In the middle of the summer, college basketball tends to take a backseat to the rest of the sports world. However, there’s still a lot going on, so let’s check up on everything you might have missed over the past week.
Independent Review
An investigation into the Kansas basketball program and head coach Bill Self has been moved to the Independent Accountability Resolution Process, which is a new review process created to address complex cases.
Kansas was accused of five major violations that were uncovered as part of the FBI’s investigation into the corruption inside college basketball. It’s alleged that Adidas representatives helped arrange payments for potential recruits.
Welcome Home
On Wednesday, Connecticut officially returned to the Big East as a basketball member. UConn was an original member of the Big East in 1979 but left in 2013 when the league split between football schools and non-football schools.
However, UConn is leaving the American Athletic Conference and becoming an independent football program, opening the door for the Huskies to play in the Big East in other sports. UConn will push the Big East to 11 members, including other original members Georgetown, Providence, St. John’s, and Seton Hall.
On the Move
Connecticut isn’t the only basketball program that finds itself in a new conference as of Wednesday. Here is a rundown of the other basketball teams switching leagues:
NJIT is moving from the Atlantic Sun to the America East, which is a far better fit geographically.
Robert Morris is moving to the Horizon League after several years of being at the top of the Northeast Conference, winning the league’s automatic bid in 2020 before the season was shut down.
Purdue-Fort Wayne is also moving to the Horizon League, which makes geographic sense after a run in the Summit League.
UMKC will take Purdue-Fort Wayne’s place in the Summit League. The Kangaroos left the Summit for the WAC in 2013 but are now returning.
CSU-Bakersfield is also leaving the WAC and moving to the Big West, which is made up entirely of other California schools with the exception of Hawaii.
Welcome to the Show
Along with several schools changing leagues, a few are making the move from Division II to the Division I level. Bellarmine, which won the 2011 Division II national championship, will come to Division I as a member of the Atlantic Sun.
Dixie State, which is located in Utah, and Tarleton State, which is in Texas, will move to Division I as members of the WAC. Finally, UC-San Diego makes the move up and joins the Big West.
A Late Start
A delayed start to the season because of the ongoing pandemic has been suggested for college football, and momentum could be growing to do the same with college basketball. New Iona head coach Rick Pitino made a suggestion to the NCAA this week via tweet, asking for the season to be pushed back to January and for teams to only play conference games.
Pitino says that the extra time could help “get things under control” and allow more time to get a vaccine. However, the NCAA is yet to say much about college basketball after last season ended abruptly because of the virus.
