Why not just take a chance and play Preston anyway? Isn't our season basically toast without him? #14 is unlikely, as is a Natty obviously.

What's the downside? We get wins vacated? So what? I don't think it would give Self a black eye. The college basketball world would see that the NCAA has had plenty of time and I would imagine would hardly blame Self for this whole thing. He did everything the right way, did everything he could, and now the NCAA is letting him hang by his balls.

Seriously. Screw it, Bill. Free Billy. Who knows, maybe he's eligible after all anyway and it's a gamble worth taking!

@chriz

Nothing personal but I am glad you are not KU’s coach. Vacated wins have lots of consequences and all of them are bad. Starting with a long lasting black eye for the program and the school, huge ammo for coaches recruiting against KU, ending the current longest NCAA attendance streak, ending KU’s Conference Title streak, letting UNC overtake KU in all time wins and most importantly, placing a black mark on Coach Self’s legacy. No self-respecting coach would ever knowingly consider such a move, least of all Coach Self, no way, no how, no ma’am.

About the only thing I can think to say to this is WOW. - -umm , no thanks , I ( We - KU - -think we shall pass on this idea - -& continue to wait and do it the right way. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

Yeah but I would say this isn't a matter of doing things the wrong way. It's a matter of playing the percentages. Unless I'm missing something, he's eligible to play. The NCAA hasn't said he's ineligible. Kansas is holding him out based on the chance that he might NOT be eligible.

But what if he has been this whole time and the price has been paid? I would think that's the likelihood and that he's MORE than paid his time. The only reason he's not playing now is the NCAA dragging their feet.

@chriz You said, "But what if he has been this whole time and the price has been paid? I would think that’s the likelihood and that he’s MORE than paid his time. The only reason he’s not playing now is the NCAA dragging their feet."

I understand the sentiment.

But look at this way. If there are 10 donuts lined up. They all look really good. But you know one is poison and will kill you. And two others will make you throw up, do you take the chance and just grab one and eat it? Sure, you have 70% odds of being right, but the risk/reward isn't there.

Couple that with the fact that Self and KU have the info. And they are not willing to risk it now. Meaning they know more about the donuts than you would in the scenario I'm suggesting.

But we all get your frustration. It's months of this baloney.

@chriz The risk of them deciding he is not eligible outweighs by far any benefit from him playing. It would not just be forfeiting games in which he played. Knowingly playing an ineligible player leads to charges against the school for failing to monitor the bb program and ensure compliance, and could subject the coaching staff to major sanctions. As it is, unless there is KU involvement in Billy's shenanigans, the school and program are free from sanctionxiety.

We could not argue we had no reason to suspect he was ineligible since we reported it ourselves, and you can be damned sure there is no way the NCAA would let us get away with it by ruling he has been eligible all along. (I can see it now: "The questioned player was permanently ineligible because he used the plumbing in a coach's house on a recruiting trip, which is an impermissible benefit.")

Hopefully Sean Miller got that bad donut!😂

uhhh...no, let's don't do that.

Well I don't believe I'll ever grab a donut again without thinking twice.... Could be a terrific dietary plan

cragarhawk said:

Well I don't believe I'll ever grab a donut again without thinking twice.... Could be a terrific dietary plan

Krispy Kreme will never be the same. Watching those donuts coming down the line knowing a few of them are gon get cha

@chriz

I'm sure Billy feels slighted by the situation. Who wouldn't if your innocent as his mother is claiming.

BeddieKU23 said:

cragarhawk said:

Well I don't believe I'll ever grab a donut again without thinking twice.... Could be a terrific dietary plan

Krispy Kreme will never be the same. Watching those donuts coming down the line knowing a few of them are gon get cha

But I love Krispy Kreme lol - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@chriz I've had the same thoughts during this process. However, will he help us that much? Not sure. I doubt he would put us over the top and make us championship contenders. Hard to put a finger on why I stated that, but I just haven't seen too many of our freshman have the kind of impact it takes to win a championship.

@BeddieKU23 @cragarhawk @HighEliteMajor

"They all poison!"

(Apologies for linguistic appropriation.)

@mayjay OMG>> I just broke out laughing on a phone call reading that ..LOLOLOL....Now, THAT was funny...

If you have a severe peanut allergy it is very much like the donut example. You donut make assumptions. Assumptions make you dead.

Ya know - I too would like to have a couple of extra bodies on the bench. But, has anyone noticed that we're 12-3, ranked #12 in the country and are generally doing pretty well? How about we forget about people that we may never see in a KU uniform and just enjoy the team we have. They are plenty capable of beating the crap out of anyone on any given night.

