KU’s Self eagerly awaits conquering of coronavirus: ‘This will be Mardi Gras times 10’
The optimist in Bill Self tells him everything’s going to be all right in the world — including the sports world — sooner rather than later.
“I’m hopeful that as we are flattening the (COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic) curve and some other things there could be some semblance of life as we knew it that could come back,” Self, Kansas’ 17th-year basketball coach, said Thursday, speaking as a guest on Shannon Spake’s Foxsports.com podcast.
“I don’t think fans attending events or social gatherings, things like that, are going to happen at the exact same moment. I think we will do it in stages. I don’t think we are going to jump in and have it exactly the way it was before. I am obviously no expert. That’s just my opinion. I do believe there’s a lot of reasons across the world and especially in the United States to celebrate (once the virus is under control).”
Self believes fans will indeed express jubilation when their favorite sports return to action.
“This will be Mardi Gras times 10,” Self said on Spake’s podcast. “There will be I believe a great celebration of life — the appreciation we have that maybe we took for granted before that will be a fun thing for all people to be a part of. Of course sports plays a huge role in that. I still think, unfortunately, and I am not an expert by any means, we are going to have to go in stages to get to that.”
Speaking 10 days after the 2020 national-title game was supposed to be played, Self said it’s obvious the right decision was made on March 12 to cancel the NCAA Tournament.
“There was only one decision to be made — to cancel,” Self said. “No way anybody can now say, ‘If we would have postponed or done it later.’ We are at a point the NBA is hoping there is some way they can get in some form of a season later. Major league baseball has no idea when they are starting. This could even affect football, pushing it back, even though we all hope it doesn’t. With basketball there was no decision to be made.”
Self reiterated what he’s said many times before — he’d like to devise a way to honor his 2019-20 Jayhawks, who went 28-3, won the Big 12 regular-season title by two games and were expected to contend for an NCAA crown as the overall No. 1 seed.
“Just like every coach, I feel I didn’t get a chance to hug them, tell them how much I appreciate their efforts as a coach,” said Self, who upon learning that KU’s campus was going to be shut down told his players the evening of March 12 to return to their hometowns as soon as possible.
“I like to be honest. I’ll tell them the truth (during the season) in a positive way that’s softened until we get where we want to go. I don’t go around saying, ‘Hey, Devon Dotson you are the greatest,’ or, ‘Doke, you’re the best,’ but I’ll tell them how well they are doing.
“The season ended and I haven’t had a time to tell them, ‘Hey you were the greatest,’ or, ‘You were the best.’ That’s been disappointing. I know the players are disappointed. We understand there are things bigger than a basketball tournament. Their legacy will be incomplete and there will be an asterisk next to it in the annals of a storied program. They know what they accomplished on the court.”
Self said he does not want anybody to proclaim KU the 2020 national championship team just because the Jayhawks finished No. 1 in the polls.
“I think it would mean something to the players to know people thought we were probably the best team,” he said, “but the reality is, how could Dayton not have their season memorialized? How could San Diego State not? How could Baylor not? An abundance of other teams could say the same thing.
“I don’t think we were dominant by any stretch like Kentucky was in 2015 going into the tournament, where they ran the table and were 32-0. That was not us this year. But in this particular year, when there wasn’t a so called great, great, great team, we were probably as good as the other teams and we were getting better and better. I’d like for there to be something to memorialize, but that way (claiming KU is a national champion) would not be accurate. Our players would probably think about it and say, ‘Coach it doesn’t feel right.’ It wouldn’t carry the same weight whatsoever.”
Self speaks on ESPN.com
Self was asked by ESPN.com’s Myron Medcalf Wednesday how he thinks people will view the impact of the pandemic years from now.
“I hate to say this, but this is like cancer, in that everybody has been affected by that, directly or indirectly,” Self said. “This will be the same way — the same way plus some. It’s sad. It certainly puts things in perspective.”
Self was asked by Medcalf how much he thought about KU’s ongoing infractions case with the NCAA during the actual 2019-20 season.
“We obviously have the NCAA case looming. It’s an inexact science. It hasn’t left my mind in 12 months,” Self said. “I don’t think our players ever thought about it. I never brought it up to them. I just told them that this is what we need to do and to put blinders on. I don’t think it affected our players negatively at all. But I think about it all the time. As a coach, I don’t think I’ve thought about it to where it took away from coaching the team. But I’ve thought about it to the point where hours in the day have been longer.”
On Sept. 23, 2019, the NCAA alleged five Level I violations were committed by KU’s basketball program. KU issued a response to the allegations on March 5. The NCAA’s “statement of the case” is due to be delivered to KU on May 4.
After that, there will be a hearing set for KU to go before the NCAA’s committee on infractions or an independent accountability resolution group.
Some time after that, a verdict will be rendered by the NCAA on the entire infractions case. KU will have the right to appeal any penalties assessed by the committee on infractions but not the findings of the independent resolution group, if it hears the case. North Carolina State currently has a case being heard by the independent resolution group. The Wolfpack athletic department told the NCAA it “did not concede its substantive right to appeal.”
KU could conceivably take the same stance regarding a demand for an appeal if the independent group hears the case.
KU on Hardy’s list of 12
Jaden Hardy, a 6-4 junior shooting guard from Coronado High in Henderson, Nevada, who is ranked No. 6 in the recruiting Class of 2021 by Rivals.com, has narrowed his list of schools to 12, he reported Friday on Twitter.
They are: Kansas, Arizona, Arizona State, Georgia, UCLA, Texas Tech, Georgetown, Oregon, Kentucky, Michigan, Memphis and Illinois.
Pinion offered by Mississippi
Joseph Pinion, a 6-6 sophomore forward from Morrilton (Arkansas) High School, on Friday was offered a scholarship by Ole Miss, Rivals.com reported. Pinion, a four-star player, is being recruited by KU, DePaul, Baylor, Arkansas, Louisville, Illinois, Tulsa, South Alabama and others. He is not yet ranked in the recruiting Class of 2022 by Rivals.
This story was originally published April 18, 2020 at 3:00 PM with the headline "KU’s Self eagerly awaits conquering of coronavirus: ‘This will be Mardi Gras times 10’."
