Big 12 Basketball

Reigning national player of the year Zach Edey can add another accolade to his lengthy list of achievements.

Per ESPN, the Purdue star big man has been named to the AP preseason All-America team, and he was this year's lone unanimous selection. Edey is joined by Kansas center Hunter Dickinson, Marquette guard Tyler Kolek, Duke big man Kyle Filipowski and North Carolina forward Armando Bacot.

Edey is coming off a dominant 2022-23 season, in which he averaged 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 60.7 percent from the field. He should be even more motivated this season after the Boilermakers became just the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament with their upset loss to Farleigh Dickinson this past spring.

The 7'4", 300-pound center tested the NBA draft waters before he decided to return to Purdue for his senior season. He made his decision after receiving advice from his mother and his agent, who told him to do what would make him happy.

"It was a no-brainer that I'd come back to Purdue at that point," Edey said. "I get to come back to great teammates, a university that loves me, to compete for every championship that's out there. That's something you don't get very often and something I didn't want to pass up."

Dickinson is undoubtedly the most impactful transfer this season, as he helped Kansas earn the No. 1 spot in the preseason AP Poll. He averaged 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds last season while starring at Michigan.

"From a shooting, aggressiveness, passing, playing out of doubles, he probably is as advanced as anybody I've ever been around, and he is without question the most equipped to have a big year for a first-year player," Kansas head coach Bill Self said of Dickinson.

Kolek is the reigning Big East player of the year and averaged 12.9 points, 7.5 assists and 4.1 rebounds last season for Marquette. Bacot averaged a double-double for the second straight season, posting 13.7 points and 10.1 rebounds for UNC. Both he and Kolek earned third-team All-America honors for their efforts.

Filipowski became the fourth player in ACC history to earn rookie of the year and conference tournament MVP honors in the same season. He led all freshmen with 16 double-doubles and averaged 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds for Duke, which is ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP Poll.

The NCAA charged the Kansas men's basketball team with five Level 1 violations (the most serious NCAA infraction) amid the FBI's investigation into bribery in college basketball, but the organization's Independent Accountability Review Process (IARP) downgraded the severity of those allegations, meaning the program avoids serious penalties such as a postseason ban.

Despite that downgrade, longtime KU head coach and two-time national champion Bill Self believes his "reputation has been tarnished immensely," as told to ESPN's Myron Medcalf at Big 12 media day on Wednesday

"But the whole thing is we knew right from the jump what we had done and what we had not done," Self said. "The bottom line is I'm proud of how we conducted our business. At the end of the day, it was a long blip, but it was still a blip in the big scheme of things."

Per Carlos Silva Jr. of the Topeka Capital-Journal, the downgrades made this situation a "Level II case." As such, a postseason ban was off the table, and Kansas instead received a three-year probation.

Tod Palmer of KSHB 41 Kansas City summarized the allegations against KU, leading to the NCAA's initial Level I violation decision.

"KU received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA in September 2019 based on evidence that several former Adidas representatives "provided impermissible benefits to and had impermissible recruiting contacts" with prospective student-athletes on behalf of the men's basketball program and Self.

"The allegations against Self and the basketball program center around phone calls placed to and money paid to former Jayhawks basketball players, including Billy Preston and Silvio De Sousa, during the recruiting process."

KU self-imposed some penalties, including a four-game suspension for Self and assistant Kurtis Townsend to start the 2022-23 season.

The IARP panel also ruled that KU had to vacate 15 wins (every victory De Sousa played in) and its Final Four appearance from the 2017-18 season. KU lost to eventual champion Villanova in the national semifinal.

With the decision levied, Kansas can now look ahead to this season, which sees the Jayhawks sitting first in the preseason poll. KU opens up the campaign on Nov. 6 versus NC Central.

Kansas Jayhawks big man transfer Hunter Dickinson has made it no secret that he's fully embracing his new team's position at the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press' men's basketball preseason poll.

