By Cole Tussing

The Border War is making a comeback starting in 2020-2021 men’s basketball season, and it’s one of the most noteworthy rivalries in all of college basketball. 

The series began in 1907, with Missouri winning the first few games in Lawrence. Their last meeting was 2012, where the fourth ranked Jayhawks beat the third ranked Tigers in overtime. The reason it has been so long since these two teams met was due to Missouri’s departure from the Big 12 to the SEC. While this is great news on both sides, there is still an ongoing investigation with the NCAA down in Lawrence. 

Back in September, the NCAA hit Kansas with multiple Level I violations (between the four tiers, Level I is the most severe). The NCAA values the term “amateurism” with their sports, and they insist through bribery in recruiting, Kansas cheated to get an upper hand. Two men, T.J. Gassnola and Jim Gatto, are business partners with Adidas (Gassnola is a consultant and Gatto is the director of marketing). According to the report by the NCAA, Gassnola and Gatto compiled a tactic to draw high-level, high school recruits to an Adidas-team: Kansas. Allegedly, two former 5-star recruits, Billy Preston and Silvio de Sousa, were both bribed with money and other deals to get them enticed to commit to Kansas. Between these two players alone, nearly $100,000 were given in bribes, according to the statement. 

This is important news to keep an eye on. First, it’s not clear whether Billy Self will stay as the head coach after these reports. It has been said that both Self and the university are planning on appealing these allegations “based on half-truths, misimpressions, and mischaracterizations.” If Kansas were to be found guilty, it would result in loss of scholarships, a postseason ban and a fine of up to millions of dollars. Secondly, the result of the appeals will be made before the start of the 2020 season, the same year the Border War is making a comeback.

Edited by Emma Moloney | ehm3gd@mail.missouri.edu