January 19, 2009
BY J. BRADY MCCOLLOUGH
The Wichita Eagle
Kansas officials are aware that ku coach Bill Self had a brief
conversation with top recruit John Wall during an NCAA evaluation period
last Saturday night at a tournament in Springfield, Mo.
Coaches are not allowed contact with recruits during an NCAA evaluation
period other than to exchange greetings.
"Bill has brought it to our attention, and we're still discussing just
exactly what happened," said Jim Marchiony, ku associate athletics
director for external relations. "We'll certainly discuss it with our
compliance office."
A column in the Springfield News-Leader detailed a conversation that
took place between Self and Wall outside Wall's locker room after his
game had finished.
Self reportedly said to Wall, "Johnny, great win, man. You really played
well." Wall thanked Self, who then said, "I'm not supposed to be talking
to you, and you know that, but I just wanted to tell you that was a
great win."
Wall, a 6-foot-4 point guard, is rated the No. 1 overall recruit in the
class of 2009 by Rivals.com. He visited Kansas for the team's 2008
national championship ring ceremony on the weekend of Sept. 20. Wall, a
native of Raleigh, N.C., will choose between Kansas, Memphis, Baylor,
N.C. State, Oregon, Duke and Miami.
