KU men’s basketball controversies (real and perceived) persist

The bad news keeps coming for the University of Kansas’ men’s basketball program. First, there was the fights with the football team that left Tyshawn Taylor with a dislocated thumb. Then there was Brady Morningstar‘s arrest for suspicion of drunken driving (and suspension).

Now, Jayhawk sophomore forward Markieff Morris was in a traffic accident in a 1997 Chevy Tahoe registered to former Jayhawk basketball player Scot Pollard, The Kansas City Star reports.

Pollard reportedly sold the Tahoe to Taylor in August, but Taylor

hadn’t registered the vehicle in his name yet. Taylor had loaned the

Tahoe to Morris, who got in a wreck around 1:14 a.m. on September 13,

the Star reports.

Questions

arose about the Tahoe’s owner and whether there could be a possibility

of improper benefits, because the police report from the accident, in

which Morris was cited for an improper lane change, stated the car was

registered to Pollard, a former KU and NBA player who lives in

Lawrence.

Pollard wrote on his blog that the story’s overblown, and the car’s sale was cleared through KU’s compliance office. Pollard even joked that he didn’t cut Taylor a deal.

He paid me blue book value for the car, and immediately told the appropriate people, who verified, since I am an alumnus of KU. Completely legal transaction. Actually complained that I charged too much!

As for the accident, everyone was OK. Everyone includes a man and woman in the car that Morris hit — and Morris’ passengers: a 16-year-old girl and a 22-year-old woman.

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self told the Lawrence Journal-World that this is all a “non-story.”