@nuleafjhawk ... and, as composed, they are capable of winning 6 in a row come March.

HighEliteMajor said:

If there are 10 donuts lined up. They all look really good. But you know one is poison and will kill you. And two others will make you throw up, do you take the chance and just grab one and eat it? Sure, you have 70% odds of being right, but the risk/reward isn't there.

Nice analogy. And to finish it... @chriz just stated that he has reached starvation and is ready to take the risk because otherwise, he'll die anyways. That is how he feels at this moment.

And the many posts from others challenging @chriz show those fans do not quite feel as starved.

Personally.. I'll never feel starved from this Billy situation. He clearly messed up, even though we don't know the whole story. Even if the car was legit, it should have been transparent and known prior to his "accident." And if it was legit, tracing the background for needed documentation should be easy and quick.

It's just a bad situation right now. I hope Billy, his mom, fans and administration focus on being positive, especially towards each other. The "damage" from this is self-inflicted. Not just from Billy making a mistake, but everything happening after that if it created friction with Billy, his mom and the fans, and maybe even other players. We should use this struggle to get tighter with each other.

Struggle is an opportunity to make things better!

@HighEliteMajor I don't think they can win 6 in a row as composed. I wouldn't be surprised if someone went down to an injury before then anyway. Especially Dok who was out last year for a wrist and this year for a back.

Don't get me wrong, and I realize I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth a little, but I have a lot of faith in Bill to pull off a miracle. With these guys, in my mind, getting to the Elite Eight would be a miracle.

I like the donut comparison though. What I'd add to it is that we're gonna die of starvation if we don't eat something. We won't be Big XII champs, won't win a Big XII tourney, and won't get far in the Big Dance. This will be a very disappointing year as it is. Yeah we beat a young Kentucky team early and we looked good against some chumps in other games, but we've lost 3 home games, two at Allen, and most everyone knows that a high zone defense is our kryptonite.

I know it's a stretch. I just wonder how much we have to gain by playing it safe with Billy. (And, conversely, how much we have to gain by rolling the dice.)

@HighEliteMajor as far as capable I couldn't argue. It's possible. But I have to think it's not highly probably when you consider the competition particularly sweet 16 and beyond. It's fair to assume they would all be top 20 opponents. Which we are what 2-2 vs thus far? 2 of the L's being in our own building which is odd and probably an anomaly as it were. However, it could also suggest this group has the recipe for post season success considering they have won against top 20 on the road and neutral both. Will be interesting to see

@nuleafjhawk

So far... we are using the two missing post players as a crutch... and we have made our team identity as "the Jayhawks missing two crucial bigs."

The first thing we need to do is STOP using this situation as a crutch. It's just an excuse to let our guards off the hook for not guarding.

For those fans that think we will suddenly become the best team in America because we have post depth.... you are in for a HUGE letdown!

I know, I know... if we had more depth... blah blah blah.

I know our fans largely hate WSU, for several reasons. I try to catch their games when possible because I love basketball. And I love their hustle. They don't have McD's AAs. They don't need them. Their defense is starting to turn it up and they look like a pack of hyenas ripping apart a large animal in the Serengeti.

To get a proper perspective.... take a watch or your smartphone and TIME the gap of time between when Shocker players skid on the floor, diving for a ball. Then do it for Kansas. Let me know what you find. I already know the answer. Maybe our guys just don't want to risk getting hurt because it might kill their NBA hopes.... I don't know. Or maybe they just have an elitist attitude. One thing I know for sure.... if we play at this intensity level in Morgantown, they will beat us by 30 or so. And this year, WVU won't let down in AFH.

Unless we have some guys step up, just go ahead and count both games with WVU as losses.

BTW: I hope we don't have either of these two new bigs in the games against WVU. We will need at least 4 guards in that game all the time!

@drgnslayr This is what I've called OAD drama. The Preston drama is sickening. I rather I never heard of him. That's different than the Wiggins drama. Good kid, lots of national distractions. Kind of the same as Cliff. A bit like Diallo. JJ, though, was about perfect, but for the car/female issue (which is a bit different). Of course, non-OADs can have the same stuff go on. But the difference is that we expect immediate impact from presumed OADs, and their impact is presumed to be great, and lost games come in the player's only season.

As mentioned, I wish I'd never heard of Preston. If he helps us to a national title, my opinion will have been changed. I'll happily be excited for him to play nonetheless prior to March. I very much enjoyed the perfect OAD (JJ), but that seems the exception.

