[Rams Fan]

Kansas has imposed a four-game suspension for coach Bill Self and lead assistant Kurtis Townsend to begin the season in response to the NCAA's ongoing investigation into potential wrongdoing by its top two coaches, the school announced on Wednesday. The investigation into Kansas, which has yet to conclude as one of a handful of ongoing cases being adjudicated through the IARP process, began in 2017.

Both Self and Townsend were held off the road by Kansas during the June and July live recruiting period as the NCAA's probe into the program dragged on, a source told CBS Sports' Matt Norlander over the summer. That signaled perhaps the first self-imposed sanction from the school as part of a collaborative effort with the NCAA to finalize the investigation, though several other KU coaches were still on the road recruiting in that same span.

The suspensions for its top two coaches are just a small sliver of some of the self-imposed sanctions the school announced Wednesday as its case inches closer to a resolution. In addition to holding Self and Townsend off the road earlier this year, they have also included the following sanctions:


The reduction of four official visits during this academic year and in 2023-24.
The reduction of three total scholarships in Men's Basketball; to be distributed over the next three years.
The implementation of a six-week ban on recruiting communications, a six-week ban on unofficial visits and a thirteen-day reduction in the number of permissible recruiting days during the 2022-23 calendar year.
No official visits for 2022 Late Night in the Phog.

The NCAA's investigation into Kansas began in 2017 after the FBI investigation into bribery and corruption within college basketball ensnared the Jayhawks. KU received its Notice of Allegations from the NCAA in September 2019 that included three Level I violations -- the harshest in the NCAA rulebook -- which were tied to both recruiting improprieties, a lack of institutional control and a head coach responsibility charge levied against Self.

"We are hopeful these difficult self-imposed sanctions will assist in bringing the case to a conclusion," Kansas athletic director Travis Goff said in a statement. "Until then, we will continue to focus on supporting our outstanding Men's Basketball student-athletes and coaches. Assistant Coach Norm Roberts will serve as interim head coach during the first four games. Per confidentiality guidelines related to infraction cases, we are unable to comment in depth until there is full resolution of this matter."


Self and Townsend missing the first four games of the No. 5 Jayhawks' season would hold them out for contests against Nebraska Omaha on Nov. 7, North Dakota State on Nov. 10, No. 7 Duke in the Champions Classic on Nov. 15 and Southern Utah on Nov. 18. Their first game back in action will be Nov. 23 in the Battle 4 Atlantis against NC State.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...investigation/

Does a self-imposed suspension just mean they're doing this so the NCAA doesn't do anything? Auburn did something similar with Pearl.