Bill Self Comments on Kansas’ Run in NCAA Tournament Following Early Exit

The Jayhawks coach missed the entire tournament due to health issues.

Despite missing the Kansas men’s basketball team’s entire NCAA tournament run due to health issues, coach Bill Self wasn’t disappointed in the Jayhawks’ shorter than expected journey. 

He spoke with the media for the first time on Wednesday since being hospitalized on March 8. During his press conference, he expressed his thoughts on the Jayhawks’ tournament run, which ended quickly after the No. 1 seed was upset by No. 9 Arkansas in the second round.

“Now, do I think, ‘Could I have helped or done this or done that?’ Well, I think everybody would think that,” Self said, via USA Today Sports. “I think the 13th man on the bench would think, ‘Well, if you give me a chance I could have helped. I could have made a play to help us win.’ I think everybody would think that. … I’m OK with how the closure aspect of it, of how it ended, because I knew this, that those kids, whatever their ceiling was, they got about as close to it as they possibly could this year.”

While the coach would’ve rather been at the tournament to help the team, he didn’t spend time criticizing the Jayhawks while speaking to media. Additionally, Self said on Wednesday that he was “100% positive” he will return to coach Kansas next season. 

This all comes after he was admitted to the hospital on March 8 after “complaining of chest tightness and balance concerns.” He then underwent a “standard heart catheterization and had two stents placed for the treatment of blocked arteries.” He missed both the Big 12 conference tournament and the Big Dance.