FanHouse Lew Perkins

Former Kansas running back Jocques Crawford believes Jayhawks football coach Mark Mangino has anger issues and is prone to unleash his abusive behavior on his players.

Crawford says he witnessed Mangino's wrath first hand during his lone season with the program in 2008. Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins launched an investigation into his head coach's behavior Monday after it came to his attention that Mangino had poked senior linebacker Arist Wright during a walk-through practice last Friday.

Perkins has formed an independent panel to begin investigating what is believed to be a pattern of abusive behavior by Mangino directed at his team and other football personnel. Crawford said Perkins has yet to contact him, but if he does the former running back will have plenty to say.

The deep pockets of T. Boone Pickens and the desire to return to his alma mater weren't enough to convince Bill Self to leave the school where he's won the national championship.

Self, whose Kansas Jayhawks won the national championship on Monday, has announced he will not go to Oklahoma State and will be back at Kansas next season.

Ordinarily, it wouldn't even be an issue: Kansas just won the national championship and is a better program than Oklahoma State. Why would Self even think of leaving? But Oklahoma State is no ordinary school.

For one thing, it's the school that Self and his wife attended, and it's closer to his family than Kansas. There could have been personal reasons for him to head to Stillwater. And perhaps more importantly, there's Pickens, the billionaire who practically owns the Oklahoma State athletic department and opens up his wallet any time he thinks he can improve it. He would have made Self by far the highest-paid coach in college basketball history.

As it is, Self will turn down a few million but still be highly paid with a new contract and a pay raise at Kansas. Jayhawks Athletic Director Lew Perkins says the details of a new contract for Self "will be finalized in the next few weeks."

Said Self at his news conference today, "I don't know what the big deal is. ... There was never serious interest in leaving the University of Kansas. " Well, coach, the big deal is that you're the most sought-after coach in college basketball, and you're staying put.