Bill Self’s KU Boot Camp begins: ‘Today was a challenging day physically’
Kansas’ men’s basketball players, coaches and student managers gathered in the Jayhawks’ practice facility 45 minutes before sunrise Monday, eager for the start of Bill Self’s 2020 Boot Camp.
“Today was a challenging day physically,” Self, KU’s 18th-year coach, said Monday afternoon, asked by The Star to assess the conditioning session that lasted from 6:30-7:30 a.m. “Everyone participated and had great attitudes. We started out tougher than usual. I’m sure guys will be more prepared the rest of camp.”
Boot Camp marks the unofficial start of hoops season at KU. It will run daily through Friday this week, then after a weekend break in the action, will continue next Monday through Friday. At camp, the players run through a series of sprints, defensive slides and backboard touches designed to get the players in tip-top shape.
Self continues to be impressed with the work ethic of the 2020-21 Jayhawks, who have been on campus since Aug. 2, and started the school year on Aug. 24.
“Isn’t it (team chemistry) unbelievable?” Self asked KU assistants Norm Roberts and Jerrance Howard last week on an episode of “Grill With Bill” on the KU athletics website. “What’d we go, four months without seeing them? Half of March, April, May, June, July … we went 4 1/2 months without seeing them (because of the COVID-19 pandemic),” Self added, chatting over a steak dinner he prepared on the grill for Roberts and Howard. “I think it was actually smart looking back, not to bring them in too early (for voluntary summer workouts). So far it’s been good, but I think we would have been pushing it to have them here longer than we did.
“I think the guys’ attitudes have been awesome. I think they’ve worked really hard. I think they like each other. I think they are committed to trying to make each other better and get after each other in the right way. This early, they have good chemistry.”
Howard said the players have been focused ever since they returned to their hometowns the day after the March 12 conclusion of the 2019-20 season because of the pandemic.
“I think it started out well when we had our first Zoom call, our first team meeting when coach (Kurtis) Townsend challenged them to get better, to not just sit at home,” Howard said on the “Grill With Bill” episode.
“Coach Townsend said, ‘Ochai (Agbaji) you need better ballhandling. Marcus (Garrett) you’ve got to get in the gym and shoot. Mitch (Lightfoot) you need to get stronger.’ Those guys took that and kind of ran with it. They got back here and you could tell, they missed each other. They don’t want to leave the gym,” Howard stated.
Self’s job ranked No. 2 in college hoops
KU coach Self has the second-best head coaching job in college basketball according to Rivals.com.
The best job? That’s occupied by Kentucky’s John Calipari, the website states. North Carolina is cited as the third best job, followed by Duke, Arizona, Louisville, Indiana, Florida, Villanova and Gonzaga.
“Every coach wins at Kansas. The last three head coaches, Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Bill Self, the current coach, have combined for over 1,000 wins since 1983 and all three are in the Hall of Fame. All three are terrific coaches, but it’s no coincidence why that’s the case. Kansas is by far the best job in the Big 12,” wrote Dan McDonald of Rivals.com. “There is a super-passionate fan base and all the support you could ask for from the school and athletic department. They have a homecourt advantage that rivals any in the country,” McDonald added.
KU 8th in NCAA.com poll
KU will enter the 2020-21 season as the No. 8 ranked team in the country. So says NCAA.com’s Andy Katz, who has issued his Power 36 rankings following last week’s announcement that the season will begin on Nov. 25 instead of Nov. 10.
Gonzaga opens at No. 1, followed by Baylor, Villanova, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Virginia, KU, Kentucky and Tennessee.
“The Jayhawks get back the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year in Marcus Garrett. David McCormack should be able to replace Udoka Azubuike. The Jayhawks won’t be picked as the favorite in the Big 12, but when have they ever disappointed?” Katz wrote last week.
Texas Tech is ranked No. 15, Texas No. 20 and West Virginia No. 23, while Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are listed as teams “under consideration.”
The teams in the league that did not garner Top 36 mention: Kansas State, Iowa State and TCU.
This story was originally published September 29, 2020 at 9:09 AM with the headline "Bill Self’s KU Boot Camp begins: ‘Today was a challenging day physically’."
