LAWRENCE, Kansas – Kansas coach Bill Self said Wednesday it "wasn't news" that his school had been subpoenaed in the ongoing investigation into college basketball.
Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday that Kansas "tacitly" admitted to being subpoenaed in the federal probe that has exposed the inner workings of how business gets done in college basketball.
That was after Yahoo reported Friday that Maryland received multiple subpoenas, one regarding information about current KU forward Silvio De Sousa.
Federal documents allege Adidas officials spoke to a De Sousa guardian about a $20,000 payment to get "out from under" a financial deal with a rival shoe company.
De Sousa was considered a heavy favorite to attend Maryland, an Under Armour school, Yahoo reported. Kansas is considered an Adidas flagship school.
KU's current $190 million, 14-year deal with the apparel company is reportedly the third-largest in the country.
If De Sousa or those acting in his interest took money to steer him to Kansas, the rising sophomore could potentially be declared ineligible.
Self said he is not worried about De Sousa's eligibility "at this time."
"The bottom line is that is something that has to play out," Self said. "As much as I would like to say he's positively this or that, I can't do that. There has been no indication yet, that we would have a serious problem with that. That doesn't mean something couldn't come up that we're not aware of."
De Sousa, an Angola native, averaged 4 points and 3.7 rebounds in 20 games after reclassifying and being declared eligible halfway through the season.
"There were questions about Silvio's amateurism," not related to the current investigation, Self said. "Not that there was anything wrong with it but when a kid transfers schools, when he's an international kid, there's a lot of things that triggers things."
In that case, any win he played in – including Kansas' Final Four run – could theoretically be vacated.
"Nobody at this stage has given us any information that he could be in jeopardy at this stage," Self told a group of reporters following the introductory press conference of new AD Jeff Long. on Wednesday.
Asked for a reaction to the Yahoo report, Self said, "I don't have one. The word on the subpoena that was reported by, I guess, Yahoo wasn't news. That was something that was part of our statement months [ago]."
Self was supposedly referring to KU's assertion it was a "victim" in an April indictment handed down by the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York.
In the indictment the mother of former Kansas player Billy Preston was allegedly given at least $90,000 from an Adidas executive and an AAU coach affiliated with adidas.
That indictment also included the allegations about De Sousa. De Sousa's guardian told the Kansas City Star he denied taking payments.
The Long press conference was supposed to be about Kansas football. Long was a first-class, available, experienced athletic director hired to drive Jayhawks' football out of a rather deep ditch.
Basketball can run itself. At least that's been the assertion here for years.
If it were only that easy. Jeff Long is a fundraiser. Jeff Long can hire football coaches (see: Dave Wannstedt, Bobby Petrino and Bret Bielema).
We were reminded again this week that all roads in this town lead to basketball. Perhaps the biggest reason Long was able to get $1.5 million per year guaranteed is basketball.
Kansas officials said Wednesday it was their idea to add language to Long's deal extending his contract if football, basketball, women's basketball or women's volleyball are sanctioned by the Big 12, NCAA, federal or state entities.
Long's contract would be extended by the number of years those sports are penalized.
"I will say I'm very confident we're going to work through this process and we're going to be just fine," Long said of the basketball situation. "That is something I certainly considered when I took the job."
Self said the federal probe was one of the first subjects Long brought up when the two first met.
"I'm actually glad [he] asked me because how could anybody be serious about a job that wouldn't ask that?" Self said. "To me that was a sign of experience … knowing what potential obstacle could be out there."