PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas– Kansas basketball coach Bill Self was all smiles Tuesday when Hyudson, the white labador whose owner Lea Miller is the director of the Balttle 4 Atlantis, joined him on stage for his zoom pre-game press conference prior to the Jayhawks’ opening game matchup against North Carolina State.
As he looked nto the TV cameras , he admitted he should have shaved for the occasion.
For Self, arguably the best coach in the college game, the worst is over and he can get back to coaching his defending national championship team after serving a four game university imposed suspension as the NcAA wrapped up its investigation into allegations of recuitiing violations.
“The first two games were actually OK,” Self said of the Jayhawks’ easy wins over Omaha and North Dakota State. “Watching Duke and Southern Utah, I didh’t feel quite as comfortable as I did the first two,” he said.
Kansas is still 4-0 and ranked third in this week’s AP poll afer Norm Roberts stepped in to coach the team on an interim basis. “We sayd it all the time,” Self said. “Faces change, expectations do not,” Self said. “We had a different coach. He did great. Expectactions are still the same. It was business as usually out there.”
The 69-64 win over Duke was particularly impressive.
For Self it was a different view of his world..
“I saw it from a fan’s perspective,” Self said. “And now I know why fans are crazy. They have absolutely no control. At least as a coach you have some control.”
Self got to work with his team during practices throughout the suspenson and had his ideas about what should happen and when the ball was tipped. But on game nights, he sat back and tired to accept what he watched on ESPN. .
“I didn’t actually take one note during games,” Self said Tuesday. “I took all my notes when I watched the replay. I was too busy (yelling) ‘Get him out!’ Or, ‘What are we doing?’ during the actual game.” Self said he was proud of what Roberts, the former St. John’s coach, did in his absence and starters KJ Adams and Dajuan Harris also said they were pleased nothing really changed.
Self rejoined the team hoping that a little early-season adversity would be good for the players and the program in the big picture of what they’re trying to build this season. “Me stepping away, at least in that moment in time, might be a positive for us,” Self said.”
Kansas had to replace five of seven starters, but two players in particular– junior guard Jalen Wilson and freshman small forward Gradey Dick– have stepped up big time during transition. Wilson is averaging 24.5 points,9 rebounds and 4.5 assists. “I don’t know if any player in the country has those kind of numbers,” Self said. “He reminds me of Ochai Agbaji, who who came out of left field to become a first team All America and the Most Outstanding Player in the 2022 NCAA tournament, Thomas Robinson who came out of left field to become a first team All American, and Frank Mason, who came out of left field to become national Player of the Year.” Dick, the Gatoraide 2022 national Player of the Year from Wichita, is averaging 16.8 points and shooting 55 percent and 50 from the three. “He’s the best freshman shooter I’ve ever had,” Self said.