"I like it. I like people knowing it because I want them to know we're better than them," the senior told ESPN's Myron Medcalf during Big 12 media day on Wednesday. "And they're coming in here to try to upset us."

The 7'2" Dickinson is a fantastic addition for the Jayhawks from Michigan, where he just averaged 18.5 points on 56.0 percent shooting and 9.0 rebounds per game. Dickinson also made 42.1 percent of his three-pointers.

Last year's KU team earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament but fell short to No. 8 Arkansas in the second round. This year's squad returns their assist and steals leader (Dajuan Harris Jr.) and their second-leading rebounder (Kevin McCullar Jr.). McCullar, K.J. Adams Jr. and Harris were also the third, fourth and fifth-leading scorers on the team.

Adding Dickinson to the mix certainly makes KU a national championship contender once again, although it won't be easy to win it all with some formidable foes such as Duke, UConn and Houston lurking, among others.

For now, though, it seems Dickinson's confidence is warranted given Kansas' stacked roster. The Jayhawks are also bringing in four 4-star recruits, including Elmarko Jackson, ranked 20th on 247Sports' list of the best class of 2023 players.

KU will kick the season off on Nov. 6 versus North Carolina Central.

Oklahoma State men's basketball coach Mike Boynton believes the team is owed an apology by the NCAA after other schools, most recently Kansas, failed to receive similar discipline in connection to the FBI's corruption investigation in 2017.

"My message was always, with what they are saying now, is that they did the wrong thing to us," Boynton told ESPN's Myron Medcalf. "My only issue at this point is I still haven't heard anybody call and say, 'You know what? We screwed up.' Accountability is a big deal to me. It's something I preach in our program every day.

"If somebody would call and just say, 'You know what, Coach? I get it. We did the wrong thing. That shouldn't have happened. We can't change it but I want you to at least know we acknowledge that.' Because that's all that can be done at this point."

The Cowboys were banned from the 2022 NCAA tournament due to violations by then-assistant coach Lamont Evans.

Kansas was among the other programs implicated in the FBI's probe.

Head coach Bill Self and assistant Kurtis Townsend were suspended for the first four games of the 2022-23 season, a punishment that was self-imposed by the school. The Jayhawks otherwise avoided more significant consequences, though.

They were facing five potential Level I violations, the most serious on the scale, but saw them downgraded by the Independent Resolution Panel. As a result, that effectively closes the book on Kansas.

Arizona and LSU both avoided the worst-case scenario when their final rulings were handed down as well.

Boynton told Medcalf the players at Kansas, LSU and Arizona shouldn't be punished for violations that predated their tenures and ones in which they weren't directly involved. He said that same treatment should've been afforded to his team.

Two decades into his career as the head basketball coach at the University of Kansas, Bill Self has had an opportunity to coach a number of elite-level players, including several lottery picks.

However, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer believes that Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson may be among the best of the bunch, telling ESPN's Myron Medcalf that the seven-footer is "the best offensive big man I've ever had."

Dickinson, 22, is joining the Jayhawks after spending the first three seasons of his collegiate career in Ann Arbor, where he quickly became one of the Wolverines' best players. He was twice named a First-Team All-Big 10 selection and also made the All-Defensive team in 2022.

During his final season with Michigan, he averaged 18.5 points per game to go along with nine rebounds on a career-high 42.1 percent shooting from three-point range.

Despite all those accolades, Self's statement still comes as a bit of a shock considering that he coached reigning NBA MVP and former No. 3 overall pick Joel Embiid during the 2013-14 season.

In his lone season with the Jayhawks, Embiid averaged 11.2 points per game to go along with 8.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 2.6 blocks in 23.1 minutes per game. He was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and Second-team All-Big 12.

Unfortunately, a stress fracture in his back cut his lone collegiate season short and Embiid wasn't able to play in the Big 12 or NCAA Tournament.

So, Dickinson will have plenty to live up to as he attempts to lead Kansas back to another national title.

The final ruling stemming from the FBI's probe into college basketball was handed down, and the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team avoided significant penalties.

Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated reported the NCAA's Independent Accountability Review Process (IARP) announced its decision regarding the investigation into the Jayhawks on Wednesday, and there will be no postseason ban for the team or a show-cause penalty for head coach Bill Self.

The IARP downgraded five Level I allegations—which are the most significant—and decided this was a Level II case. Self was charged with a Level III violation and given no additional penalties after he was suspended four games during the 2022-23 campaign, while assistant coach Kurtis Townsend was given no additional penalties beyond his four-game suspension from last season, either.

Kansas didn't escape without any discipline, though, as it was given a three-year probation penalty.

What's more, its 2017-18 wins and Final Four appearance will be vacated:

Forde noted the IARP will now be shuttered, meaning Wednesday's ruling was its last. It was also the final pending investigation from the federal investigation of college basketball corruption, and only Oklahoma State was given a postseason ban of the schools under scrutiny.

Notably, Oklahoma State's case used standard NCAA proceedings and not the IARP.

This is a welcome development for Kansas, as it was initially charged with five Level I violations that included lack of institutional control. A postseason ban for the team as a whole and show-cause penalty for Self was seemingly on the table given the severity of the violations, but the Jayhawks can now move forward without having to worry about those possibilities.

Forde explained there were allegations that Adidas representatives funneled money to recruits in an effort to convince them to attend Kansas. Self and Townsend were also allegedly aware of such impermissible offers from Adidas representatives.

Yet Wednesday's ruling means arguably the top team in the country for the upcoming 2023-24 campaign can chase its second national championship in three years.

Kansas is No. 1 in early Top 25 rankings on both ESPN and CBS Sports thanks in large part to the addition of former Michigan All-American Hunter Dickinson to an already loaded roster. Losing the chance to reach and compete in the NCAA men's tournament for the upcoming season would have been quite the blow for the Jayhawks.

This ruling will likely also help with recruiting, as incoming players no longer have to worry about the possibility that they might miss out on the Big Dance if they choose Kansas because of the pending ruling.

While the Jayhawks were placed on probation, they are likely relieved about the overall news.

The Big 12's efforts to make itself into a basketball powerhouse have reportedly focused in on Gonzaga.

Seth Davis of The Messenger reported the Big 12 and Gonzaga have had "top-level discussions" about the school joining the conference. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is reportedly the driving force behind the potential move, as he's recently met with school presidents and athletic directors to pitch his vision.

Gonzaga has not had a football team since 1941, so its addition to the Big 12 would largely be centered on its men's basketball program.

The Bulldogs have not missed the NCAA tournament since Mark Few took over the program in 1999. They have reached the Final Four twice and are a 19-time champion of the West Coast Conference tournament and 22-time champion of the conference's regular season under Few.

While the legendary coach built his resume by winning games with players who did not receive Power Five offers, Gonzaga has increasingly become a player on the recruiting trail. Gonzaga has landed 5-star prospects Jalen Suggs, Chet Holmgren and Hunter Sallis in recent years. Suggs and Holmgren went on to become first-round NBA draft picks, while Sallis failed to make an impact before transferring to Wake Forest.

In past years, Gonzaga was seen as a Cinderella beating up on a weak conference before taking on the big boys come March. A move to the Big 12 would instantly give the Bulldogs program regular-season legitimacy and potentially open the road for more high-profile recruits to join the team.

The Big 12 will already add Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah starting in 2024.

Kansas State is making sure its basketball coaching is solidified through the remainder of the decade.

The University announced that it had extended head basketball coach Jerome Tang through the 2029-30 season. ESPN college basketball insider Jeff Borzello reported that the seven-year deal begins with Borzello making $3 million in 2023-24 and will increase by $100,000 each season following.

Tang was hired by the Wildcats in March 2022 after he had spent 19 seasons as an assistant coach at Baylor. He led Kansas State to a 26-10 record and an Elite Eight appearance at the 2023 NCAA Division-I Men's Basketball Tournament.

