KU’s Bill Self speaks ... on scrimmage, schedule, Big 12 poll, Raptors, De Sousa
Kansas, which can’t schedule any exhibition basketball games or scrimmages against college teams before the first regular-season game on Nov. 25 because of NCAA rules regarding COVID-19, held its second intrasquad scrimmage of the preseason on Thursday.
“There were obviously some bad things that occurred, certainly no attention to detail, don’t guard anybody. You did see some positive things from some individuals,” 18th-year KU coach Bill Self said Friday during a weekly news conference.
He praised sophomore wings Tristan Enaruna (6-foot-8) and Christian Braun (6-6) as well as redshirt freshman Jalen Wilson (6-8 ) for playing well not only Thursday but since the start of practice on Oct. 15.
“Tristan, Jalen and C.B. (Braun), because they are all kind of similar sizes right there, they’ve all had terrific camps,” Self said of the trio, which also fared well in a short 10-minute Late Night in the Phog scrimmage, taped in mid-October and shown via stream to fans on Oct. 23. Enaruna had 10 points in that scrimmage.
“C.B. has probably had the best one (preseason camp) of the three,” Self added of the Blue Valley Northwest graduate. “They’ve all gotten better. Tristan’s stroke looks better. He is more confident and I am more confident in it.”
Netherlands native Enaruna hit two three-pointers in the Late Night scrimmage.
“He is poised to have a big year,” Self said of Enaruna, who Self noted, “can’t be quite as casual. He’s working hard on that.”
“I anticipate him (Enaruna) to definitely be a rotation guy. I anticipate at some point this year he’ll definitely be a starter for us because I think we have enough players who are comparable our starting lineups could switch game to game where it hasn’t been that way much in the past,” Self added.
No complaints about coaches’ poll
Self says he agrees with Big 12 coaches who picked Baylor to finish first and KU second in the 10-team league race.
“Just being totally objective, they (Bears) return the best team on paper,” said Self, whose squad had been picked to finish first by the coaches the previous nine seasons. “We lost obviously two consensus second-team All-Americans (Udoka Azubuike, Devon Dotson).
“That (poll) doesn’t bother me at all. I think they are deserving of that. It’s going to be a great league race. It’s going to be wide open. There will be ebbs and flows. I actually agree with that prediction,” added Self, who voted for Baylor with coaches not permitted to vote for their own teams. KU had three first-place votes; Baylor seven.
Game with Zags planned
Barring something unforeseen, KU and Gonzaga will meet on Nov. 25 in Fort Myers, Florida in the season opener for both teams.
That game and reportedly a KU game versus St. Joseph’s have been scheduled to open the 2020-21 campaign in response to KU’s Wooden Legacy games against Boise State and either UCLA or Seton Hall (Nov. 25 and 26 in Orlando) being called off by ESPN.
“Mark Few (Gonzaga coach) and I are committed to playing each other. Hopefully that will all come to be,” Self said. “The day I called him (Few), he told me he was getting ready to call me. I guess since we both have the exact same birthday (Dec. 27) our minds must think alike a little bit. He was struggling. We were struggling with the Orlando situation. It seemed natural for us to try to do something that would benefit both programs in a big way and be good for college basketball. I don’t think anybody would argue it’s a good game to start the season. That will definitely be one of the most watched and carry as much interest probably as just about any of them.”
KU still has an opening for a game
KU has room for a game, which likely would be played at Allen Fieldhouse, on the 2020-21 slate.
“The question is do we try to schedule one and squeeze it in where it may not fit perfectly or are we better off in a year like this to just play 26 games? We are trying to figure out if there’s a perfect scenario for us,” Self said.
Jossell not practicing yet
Self said freshman guard Latrell Jossell (ankle) still hasn’t practiced this preseason. Everybody else on the roster played in Thursday’s scrimmage.
“He’s not day-to-day. He’s time away. We hope that time is a week,” Self said of the Chicago native. “He has a nagging ankle situation we are a little nervous about. Not (nervous) that it will cost him a season but bringing him back too quick. We’ll err on the side of caution there. We’re hoping within a week.”
Self asked about De Sousa
Self was asked if he had any further reaction to the news this week that KU senior Silvio De Sousa is facing a felony battery charge for allegedly being involved in a fight Jan. 1 outside a Lawrence bar. And he was asked if De Sousa “has a chance to ever come back to the team?”
“You guys read the release. Silvio opted out,” Self said, noting the release said De Sousa would “leave the program.”
“Let’s not read into it any more than what was actually stated,” Self added. “I love the kid. I know what’s been reported and to my understanding it’s been accurately reported. I still don’t know all the details about it (incident). I’m certainly not passing judgment or issuing judgment because I don’t know details and I know there’s a process that has to play out. You guys read it. I think I stated it — eloquently would not be a correct term that I would ever use when I make a statement — but I think I stated accurately on where we’re at. There’s really nothing else to say about it.”
Self in favor of Raptors playing in KC
Self commented on reports the Toronto Raptors might consider Kansas City as a place to play during the upcoming NBA season because of travel restrictions from the U.S. into Canada caused by the pandemic. Self would love for an NBA team to be just down the road from Lawrence, he said.
“When you are looking at what is best for us (Kansas City area natives) as a whole, there’s no question I think having an NBA team play here even if it’s only temporary to put us in a position to show what we can do to posture ourselves more favorably to attract a team permanently, I think it’s a must,” Self said. “We’ve got to go for the throat on that. Chiefs players like playing here. Royals players like playing here. From everything I hear there’d be no reason why NBA players wouldn’t’ like Kansas City I don’t believe.”
Self noted because of state of the art T-Mobile Center and a thriving surrounding downtown area as well as the fact this area is a “hotbed for basketball,” it would “be an unbelievable move” for the Raptors to head to KC for a season.
Self comments on recruiting
The Jayhawks are primed to sign a pair of high school senior forwards — Zach Clemence and K.J. Adams — in the week long signing period that starts Nov. 11.
“If we could get a terrific big or guard then sure we’d jump all over that,” he said of perhaps corralling a third prospect. KU has three scholarships to give in the Class of 2021 at this time.
“I’m not sure the percentage play and best play is to hold and see how things play out second semester. We’ve got so many unknowns going on right now with our program. It’s been very well documented that it’s kind of hard to really sell exactly what a situation would be when we don’t know how to sell that because we don’t know nor does anybody else know (impending results of NCAA investigation into KU hoops). It’s been a challenging time (recruiting only through Zoom since March) but I’ve really been happy what’s transpired so far.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 2:24 PM with the headline "KU’s Bill Self speaks ... on scrimmage, schedule, Big 12 poll, Raptors, De Sousa."
