Self-less Jayhawks eye repeat, march past Bison
DES MOINES, Iowa — Kansas’ Bill Self won his first national title in the state of Texas, and the reigning national championship coach is hoping to earn a third crown in early April in NRG Stadium.
Self and his heart doctors have opted for caution, however, early in the top-seeded Jayhawks’ run in the NCAA Tournament. Self watched the Jayhawks’ mostly smooth 96-68 first-round victory over 16th-seeded Howard in Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday from his hotel room in Des Moines, as he continues recovering from a heart catheterization performed last week in Kansas City, Mo.
His status for KU’s second round game against Arkansas on Saturday is to be determined.
“Everything is moving in a positive direction,” Self said on the KU pregame radio show Thursday. “It’s just taking longer than what I had hoped it would to get me back to the point where I can be out there every day. … Hopefully Saturday will be a different story in that regard.”
Self, 60, had planned to coach KU’s tournament opener, but earlier Thursday decided it would be best to continue his recovery free of the stress of calling the shots over the roughly two hours of the contest, even after coaching the Jayhawks’ open practice Wednesday.
Assistant Norm Roberts coached the Jayhawks, as he did in the previous week at the Big 12 tournament, where KU lost in the title game to Texas by 20 points (76-56). Roberts is a former St. John’s head coach who has been by Self ’s side for the last decade in Lawrence, Kan. Roberts will be ready again Saturday if needed to take Self ’s place.
“It’s all day to day on how he feels,” Roberts said of Self ’s status. “(It’s) the doctors’ decisions, and (Self ) has been able to spend time with the guys and at practice and that type of stuff.”
The Jayhawks won last year’s national title in New Orleans and are one of the favorites to add to their championship collection this season. The Final Four is April 1-3 in NRG Stadium.
Self was in his fifth season at KU in 2008 when the Jayhawks won the program’s third national title in San Antonio’s Alamodome, to go with championships in 1952 and 1988. Now the Jayhawks (28-7) will wait on the status of their coach, and try and press on with or without him in the NCAA Tournament.
“He’s just day by day, taking it time by time and doing the best he can to make it out here,” KU forward KJ Adams Jr. of Austin said of Self.
A little more than a week ago Self visited an emergency room in Kansas City because of chest tightness and balance problems. He had two stents inserted in his heart to help open blocked arteries, according to the University of Kansas Health System.
KU guard Gradey Dick said the players looked forward to visiting with Self later Thursday, in beginning to prep for the round of 32 matchup against the Razorbacks. Kansas leads the all-time series with Arkansas 8-5 and the hoops-rich programs have not played since 2005.
“… (We’ll) get back and hear from him first thing on what he liked out there,” Dick said before adding, “and what he didn’t like.”
KU, one win from the Sweet 16, has won 16 straight first-round games, and is aiming to become the first repeat champion in 16 years (Florida in 2007). Jalen Wilson led the Jayhawks Thursday with 20 points and Dick added 19 in the 28-point win, as all five KU starters scored in double digits in the well-rounded blowout. The Jayhawks scored their most points in an NCAA Tournament game in six years, and Roberts emptied his bench down the stretch.
“We’ve got a whole team that wants one goal, and that makes this team great,” Dick said of the reserves helping to keep the starters rested in anticipation of more tournament games. “… We’ve been striving to be ‘one’ the whole season.”
Howard, which competed in its first NCAA Tournament since 1992, wrapped up its season at 2213 after winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament title and earning a chance to upset Kansas. Vice President Kamala Harris, a Howard alum, attended Thursday’s game in Des Moines and afterward told the team, “You played hard and you played to the very last second — you made all of us Bison so, so proud.”