The Univ. of Kansas has "apologized for its risque 'Late Night at the Phog' event in which rapper Snoop Dogg performed, stripper poles were wheeled onto the Allen Fieldhouse floor and fake money was shot over the heads of prospective recruits," according to Dave Skretta of the AP. KU AD Jeff Long after the event on Friday night said the school "expected a clean version of the show." However, the school "instead got an R-rated performance for their annual basketball kickoff and another big headache as they deal with a high-level NCAA infractions case tied to recruiting." Long: "I take full responsibility for not thoroughly vetting all the details of the performance and offer my personal apology to those who were offended." The school had promoted Snoop Dogg's appearance with a social media video of coach Bill Self "wearing a gaudy chain and Adidas shirt." KU had "received a notice from the NCAA late last month alleging three severe violations tied to recruiting and a responsibility charge leveled against Self." Snoop Dogg "performed for about 35 minutes to a full house that included the men's and women's basketball teams," and he "wound up singing unedited versions of several hits" (AP, 10/5). There was a sell out crowd of 16,300 in attendance for the event (USA TODAY, 10/5).
WHO'S TO BLAME? In Lawrence, Matt Tait noted while the "majority of the crowd seemed to eat up every ounce of it, it was clear that Self and others associated with KU were caught off guard by the specifics of Snoop's act" (LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD, 10/5). Self said he "wasn't feeling well" during Snoop Dogg's performance, thus he "went back in the locker room." He said, "I didn't listen to or see the majority of what went down. Certainly I got a pretty good idea based on the first couple songs" (K.C. STAR, 10/5). YAHOO SPORTS' Pat Forde wrote, "Hold a vigil for Golly-Gee Jeff Long, conned by the manager who scripted the soft-core porn show instead of the clean show." Forde: "HOW could Kansas have seen this coming? ... Who could have foreseen that this might not be an event approved by Disney, or the NCAA?" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/5). In K.C., Blair Kerkhoff wrote the event was a "bad look" for KU, who two weeks ago "came on strong in their intention to defend themselves" against allegations of NCAA violations. However, "closer pre-show vetting by someone in the athletic department was essential -- and that it wasn't done effectively is a major fail" (K.C. STAR, 10/6). In Ft. Worth, Mac Engel wrote the Big 12 is "not going to do much of anything, but a decent fine to KU would send a message to every other member athletic department to vet their schedule of events, and performers, carefully" (Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 10/6).
QUESTIONABLE DECISION: In Portland, Andrew Nemec wrote if KU is "at all worried by the NCAA's recent notice of allegations it isn't showing it" (Portland OREGONIAN, 10/6). A K.C. STAR editorial stated that at a "time when KU can't afford a single misstep, we've seen poor judgment aplenty." Both the allegations and the Snoop Dogg performance "raise questions about whether Kansas officials are just making bad decisions or are not actually taking these charges of major violations seriously" (K.C. STAR, 10/6).
