Bill Self Addresses Report He 'Seriously Considered' Leaving Kansas for Oklahoma State

The Kansas coach played for Oklahoma State in the 1980s.

Kansas Jayhawks head coach Self reacts during the second half against the Iowa State Cyclones at Allen Fieldhouse. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Kansas head men's basketball coach Bill Self spoke up to refute rumors that he considered leaving the Jayhawks for his alma mater Oklahoma State this past offseason.

The initial report from Tulsa World's Berry Tramel noted that Oklahoma State tried to hire Self with a "competitive salary and budget to pay players in this new professional age of college basketball." Tramel also noted that the longtime Jayhawks coach spent time at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., where he considered the job.

Addressing the report through Action Network's Brett McMurphy, Self said parts of the story were inaccurate.

"I spoke to [Oklahoma State], answered questions about the job and offered my opinion about what is needed to win in our league,” Self told McMurphy. “Which I have done every time the job has opened. They got the right guy [in Steve Lutz]. I did join Karsten Creek, one of country’s top golf courses, as an out-of-area member but I’ve never spent a night close to Stillwater in the last 20 years unless my team was playing there."

Oklahoma State eventually hired Steve Lutz from Western Kentucky after the program fired previous head coach Mike Boynton in March 2024 after seven seasons.

Self, 62, played in Stillwater for the Cowboys from 1981 to '85, before he was an assistant on Oklahoma State's coaching staff from 1986 to '93. He was hired by Kansas in 2003, serving as the Jayhawks' coach ever since, winning two national titles along the way.

Maybe Self considered the open job at his alma mater, maybe he just wanted to golf at a premier course.

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