Kansas University athletic director Al Bohl concurs with Fresno State president John Welty’s decision to ban the school’s men’s basketball team from postseason play.

“They’re doing the right thing,” Bohl said Tuesday night.

Fresno State imposed the postseason ban in the wake of allegations of academic fraud in the men’s basketball program while Jerry Tarkanian was head coach.

“Ultimately, I’m responsible,” Welty told the Journal-World Tuesday, “and ultimately I’m responsible for fixing things.”

Welty does not, however, blame Bohl for what happened during Tarkanian’s tenure. Bohl was Fresno State’s AD from 1996 to 2001 when the violations occurred.

Welty also has been taken aback by the brouhaha that has surrounded Bohl since he took over on Mount Oread in late summer of 2001.

“From what I’ve seen, I’m surprised,” Welty said. “He certainly worked very well with people here and provided good leadership.”

At Kansas, Bohl has been criticized for his pots-and-pans salesman’s approach to overseeing the athletic department. At the same time, Bohl is not on a first-name basis with men’s basketball coach Roy Williams or football coach Mark Mangino.

Williams has characterized his relationship with Bohl as professional.

While at Fresno State, Bohl had more of a professional relationship than he wanted with Tarkanian, a man he did not hire.

“I had to suspend a lot of players in the basketball program,” Bohl said.

Learn more about Bohl’s tenure at KU and Fresno State by visiting our special section.Fresno links:¢Fresno State Athletics Site statement.¢Fresno Bee report.¢Fresno State News.

According to The Fresno Bee, the men’s basketball program has had transgressions involving street agents for the last three years. Former player Tito Maddox, who twice was cited for accepting gifts from a representative of an agent, told The Bee he accepted $30,000 from a relative of a sports agent during the 2000-01 season.

Maddox was one of the players Bohl suspended.

As far as the academic fraud stories that surfaced earlier this year, Bohl stressed he worked “tirelessly to improve the integrity of the entire department.”

Along those lines, Bohl said he worked closely with a couple of FSU professors to compose an academic code of conduct. He also added a recruiting code of conduct, he said.

Ray Lopes is the current Fresno State men’s basketball coach. Tarkanian is in the first year of a new position — a $120,000-per-year job as senior development consultant for the Save Mart Center, the school’s basketball arena scheduled to open next season.

While the revelations of wrongdoing have continued to surface at Fresno State, Bohl said he was “letting them handle it. I’m trying to focus on the tasks at Kansas University.”

Still, Bohl feels for Welty, who gave Bohl the opportunity to be Fresno State’s AD in 1996.

“President Welty and I worked hand-in-hand while I was there,” Bohl said. “If I hadn’t come to Kansas, I would be working hand-in-hand with him now.”

Scott Johnson, the man who was promoted from associate AD to replace Bohl, had direct supervision of the school’s men’s basketball program while he was there, Bohl said.

Johnson could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The NCAA infractions committee will determine later whether to accept Fresno State’s self-imposed penalties or add other sanctions. FSU is also under investigation for other violations that came to light in December.

In reaction, the school cut the number of men’s basketball scholarships by three between 2004 and 2006.