12 October 2023
LAWRENCE (KSNT) – Some students at the University of Kansas aren’t too happy with the punishment brought down by the NCAA.
While the infractions are not affecting the teams’ future post-season eligibility, some KU students tell 27 News they feel a large piece of basketball history has been taken away.
After a six year investigation period, the NCAA has decided to take away 15 of the programs wins from the 2017-18 season. These 15 wins stim from the 20 games won when former basketball player Silvio De Sousa played.
“I’m not too happy about it just because Kansas is the mecca of college basketball,” KU Sophomore Mory Ashenberg said. “It’s what we live for here. Basketball is everything here.”
With the wins being taken away, KU now has 2,370 all-time victories. This makes them no longer the winningest program in college basketball. They are now second to Kentucky with 2,377 wins.
“It’s a tough look for us you know being dropped down from the winningest program in college basketball to being seven games behind now,” KU Sophomore Bryson Galbreath said. “Losing those it’s a very bad look for our program, but I’m hoping this year we can bounce back, and get those wins back and become the winningest program again.”
Not only are the wins gone, but so is a piece of final four history.
“I think it’s kind of petty taking down a banner, but it just gives us kind of a fire to rebuild our program,” KU Sophomore Shane Palmer said. “We’ve had a history of building great programs and great teams here so I think we’re just gonna do it again. Instead of a final four banner up there, we’re gonna put a national championship up there.”
Although history has been stripped from the university, students believe the penalties could have been more severe.
“It could of been a lot worse,” Galbreath said. “I think them bumping it to just a level three, three of them and letting them use the punishment we put on Bill Self last year that’s really lucky of us because it could of been we could not be able to go into the post season for multiple years especially for what we did at a time when it was illegal to do stuff like that.”
Along with the wins and banner being taken away, the teams 2018 March Madness appearance has also been stripped. KU held the longest active streak of making the tournament with 33 consecutive seasons.