Bill Self: NCAA ‘working on’ Cheick Diallo eligibility case

Kansas forward Cheick Diallo gives a playful shove to teammate Wayne Selden Jr. before tipoff on Monday, Nov. 23, 2015 at Lahaina Civic Center in Lahaina, Hawaii.

? It appears there was some progress regarding Cheick Diallo’s eligibility case on Monday.

“The only thing I know is our athletic director was contacted (by NCAA) today that they are working on it,” KU coach Bill Self said after the Jayhawks’ 123-72 first-round Maui Invitational win over Chaminade in Lahaina Civic Center. “That’s all I know concerning that situation,” he added.

That could be considered a positive sign considering the KU athletic department hadn’t heard from the NCAA since sending the organization 19 points of concern about the case on Nov. 10.

Asked to elaborate on his disappointment level regarding the delay in a ruling for the freshman forward from Mali, Africa, Self detailed his frustration but stopped short of simply blaming the powers that be at the NCAA. 

“I don’t know exactly how policy works or who oversees what. It is disappointing that no one has stepped up to the plate so far,” Self said.

“If you talk from a macro-level, from 30,000 feet, it’s very hypocritical for coaches to say it’s the leadership’s problem. Everybody that works in an organization that big hires people and has policies in place under them that people are supposed to work towards and fill the obligations of whatever the job responsibility is. That’s what’s frustrating. I can’t say it’s leadership, because that would be hypocritical, because I don’t believe it’s coaches’ faults totally when somebody in the academic department or the training department or the weight room commits a violation and the head coach is totally responsible for that. We do what we can to oversee, but you can have people underneath you that may not carry out the assignment the way it was supposed to be carried out.

“I don’t (put) any blame on the leadership, because if I did then I think that’d be very hypocritical. I think the bottom line is there’s some flaws in policies and certainly the lack of partnership is the thing that’s most frustrating with Cheick.”

— See what people were saying about the rout during KUsports.com’s live coverage


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