san diego – long time kansas Coach Bill Self said after Sunday’s season-ending loss st johns That he has not yet taken any decision regarding his coaching future.
“I’ll come back and visit with the family and see what’s going on,” Self said after the Jayhawks. Lost 67-65 on buzzer-beater In the second round of the NCAA Tournament. “I love what I do, I need to be able to do it where I feel good and healthy enough to do it well enough. I’ll come back home and all this will be discussed.”
Self then clarified that his decision would not be based on any on-court factors, but rather on his health.
The 63-year-old self has faced several health issues in recent years.
In 2023, he underwent a “standard cardiac catheterization” after complaining of chest tightness and missed the postseason. In July 2024, he was hospitalized after experiencing “some worrying symptoms”, then underwent a procedure to insert two stents into his heart two days later.
Then, last January, Self was taken to the hospital “out of an abundance of caution” due to inclement weather, the school said at the time. Despite that hospital visit, Self said Sunday that, while not completely recovered, he is “feeling as good as I have in a long time.”
“I’m not making any statements of any kind,” said Self, who is 634-167 since winning two national championships at Kansas in 2003. “When you’ve been doing it as long as I’ve done it, I look at it in five-year increments. Now I’m probably looking at it in two-year increments, so to speak. So I try to focus on this season and try to get us to another weekend, which we failed at. So I’ll go back now and break it down and see where it goes.”
Can only watch in shock as Jayhawks erase 14-point deficit against Red Storm dylan darling Ended his season by slipping through the defense for the winning layup at the buzzer.
“One of the things that makes [the tournament] So great that it can be great, but it can also be cruel,” Self said. “I’m certainly disappointed, sad for our guys, because they tried so hard. But just a tough afternoon.”
Self’s teams at Kansas have now failed to make the second round of the NCAA Tournament in four consecutive years.
When Self was asked about the string of short tournament runs, he said, “The first year we were the 1-seed, and I had serious health problems and I didn’t finish the season.” “The last two years haven’t been – well, including this year – it’s been inconsistent and not as good. So obviously it’s disappointing.”
While Self said he would like his fourth-seeded team to be more consistent during the season to earn a higher seed, he emphasized the notion that the program needs to change its identity moving forward.
“I really believe we need to do a really good job at evaluating and recruiting,” Self said. “I think as of today, the next four to six weeks will be indicative of the question that was asked earlier: ‘How can you better yourself going forward?’ “The next four to six weeks will be the most important time to do this.”
