Bill Self Opens up about Cheick Diallo Case

According to Matt Tait, who recorded the audio of Bill Self in Maui earlier today, coach is "noticeably upset" about how the NCAA has handled the Cheick Diallo case.

According to ESPN, Self arranged a conference call between himself, ESPN, and CBS Sports to discuss the steps the university has taken in Diallo's eligibility case.  According to Self, KU has basically done the NCAA's job for them, and has proof that Diallo should be eligible.  Earlier this month, Kansas hired two separate, independent firms to check out Diallo's coursework at Our Savior New American School in New York.

Per Jesse Newell, these two firms both "specialize in academic core design ... one covers curriculum for more than 300 school districts and the other is a team that teaches people how to read curriculum."

Kansas hired the firms earlier this month after receiving a report from the NCAA on what the issues were with Diallo's case - apparently, why they weren't going to clear Diallo.  KU replied to the NCAA on November 10 with a list of 19 discrepancies in the NCAA report, and submitted the recently completed agencies reports on Friday (Nov 20).

Said Self: "We still haven't been told anything definitively in any area.  We've made six visits to Our Savior, and the NCAA has made zero."

Our Savior has been "under review" by the NCAA since 2012 (which coincidentally is when Diallo arrived there), meaning that coursework completed at that institution could be nullified by the NCAA for players attempting to gain eligibility to play in college.

After completing their investigations, the two independent agencies that Kansas hired have refuted the NCAA's claim that the courses at Our Savior are not eligible. One group found that 15 of Diallo's 16 courses should be eligible, the other found that all 16 courses should count.

KU - and Bill Self - noted that Our Savior graduates have been "admitted into West Point."  Fellow Our Savior grad Davon Dillard was cleared earlier this year to play for Oklahoma State this fall, along with Pitt signee Damon Wilson.  Teammate Kassoum Yakwe, however, a St. John's signee, has not yet been cleared.  Obviously, ditto Cheick Diallo.

Said Bill Self: "Needless to say, we’re very upset.  The NCAA was given a list of 19 things 11 days ago on discrepancies or missteps or things that we really struggled with, and they said they would respond to us in writing, and they have yet to do that. So we decided to go ahead and take matters into our own hands.

"And we have found out that everything they have told us in why he wasn’t eligible (is not accurate) — they even brought up class attendance, which wasn’t true, they brought up curriculum changes that weren’t true — they brought up several things that weren’t 100 percent accurate.

"Our university, our athletic department has been unbelievably patient in requesting information and trying to come to a conclusion.  If Cheick’s work was not of quality, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. We would totally agree. We were never informed (until the first week of November) what the problems were when they instructed us that they would inform us.

"If there was any partnership between the school and the NCAA, we could have worked through this. This is not an enforcement case, where you’re trying to dig up dirt or information. This has nothing to do with enforcement.

"It’s an informational case where you’re trying for a young man from Africa that comes over here in good faith, that did everything he was supposed to do, that attended a school that was in good standing when he attended it (arrived), was never notified that he should transfer or anything like that by anybody. It’s basically frustrating to just take the NCAA’s word, saying, ‘Well, it definitely doesn’t count.’ Because I think a lot of people do that."

"We are 100 percent confident that these two entities read his stuff accurately.

"Here’s the bottom line: That’s it. This is it.

"It’s disappointing, but hopefully he’ll be playing very soon."

Timeline

2012 - Cheick Diallo arrives at Our Savior New American School in Centereach, NY, from Mali

2012 - Sometime after Diallo's arrival, Our Savior is placed "under review" by the NCAA

Autumn 2014 - Diallo is informed that Our Savior is "under review" by the NCAA and that issue may affect his eligibility to play college ball

Sept 1, 2015 - NCAA notifies KU of issues regarding Diallo's eligibility

Nov 5 or 6, 2015 - KU recieves notification of "specific details" from NCAA of issues regarding Diallo's eligibility

Nov 10, 2015 - KU responds to NCAA's letter with a list of 19 items that concerned the University regarding the NCAA's investigation.  Shortly afterwards, KU hires two independent firms to study Diallo's coursework.

Nov 20, 2015 - KU submits both firms reports to the NCAA

Nov 21, 2015 - Bill Self calls ESPN and CBS Sports to bring the matter public