Here we go

www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/sto...s-ncaa-attorney-says

Self gives NCAA notice of legal action.

Yep.

The most interesting comment was "To put it bluntly, the NCAA enforcement staff is attempting to end Mr. Self's long and very successful coaching career for conduct which all coaches engage in and which the NCAA has known for many years is commonplace and permissible,"

That's code for "you've opened the can of worms no coach or school wants opened. Everybody's doing it, and even the NCAA knew what was going on and turned a blind eye."

The plot has certainly thickened. Musing about some possible outcomes:

>NCAA settles with Self. I think this is a high probability outcome as it seems "settlement' seems to be the goal of most lawyers. If this happens, we won't likely know exactly what deal was cut, but it opens up a lot of interesting outcomes and makes you wonder how much of Self's personal deal could reduce impacts on KU and the investigation.

>Self becomes a whistleblower. Whistleblower suits are cool because they protect the plaintiff from retaliation, and often involve huge dollar amounts. This falls in line with the "Self brings down the NCAA house of cards" idea.

>It backfires. The NCAA is a big and powerful foe. We've also seen that they can be spiteful if they don't like you. Self could lose his lawsuit, AND by kicking the beehive, the NCAA could hammer KU even harder as a message to all of the other families not to go against the godfather.

I do think that somewhere in the NCAA some guilty parties may not be sleeping very well after this news was released. Give 'em hell Coach. Load those wagons.

There's so much going on in the world right now, it's hard to care a lot about an NCAA process. But as a mental diversion today, I'm wondering the following:

Self clearly is taking the issue to the NCAA on the basis that what occurs at KU is what occurs at every other school, and everyone - including the NCAA - knows what goes on and has turned a blind eye for decades.

It's the baseball steroid issue exactly - everyone, and I mean EVERYONE inside baseball knew about steroids, amphetamines, etc. that players used to get big, hit and throw better, and mostly to stay healthy or recover quickly so the game - and their paychecks - continued. Even baseball overall and team owners benefited mightily by the steroid induced Sosa vs Mcguire HR chase, and the Bonds invincible batting prowess. Tickets were sold at record levels, TV viewers increased, as did ad revenue and TV rights payments to teams. Everyone won, until it started to be talked about, then everyone pretended like no one knew. Reporters who knew all about what went on in locker rooms started playing high and mighty with their hall of fame votes, as if they didn't make money writing articles about Sosa, McGuire and Bonds. BS BS BS.

I wonder if Self and his legal team would go so far as to subpoena other coaches, players, NCAA execs, Nike execs, etc. to be deposed in his case. Build the evidence that Self and KU did exactly what Mike Brey said - schools and coaches often talk to the shoe guys more than players' parents. Shoe companies are an embedded part of college sports, and have been for decades. If the NCAA says they weren't remotely aware of this happening, then they're flat out BSing. Under oath, with penalty of perjury, they would have to answer the shoe question. Even us amateurs and fans knew or assumed without doubt that Nike and Adidas were paying players. Heck, several players who went on to the NBA have admitted as much.

If Self goes this rout, I don't see how the NCAA wins. It would explode the insanity of pretending like no one knew. But again, the main question is, does Self go this rout and expose his brethren? Or does he take one for the team?

Right now, if I were Self, I'd be calling my closest friends in coaching and say "I need some support here, and if you stay silent, I have no choice but to drag you in."