@drgnslayr "For those fans that think we will suddenly become the best team in America because we have post depth… you are in for a HUGE letdown!"

AMEN
AMEN
AMEN
&
AMEN

drgnslayr said:

@nuleafjhawk

So far... we are using the two missing post players as a crutch... and we have made our team identity as "the Jayhawks missing two crucial bigs."

The first thing we need to do is STOP using this situation as a crutch. It's just an excuse to let our guards off the hook for not guarding.

For those fans that think we will suddenly become the best team in America because we have post depth.... you are in for a HUGE letdown!

I know, I know... if we had more depth... blah blah blah.

I know our fans largely hate WSU, for several reasons. I try to catch their games when possible because I love basketball. And I love their hustle. They don't have McD's AAs. They don't need them. Their defense is starting to turn it up and they look like a pack of hyenas ripping apart a large animal in the Serengeti.

To get a proper perspective.... take a watch or your smartphone and TIME the gap of time between when Shocker players skid on the floor, diving for a ball. Then do it for Kansas. Let me know what you find. I already know the answer. Maybe our guys just don't want to risk getting hurt because it might kill their NBA hopes.... I don't know. Or maybe they just have an elitist attitude. One thing I know for sure.... if we play at this intensity level in Morgantown, they will beat us by 30 or so. And this year, WVU won't let down in AFH.

Unless we have some guys step up, just go ahead and count both games with WVU as losses.

BTW: I hope we don't have either of these two new bigs in the games against WVU. We will need at least 4 guards in that game all the time!

For reference, Wichita State plays TEN yes ten players at least 14 minutes a game. Even Shamet their best player plays under 30. Wichita State is deep, and has been deep ever since Marsha got there. It's what allows them to go hard defensively every single possession.

KU doesn't even have 10 eligible players. It matters.

@BShark WSU is good and deep, but their conference sucks!

Crimsonorblue22 said:

@BShark WSU is good and deep, but their conference sucks!

Agree.

My point was just that it's easier to go hard when you play a bunch of guys. Whereas Devonte barely even gets a breather.

@BShark agree

@dylans I saw what you did there !

@HighEliteMajor maybe as long as we aren't effectively pressured on the outside.

Because Silvio is almost cleared

What about Preston?

Still very unclear

Fran, blah blah

@Crimsonorblue22

How did we get so lucky and got Fran?

@JayHawkFanToo My thoughts exactly.

!0_1515556957509_image.jpeg ↗

Hmm....why isn't this being expedited? I wonder...

Edit sorry missed your post @Statmachine

So what's his beef with KU?

That bonus is no longer in his contract.

I assumed it was more of a competitive thing, not a vendetta against KU. But I'm not above taking the bait on a conspiracy theory, especially with the crooked NCAA

Great point from Jesse Newell here...

"It’s easiest to spot when breaking KU’s defense down into splits.

▪ Texas: 1.00 points per possession first half vs. KU, 1.33 PPP second half

▪ Texas Tech 1.19 PPP first half, 1.20 PPP second half

▪ TCU 0.92 PPP first half, 1.39 PPP second half

▪ Iowa State 0.97 PPP first half, 1.05 PPP second half"

freebilly #freesilvio

This team can defend when they aren't tired!

@chriz We all share your frustration. 4+1 isnt Self ball. Billy (Preston) is sitting because of his/mom/agent’s mistake with that godforsaken POS Charger (sorry, I’m a Mopar guy who thinks only real Charger is the iconic ‘68-70, current 4dr shld nvr been named Charger).

And so Billy (Self) is making sure any outside party’s mistake does not tarnish KU, himSelf, etc, which as the Streak can attest to: is bigger than any 1 person. The biggest taint on John Calpari is his vacated seasons at UMass and Memphis. As much as I find Cal’s on camera persona entertaining, I don’t want Self going down that path. There is a core genuineness and integrity to Self that is appreciated across the sport.

Billy Preston, like Cliff, Diallo, Bragg, CJGile, JRGiddens...is expendable, but hopefully not...

HighEliteMajor said:

"I very much enjoyed the perfect OAD (JJ), but that seems the exception."

JJ was pretty close to being the perfect OAD. In my opinion, the actual perfect OAD was Carmelo Anthony. I didn't like him, don't like Syracuse, don't even really like the color orange - but - he came in, did was he was hyped up to do, won a National Championship for his team and then he was down the road.

Adios C.A. - you're gone, but you won us a title so it's OK.

That, to me, is a perfect OAD.

Or Anthony Davis. Two perfect OADs, both playing against us in the title game. Damn.