Not a ‘requirement’, but Bill Self believes his KU Jayhawks team will be vaccinated
Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, well in advance of the first day of summer school on June 8.
“I was fine,” Self, who is about to begin his 19th season in Lawrence, said Tuesday, asked if he had any symptoms after being administered the vaccine.
He updated The Star on the vaccination status of the Jayhawks players on the 2021-22 roster. They will report to campus in early June for the start of summer school and workouts.
NCAA rules permit players eight hours of supervised court time and time in the weight room per week (out of season) as long as school is in session. The players also are allowed to participate in unsupervised pick-up basketball games while summer school is in session.
“It’s not a situation we demand or make requirements but I do believe that our entire team will be vaccinated on arrival this summer,” Self said.
“I cant speak to it positively. It’s not a requirement,” Self repeated of players being vaccinated, “but I know that anything to give us a little more normalcy and to allow us to move about in a way that gives us a little freedom, I think all the players and families were welcome to that as far as I know. I do know it (vaccine) has been made available but I don’t know exactly what everyone has done.”
Self was asked if he would recommend the vaccine to his players and/or members of players’ families.
“I think a lot of that is a parental and family decision,” Self said. “I don’t see that is a decision that coaches make on behalf of families and their players. I do think from my standpoint I certainly see a lot of positives from a health standpoint to be vaccinated. I don’t know if all families feel that way, but if they do, certainly we’ll encourage them to get vaccinated as soon as possible if they haven’t already. That’s a family decision.”
Field set for Thanksgiving tournament
Kansas will join seven other teams at the ESPN Events Invitational set for Nov. 25, 26 and 28 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida.
ESPN on Wednesday reported a field of KU, Alabama, Dayton, Miami (Florida), Iona, Belmont, Drake, and North Texas. Pairings have not been announced.
Remy Martin is No. 1 transfer according to ESPN.com
ESPN.com’s Jeff Borzello has ranked future KU point guard Remy Martin the top player to put his name in the NCAA transfer portal this offseason. As of Wednesday night, 1,611 players had entered the portal.
Of Martin, a 6-foot senior out of Arizona State, Borzello wrote: “Martin will likely be a preseason all-conference selection ... a two-time first-team all-Pac-12 pick, Martin averaged 19.1 points each of the past two seasons.”
ESPN.com ranked incoming KU shooting guard Jalen Coleman-Lands the No, 91 ranked transfer in the portal. Of the 6-4 former Iowa State player, Borzello wrote: “Coleman-Lands will be heading to his fourth school (Illinois, DePaul, ISU, KU) in seven seasons, but he brings experience, good size in the backcourt and excellent outside shooting. This past season, Coleman-Lands averaged 14.3 points and shot 39.5% from three.”
Also, incoming KU point guard Joseph Yesufu, formerly of Drake, was ranked No, 117. KU is also bringing in forward Cam Martin, formerly of Division II Missouri Southern. Former KU combo guard Bryce Thompson, who is headed to Oklahoma State, was ranked the 29th best player in the transfer portal.
This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 7:55 AM with the headline "Not a ‘requirement’, but Bill Self believes his KU Jayhawks team will be vaccinated."
