Kansas Can’t See Why UNLV Was Treated Differently by NCAA

While UNLV celebrates, Kansas seethes.

“I sure wish they’d given us a multiple-choice penalty,” said Roy Williams, the Jayhawks’ basketball coach.

“I can’t believe what the NCAA did,” said Jeff Gueldner, a guard on Kansas’ national championship team of 1988 that was barred from the 1989 tournament. “It looks to me like the rules are not applied uniformly.”

Kansas followers were angered Thursday when the NCAA gave UNLV a choice it did not give the Jayhawks. After barring UNLV from defending its 1989 title because of violations stemming from a 1977 infractions case, the NCAA on Thursday changed its mind and offered the Rebels two alternatives. UNLV chose the second alternative, and will be able to defend its title this year after all.

Thus, Kansas will remain the only NCAA basketball champion barred from defending its NCAA championship.

Del Brinkman, a vice president at Kansas and the school’s longtime faculty representative, issued a one-sentence statement: “I didn’t think it was possible to negotiate with the NCAA.”