see any “victims” in this. It’s hard to call yourself a victim when you receive almost $100,000 under the table along with a car and who knows what else. I say the real “victims” are schools that weren’t part of the sneaker company scheme of funneling the top high school players in the country to the blue blood programs.
“The Independent Accountability Review Process, created by the NCAA in 2019 as an “off-ramp” for complex and contentious rules infraction cases, has just two jobs left before being shut down: handing down rulings to Kansas and LSU.”…Pat Forde, SI.com, 4/19/23
JM: Would they get to it already? Sheesh, this has taken far too long.
“Multiple sources told Sports Illustrated that both schools have had their hearings in front of the Independent Resolution Panel. Kansas went before the IRP for three days last weekend, sources said, while LSU’s hearing was in February. If timelines from previous cases hold, with roughly four months between hearing and ruling, LSU’s case could wrap in late spring or early summer, while Kansas’ could conclude by late summer.
Regardless, both schools should be apprised of sanctions—if there are any—before the 2023–24 seasons begin for their affected sports. (Football and men’s basketball for LSU, only men’s basketball for Kansas.) There is no appeal process within the IARP, so those rulings will be final.”…Pat Forde, SI.com, 4/19/23
JM: At least it looks like a final ruling will come down prior to the start of the basketball season this fall. I hope KU gets what they deserve, but I’m not holding my breath.
