Bill Self’s camps canceled due to coronavirus. And KU players may be absent in June
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self’s summer camp season is the latest sports schedule to be shelved at KU because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Self, KU’s 17th-year coach, has canceled both sessions of his four-day basketball camp for youths, which were to be held in June. He’s also canceled his parent/child camp and team camp.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in the interest of public health, the Bill Self Basketball Camp will be canceled for June, 2020,” read a message on the Web page for Self’s camps. “You will receive an e-mail within the next week regarding your full refund being issued. We want to thank everyone for all of your continued support and we will be sure to update you with any announcement of future camp dates and times”
Self told The Star in a phone interview Monday that it might be possible to reschedule the camps for later in the summer if conditions change in America — if local and national social-distancing regulations are relaxed.
“Everything is shut down,” Self told The Star. “We are in the process of trying to contact everybody about refund money.
“It’s expected. There’s not going to be any activity anywhere, let alone on campuses, at least until the beginning of summer school (in June).”
There is also strong possibility that summer school at KU will be canceled. Self said that if school is canceled, his players, who normally are in Lawrence all of June, would remain in their hometowns and thus miss a month of instruction with KU’s basketball coaches.
“Why come to Lawrence if we are practicing social distancing?” Self said. “If the campus is open, I expect them to come back. If campus isn’t open, I don’t.
“Teams will have to rely on individuals to be self-motivated,” he added of players improving during the summer. “Social distancing … that means one-on-one work without a gym, without a weight room. Guys will have to get creative.
“This actually is a summer kids can get ahead if they wanted to work on their game because so many won’t,” he said.
Whether further closure is forthcoming remains to be seen.
“As far as our guys playing with ex-players, pros being around (campus), that’s out (if campus is closed),” Self said.
Self said that if campus is closed for the summer, his players would continue to receive instruction on individual workouts.
“We’ll give them certain things to do,” he said. “We have a very self-motivated group. Being self-motivated isn’t like being team-motivated. They’d have to get things done on their own. We’re not the only ones in this situation. It will affect all teams the same. This is the new normal, at least for a short period of time.”
In terms of the camp situation, this is the first time in Self’s 27 years as a head coach that he won’t host camps for youths.
“I’m a big believer in camps. We had them (all the way back) at ORU,” the former Oral Roberts coach said. “Just because we’ve canceled now doesn’t mean we couldn’t have something in August if things clear up.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 12:47 PM with the headline "Bill Self’s camps canceled due to coronavirus. And KU players may be absent in June."
