Report: Kansas, LSU complete NCAA infraction hearings regarding FBI investigation

Kansas and LSU have had their respective hearings regarding the FBI investigation into college basketball, Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde reported. The next step will be to get rulings on both — although, it might take a while.

Kansas had its hearing earlier this week in front of the Independent Resolution Panel, Forde reported, while LSU met with the IRP in February. Forde also reported a potential timeline for potential resolutions. LSU could reach the finish line by late spring or early summer and Kansas could do so by late summer.

Kansas and LSU are the last two programs who need to receive rulings regarding the FB investigation. NC State, Memphis, Louisville and Arizona have all had their situations resolved.

LSU faced eight Level I violations as a result of the scandal — six against the basketball program, one against the football team and another for both sports combined. It also resulted in the firing of Will Wade last season, which opened the door for the Tigers to hire Matt McMahon from Murray State. Since then, Wade has become the head coach job at McNeese State and is suspended for the start of the season.

Kansas was handed five Level I violations, including an allegation of payments from an Adidas bag man to people close to Billy Preston and Silvio De Sousa. Head coach Bill Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend are at the center of that investigation, and they were both suspended for the first four games of this past season.

Arizona and Louisville both got their punishments in late 2022. The Cardinals received a $5,000 fine, some minor recruiting violations and two years probation, while former coaches Rick Pitino and Chris Mack didn’t receive any punishment for their roles, or lack thereof. Pitino is now the head coach at St. John’s after working at Iona for the last few years and Mack worked in media this past season.

As for Arizona, former assistant coach Book Richardson received a 10-year show cause for accepting $20,000 in cash bribes and paid $40,000 for a fraudulent academic transcript. In addition, Mark Phelps also received a two-year show cause after providing a student-athlete with an impermissible benefit before telling the athlete to conceal the violation. Just like what happened with Louisville, former head coach Sean Miller didn’t receive any punishment. He’s now the head coach at Xavier for the second time in his career.

On3’s Steve Samra and KSR’s Jack Pilgrim contributed to this report.