Tang's original deal ran through 2027-28 and had a maximum value of $2.6 million. The negotiations on a new contract had been worked through all Summer and now is finalized.

This is Tang's first head coaching gig but his work at Baylor is significant. He, alongside head coach Scott Drew, led the Bears to new heights, including a national championship in 2021 and 397 total wins.

He won the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year and was the runner-up for the AP National Coach of the year. The trip to the Elite Eight was the first since 2018 for the Wildcats and the third time they had reached that round in the 21st century.

The next step would be to reach the Final Four, which the program has not done since 1964, and then to win a National Championship, something no team in Kansas State Athletics history has ever done.

The Kansas men's basketball program has suspended Arterio Morris amid an investigation into a rape accusation that was reported to the university's police department, according to Shreyas Laddha of the Kansas City Star.

A Kansas athletics official told Laddha that while Morris was not named in the incident report, he "has been suspended from the program and we have no further comment."

The alleged incident took place on Aug. 26 at Kansas' McCarthy Hall, which houses the men's basketball players, among other male residents, and was reported the next day, according to the incident report.

Morris has not been arrested and a warrant hasn't been issued for his arrest.

"At this time, this case has not been presented to our office for charging consideration," the Douglas County District Attorney's office told Laddha.

Jayhawks men's basketball players Johnny Furphy and Elmarko Jackson were listed on the incident report as witnesses and Nick Timberlake is listed under "other." None of the players listed were involved in the alleged incident and are not under investigation, according to Laddha.

Morris transferred to Kansas this year after one season at Texas.

During his time at Texas, Morris received a misdemeanor assault charge for an alleged confrontation with an ex-girlfriend in June 2022. He was not suspended from the Texas men's basketball program and played the entire year, averaging 4.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 38 games while shooting 41.1 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from deep.

Kansas men's basketball head coach Bill Self released a statement regarding the incident when he announced the transfer of Morris in May:

We are aware of the charge that Arterio is facing in the State of Texas. In addition to working with our athletic department and campus administrators, we have also spoken at length with Arterio, his family, his former institution's University Student Affairs office and his former institution's Department of Athletics Compliance and Administration.

"Based on these discussions, we are comfortable welcoming Arterio to the University of Kansas and he is well aware of the high standards and expectations that come with being a member of the Kansas Men's Basketball program. We fully expect him to meet those daily.

The victim of the June 2022 incident filed an affidavit of non-prosecution in June of this year, requesting that charges be dismissed, but Denton County District Attorney's Office said it would continue to pursue charges.

Former West Virginia men's basketball head coach Bob Huggins entered a diversion program in the wake of his June arrest for driving under the influence, according to the Associated Press' John Raby.

John Lynch of WTRF in Wheeling, West Virginia, reported Tuesday that Huggins resolved his case by agreeing to the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition for first-time DUI offenders. In addition to the diversion program, his driver's license was suspended for 60 days. He also had to pay all court costs and will need to complete a 12.5-hour "alcohol highway safety school" class.

Huggins was arrested on June 16 in Pittsburgh. His sport utility vehicle was stopped in the middle of traffic, and one of the tires was almost completely shredded. Officers at the scene said he failed a field sobriety test and registered a .210 on a breathalyzer test.

The arrest happened more than a month after Huggins received a three-game suspension and saw his salary slashed by $1 million for using an anti-gay slur on a Cincinnati-based radio show.

On June 17, Huggins announced he was resigning as the Mountaineers' coach.

His daughter, Jacque, said on Facebook that the Hall of Famer told WVU president Gordon Gee and the university's board he was prepared to enter a rehab program for 60 days before resuming his coaching duties. School administrators allegedly "refused" the offer.

Huggins subsequently contested his resignation in July and claimed he didn't write the statement that was released by West Virginia. His lawyers said the message originated from his wife's email account. The university maintained it followed all of the proper channels regarding his departure and that his resignation was legitimate.

The Mountaineers promoted Josh Eilert to the role of interim head coach ahead of the 2023-24 season.