In A Surprise To No One, Kansas Appears To Confirm Its Been Subpoenaed By The FBI

[Yahoo] – The University of Kansas tacitly acknowledged that it has been subpoenaed by the federal government in the ongoing federal basketball investigation, according to a recent response to a public records request.

In an email to Yahoo Sports in response to a Kansas Open Records Act request, the school replied to a request for “any subpoenas received by (University of) Kansas… in relation to the ongoing federal investigation of college basketball” by stating it “has public records that are responsive to your request.” The university also stated it is “cooperating with the government inquiry.”

The university denied Yahoo’s April request for copies of subpoenas, citing the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act and saying their release would “constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Multiple lawyers and document experts contacted by Yahoo Sports confirmed that the language used by the university is an acknowledgement of the school being subpoenaed by the federal government.

And to a surprise of no one, Kansas appears to officially confirm that its been subpoenaed by the FBI in regards to the investigation into college basketball. This comes about a week after Maryland confirms it was subpoenaed, both of which are tied to Silvio De Sousa.

De Sousa was always viewed as a strong Maryland lean. Maryland of course is an Under Armour school and De Sousa played for an Under Armour AAU program and an Under Armour high school team. Throw in the fact that during this dumb investigation it was alleged that his guardian told Adidas they needed $20,000 to repay Under Armour back in order to commit to Kansas it’s not a surprise to see Kansas here.

Then there’s a second charge revolving around Billy Preston. Preston was the 5-star recruit, who never played for Kansas this year after being involved in a single car accident, in which there were questions about the car. He eventually withdrew from the school and then played over in Europe before signing a two-way deal with Cleveland this offseason.

When the original documents were released it was alleged that Preston’s mother received at least $90,000 from Adidas in order to secure a commitment from Preston. Kansas of course is the flagship program for Adidas.

I’m going to say this in every blog about this dumbass investigation, because it’s worth repeating.

Or, you know, we could look at changing what amateurism actually is and stop wasting time with this dumb investigation. This isn’t telling us anything new, especially if you’ve been around college basketball. Hell, this isn’t even just a college basketball thing, you really don’t think college football is dealing with this? Ultimately, this is a competition and it comes down to wins and losses. Coaches will do anything to keep their livelihood and that means players have a market. Let them get paid their market value.

This doesn’t even have to come from the school nor should it. There’s too much with Title IX to get involved with that. But, if a booster wants to pay a player to use his name, image and likeness on a billboard, let them. Let them make the mistake if it doesn’t work out. Again, I never understand why we care if someone gets paid? It hurts literally no one.

There will continue to be nothing more hypocritical that pisses me off more than this.:

In response to a request for comment Monday, a University of Kansas spokesman referred Yahoo Sports to an earlier statement regarding the indictment that identifies Kansas as victim and expresses confidence that the school’s staff follows the rules.

Are you fucking kidding me? Imagine thinking Kansas is the victim here. That’s ultimately the major problem here. The investigation is looking at it this way with the schools being the victims. That’s simply not true. It’s why the NCAA needs a complete overhaul in terms of amateurism and I’m talking more than whatever Condi Rice and her group thinks. Let’s end this madness.