KU’s Bill Self optimistic there will be a season: ‘I think we’re going to play’
Bill Self has a feeling there will be a 2020-21 college basketball season.
“I think we’re going to play. I think there’s a great chance fans will be in the stands,” Self, Kansas’ 18th-year hoops coach, said Tuesday night on an early summer edition of his Hawk Talk radio show.
“I think there will be some nervous moments up until that point, (not) knowing if we can or not,” added Self. He stressed he had no inside knowledge regarding the upcoming campaign, which for KU is slated to start Nov. 10 at the Champions Classic in Chicago.
“We know about as much as we did March 12 to be honest,” Self said of the day the 2019-20 season ended because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. “(Things are) very fluid. Hopefully some things will kind of become clear as students start coming back to campus.”
The NCAA will allow basketball players to return to campus July 6 for volunteer workouts without coaches. On July 20, coaches can begin working with their players eight hours a week until the start of first-semester classes on Aug. 24.
KU’s players have been working out on their own while sheltering in place in their hometowns. Sophomore Tristan Enaruna is back in the Netherlands and is unable to return to the United States until travel restrictions are lifted.
“I think a lot of guys got better this summer based on what I’ve been told because of the amount of playing and individual workouts they’ve been getting playing on their own … even if it’s respective guys going to the gym and working each other out. I think it’s been good,” Self said of the offseason.
Strength coach Ramsey Nijem sends the players workouts on a regular basis.
“We can’t watch them,” Self said of the player workouts, “but I think there are some good things going on there. You have to trust them. They (players) have to care enough and be disciplined enough to do it,” Self said.
He praised senior guard Marcus Garrett, saying, “as far as an all-around defender he is the best (Self has coached). His stroke has gotten a lot better. He’s still got to hone it to become a pro. He’s really working at it from what I hear, I mean really working at it.”
Self also lauded KU’s bigs, noting senior forward Mitch Lightfoot “is so hungry to get going. He has improved his stroke.
“I think David (McCormack) will score more points. He’s much more skilled. Silvio (De Sousa) will have a bust-out season. I’m confident about that. Gethro (Muscadin, freshman big man) will be a surprise,” Self indicated.
Self said he heard freshman guard Bryce Thompson of Tulsa, Oklahoma is “still growing. I think he’s 6-6 now and is getting better all the time.”
Self said he’s looking forward to the players returning to campus so they can continue dialogue regarding social issues that have come to light following the death of George Floyd on May 25 in Minnesota.
“We met as a team Zoom-wise. I was very encouraged about that,” Self said. “Not having many answers at all, but asking the players what they would expect from us (coaches and staff members) and what they would like to see us do or be.
“I think the one thing that has come true more than anything is to stand with each other. We ask them to stand with us daily. I think it’s great we stand with them, too. The biggest thing I’ve learned,” Self continued, “as a head coach we are always the ones barking out instructions and orders. This has been a great opportunity for me to listen and learn from others. Players give you an opportunity to do that. History does as well. It’s so tragic what has happened. Somehow or another I think the movement and stance is very positive and voices are being heard.”
Self said when the Jayhawks return to campus the team will discuss ways to “take a role in trying to do some things not only for our university but for our community as well. I think that’s going to happen. There are so many good things going out there, There’s obviously a ton of bad things too. You have good and bad in everything and what we’ve seen has been awful.”
Self, on a hopeful note, added: “The protests and Black Lives Matter movement and what’s going on ... the voice is being heard and I think it’s very positive.”
Regarding the health issue that’s gripped the world the past three months, Self at least has been able to return to work in his campus office.
“It’s been an unwanted vacation in a lot of ways,” he said. “I have realized this and I”m sure other people have to, I don’t think retirement is for me. I miss going to work. We’re back in the office some, which is more than a lot of folks. We all feel pretty fortunate. But it’s different. You are working with the unknown of, ‘What are you really preparing for and when are you preparing for it?’ Because right now we don’t know what’s going on.”
He asked fans to support the athletic department by purchasing season tickets.
“With us (in basketball) we have been maxed out. Our fans have been so good to us for so many years,” Self said of fans selling out Allen Fieldhouse. “Now heartache has come. Hardship has come. The dollar may not stretch as far as it used to for so many. With that being said whatever we are generating from a ticket revenue standpoint, cut that 1/2 or 1/3, that is so significant (to health of athletic department). We hope everybody can still look to the future even though we know it may be difficult right now.”
KU has instituted a “ticket assurance plan” that will guarantee fans refunds if games are called off because of the coronavirus.
“I think that goes a long way to showing your loyalty to us,” Self said of buying tickets. “We are still going to provide the best medical care, all the best things (scholarships to student-athletes) regardless (of whether teams play this school year or not).”
This story was originally published June 24, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "KU’s Bill Self optimistic there will be a season: ‘I think we’re going to play’."
