Defense Attorney Claims Bill Self Requested The Payment For Silvio De Sousa

So it’s worth noting that this was said in closing testimony. This wasn’t in evidence or anything like that. But, at the same time Jim Gatto’s attorney said that assistant coach Kurtis Townsend and more importantly Kansas head  coach Bill Self requested Adidas to make the payment for Silvio De Sousa to join the Jayhawks.

If this is proven true then all I know is Bill Self is in a whole world of trouble in terms of the NCAA. We always wondered what this trial would bring and ultimately it was nothing for the first few days. But, lately we had the Zion Williamson news come out that he apparently asked for benefits to go to Kansas and then committed to Duke. Whether that leads to eligibility questions is still up in the air. But, it also led to a whole lot of questions about what Bill Self knew and didn’t know.

It started with TJ Gassnola testifying that Bill Self wasn’t aware of Adidas paying players. But then there were text messages shown that could contradict that and now we have the closing statement by a defense attorney saying not only did Self know, he asked for it.

“The evidence, I submit, shows that Kansas’ head coach knew of and asked for a payment to be made to Silvio De Sousa’s handler,” Schachter told the jury. “More than that, Coach Self requested just the kind of help that Mr. Gassnola arranged as a condition for Coach Self to permit Adidas to continue their sponsorship agreement with the University of Kansas.”

The next question is when does the NCAA get involved here? Remember, the new rule allows them to use this to apply rules violations. They don’t have to do their own investigation anymore. Granted, I can almost guarantee there will be an NCAA investigation into Kansas (among other schools), it’s worth asking if there’s enough evidence for the NCAA to go after Self right away depending on what the court rules.

We already saw one Hall of Famer lose his job in Rick Pitino during this whole ordeal. Could we actually see another? It’s going to take a lot for Kansas to move on from Bill Self, because why wouldn’t it? They need to wait and see first what the court rules and then what the NCAA plans to do. You obviously force the NCAA’s hand here. But, for the time being it’s worth keeping an eye on. The season is less than 3 weeks away and we have eligibility questions at national title contenders.