Lawrence, Kansas - The 2022-23 NCAA basketball season has yet to begin and the reigning national champions the Kansas Jayhawks are already off to a rough start.

Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend are facing a four-game suspension, the university announced Wednesday.

The self-imposed suspension that also includes several recruiting restrictions stems from one of the biggest scandals in the history of college basketball that found multiple programs paid top recruits to attend their schools in 2017.

Both Self and Townsend will miss three home games and the hugely anticipated matchup against Duke on November 15.

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"Coach Townsend and I accept and support KU's decision to self-impose these sanctions," Self said in a statement. "We are in good hands with Coach Roberts, and I am confident that he will do a great job on the bench leading our team. I am proud of the way our guys have handled this situation and I look forward to returning to the bench for our game against NC State."

The decision comes just seven months after the Jayhawks achieved the largest comeback in a men's college basketball national championship game to beat North Carolina 72-69.

Assistant coach Norm Roberts will serve as interim head coach until Self completes his full suspension.

As part of the recruiting restrictions, Self and Townsend were banned from off-campus recruiting visits from April to July, and the school did not host recruits during its annual midnight madness event, Late Night in the Phog.

Kansas basketball will lose three scholarships over the next three years, cut down its official recruiting visits this year by four, and reduce the number of allowed recruiting days during the upcoming basketball year by 13.

While the Jayhawks are currently using their shiny championship trophy as a way to lure future recruits, with the new restrictions set in place, it will be near impossible to recruit top athletes as easily as they have in the past.

"We are hopeful these difficult self-imposed sanctions will assist in bringing the case to a conclusion," KU Director of Athletics Travis Goff said.

He added: "Until then, we will continue to focus on supporting our outstanding Men’s Basketball student-athletes and coaches ... Per confidentiality guidelines related to infraction cases, we are unable to comment in depth until there is full resolution of this matter."

The Jayhawks' first tip-off of the season will come on November 7 against Omaha at 8 PM ET at Allen Fieldhouse.