KANSAS CITY, Missouri— Big 12 men’s basketball media day took place in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday, with all 10 coaches and players from each school giving their hopes for the season, injury updates and thoughts on a scandal rocking college basketball.

Bowlsby and coaches respond to college basketball scandal

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby used his opening presser to announce a challenge series with the Big East and an extension on the conference’s use of the Sprint Center for its men’s basketball tournament.

Bowlsby did not answer questions during his opening press conference, but rather during a media scrum off to the side of the stage.

Many of the questions posed to him were centered around the ongoing court cases surrounding the payment of players and recruits in a “pay-for-play” scheme, whether through agents or apparel companies.

The most recent Big 12 involvement implicated Kansas coach Bill Self, who was alleged in federal testimony to have directed a former Adidas official to pay Silvio De Souza’s guardian $20,000.

On Wednesday morning, Self announced De Souza will be withheld from the program while his eligibility is looked over.

Bowlsby did not seem bothered much by the situation, saying instead he needed to see the testimony become “factual” in order for him to act on the allegations. When pressed, Bowlsby didn’t seek to clarify his position.

“I’ll react to those allegations when they become matters of fact,” Bowlsby said. “It’s certainly reason to pay attention.”

A few of the conference’s coaches commented on the trials during their pressers.

Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said the league did have a pair playing field, but he was hoping the trial had positive effects on the game.

“I guess for me it’s sad for the business,” Weber said. “Hopefully we can get it fixed. Our game is special.”

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins shared Weber’s sentiment, saying that, in essence, the scandal was small potatoes.

Huggins said the scandal only implicated “four or five teams,” adding that he felt it didn’t make an impact on his view of the game as a whole.

“The state of our game is really really good,” Huggins said. “If things happened, we all know they shouldn’t have happened, but that doesn’t affect the state of our game and the way people go about doing their business.”

Self, the coach implicated in the trial, said during his presser on Wednesday he would not be speaking on the issue while the trial was ongoing due to a mandate he had received. He mentioned in interviews later that he felt the game was on “solid ground”.

Weber thinks ‘Cats have been disrespected

“Why shouldn’t we be in the top-10 or whatever?”

Bruce Weber was not necessarily pleased with the Kansas State Wildcats’ preseason No. 12 ranking on Wednesday. With the Wildcats coming off of a surprise run to the Elite Eight and returning every major contributor to boot, Weber felt his group deserved better.

The Wildcats have been picked to finish 2nd in the Big 12 in the coaches’ preseason poll. Weber added his disappointment in the lack of AP All-American votes for Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Dean Wade.

“Somebody is not watching or paying attention,” Weber said. “It bothered me a little bit. I’m sure it doesn’t bother Dean at all.”

The Cyclones will play Kansas State at home on Jan. 12 and on the road Feb. 16, having lost twice to the Wildcats last season by double-digits.

Prohm and Cyclones: Cameron Lard and playing in his absence

Cyclones’ head coach Steve Prohm was asked about the status of redshirt sophomore forward Cameron Lard, who spent the summer in an off-campus wellness center.

His response was somewhat vague, but Prohm did mention Lard will be subject to some form of discipline (and that he would divulge the discipline when the preseason was over).

“There will be some disciplinary measures that I’ve got to hand down once our season starts,” Prohm said.

In a post-presser scrum, Prohm clarified that his comment was not due to any new infractions or slip-ups from Lard, but rather because of prior incidents. Prohm added that Lard was doing great and making progress as a person and a player.

Rooming with Lard this season is senior guard Nick Weiler-Babb.

“He’s doing good, you know? He’s making steps, you just gotta take it day-by-day,” Weiler-Babb said.

The Cyclones will have to play small-ball until Lard can play in game action, something Prohm said the team was preparing to do a lot of regardless of the situation. The added injury to Solomon Young has forced the Cyclones’ hand to see what freshman George Conditt and junior Michael Jacobson can do in the post.

Bits and pieces

– West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is full of stories from his many days as a head coach. On this media day, he entertained the reporters with a story about Esa Ahmad and his massively large hands.

“When Billy Hahn was with me, you ever see the big ball that Baylor fits through the rim? He bounced one to Esa and he was standing there holding it with one hand talking to us,” Huggins said. “That’s big hands.”

– There is a lot of Dean Wade hype heading into the season. The aforementioned Preseason Player of the Year as voted by the Big 12’s coaches, Wade missed the Wildcats’ run to the Elite Eight but averaged 16.2 points per game in 2017-18. 

Many of the coaches at media day were asked about his skill, but Bill Self’s comments on Wade were particularly noteworthy coming from a rival.

“I would say that when you have a guy that is that size, that explosive, and can shoot, that tells me he’s got a chance, but obviously through development and they’ve done a great job with him, through development and through the opportunities that he’s had,” Self said of the Kansas native. “He’s one of the premiere players, not just in our league, he’s one of the premiere players in the country.”

– Speaking of Self, he had by far the biggest crowd of reporters during the coaches’ scrum in the early afternoon. Not that it’s any surprise.