KANSAS CITY — There was a lot for Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark to address Tuesday, as he spoke at the start of the league’s media days for basketball.
Yormark spoke to what’s happening with conference realignment, while also discussing the Big 12’s desire to keep its basketball tournaments in Kansas City for the foreseeable future.
Specific to the men’s side of things, Yormark was asked about what happens to the money Kansas Athletics received from the 2018 NCAA tournament — which included a Four Four run for head coach Bill Self and those Jayhawks that must be vacated as part of the penalties from an infractions case that recently released its ruling.
But while Yormark wasn’t able shed much light on what might happen to the disbursement, he did have an opinion on the case’s resolution. He addressed whether he thought it was fair. And it was clear he supported the Kansas men’s basketball program.
“I’m not familiar with that dynamic, as far as the economics there,” Yormark said. “All I can say — it was a campus issue. I think the program’s been vindicated, and I think the outcome was a fair one for all. I’m sure they’re happy with it. But the economics and the financials, I’m not aware of.”
Yormark wasn’t wrong, when he ventured to guess that those at Kansas are happy with the decision. Jayhawks athletic director Travis Goff said last Wednesday, when the ruling was released, was a good day for KU. Soon after Goff did, at a press conference, Self reiterated that it was a good day for Kansas basketball.
According to a KU spokesperson, the share Kansas received from the 2018 NCAA tournament will be returned. Requests for comment to the NCAA and Independent Accountability Resolution Process, which is where the case ended up being handled, were then made by The Topeka Capital-Journal regarding where the funds go and in what timeframe it has to be returned. Both the NCAA and IARP responded.
Meghan Durham Wright, an associate director of communications with the NCAA, said in an email that generally speaking fines in the infractions process “go to the NCAA Student Assistance Fund, which is administered by conference offices and is intended to help Division I college athletes with needs that arise during college that fall outside of expenses covered by traditional scholarships.” Considering Kansas’ case was handled by an independent panel, case-specific questions were then referred to Amy Hanna — a communications representative for the IARP. Hanna had previously provided a statement, prior to the referral to her.
“The financial penalty assessed under the penalty guidelines was the fine based on the percentage of total budget for the men’s basketball program ($5000 plus 1%) as noted in the NCAA penalty matrix for a Level II-Standard case,” the IARP statement read. “The Independent Resolution Panel did not assess an additional fine based on participation in NCAA championship and other postseason contests in which an ineligible student-athlete competed.”
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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark: Kansas basketball vindicated
