Cliff Alexander’s Future At Kansas Filled With Uncertainty

By Cody Daniel | Mar 8, 2015

Jan 24, 2015; Austin, TX, USA; Kansas Jayhawks forward Cliff Alexander (2) reacts against the Texas Longhorns during the second half at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center. The Jayhawks won 75-62. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports /

The high expectations that came along with Cliff Alexander to Kansas have dramatically diminished, and the anticipation of a bright future as a Jayhawk for Alexander has now turned grim as the freshmen power forward’s season could be over before the postseason gets under way.

After playing the majority of a season littered with peaks and valleys on the hardwood, Alexander has now sat out in the Jayhawks’ last three games against Texas, West Virginia and Oklahoma due to an ongoing NCAA investigation with allegations that Alexander’s mother may have received impermissible benefits from a finance company.

Pat Forde and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports provided the available details:

"A Uniform Commercial Code filed in August 2014 ties the mother of suspended Kansas basketball player Cliff Alexander to a finance company that, according to its website, specializes in loans to professional athletes and agents, Yahoo Sports has learned.On Aug. 25, 2014, a UCC filing was made in the state of Illinois under the name of Latillia Alexander of Chicago, Cliff Alexander’s mother. The filing is publicly accessible on the Illinois Secretary of State website."

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The story went on to explain that the financing extended by Ludas Capital – which is the company infused in all of the allegations surrounding Alexander – offers draft loans to potential draft picks after they have declared for the draft.

In August, which is the time Alexander’s mother was suspected of meeting with Ludass Capital, Alexander was just beginning his freshmen year at Kansas and had not yet played a single game for the Jayhawks.

Alexander has yet to be interviewed by the NCAA and will remain sidelined until a ruling comes back from an official interview.

Kansas is set to play its first matchup in the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday, but anything outside of good news between now and the time a decision is made by the NCAA surrounding Alexander will result in the Chicago native watching from the sidelines as what may be his only season at Kansas draws to an early conclusion, as Bill Self was quoted in a column by Gary Bedore of KUsports.com:

“If the ruling is negative, the kid will have no chance to play in the NCAA tournament. He’ll have no chance to do what he came to college for, he’ll have no chance to help his teammates and all that stuff if all the parties can’t get in the same room and work it out.”

The potential long-term absence of Alexander may not turn out to be as impactful as it could have been before he saw a tremendous digression in production towards the end of the season, where Alexander averaged only 3.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in his last nine games.

But there’s no denying that a Kansas’ frontcourt that doesn’t feature the most size and physicality could have certainly used Alexander down the stretch when every game becomes an elimination game.

Prior to the late-season slump and allegations that have put his future at Kansas in jeopardy, Alexander came to Lawrence as the No. 3 ranked recruit out of high school, according to ESPN. Unfortunately for Alexander and college basketball fans alike, we may have seen the last of this freshman big man as a Jayhawk.

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