LAWRENCE, Kan. — Bill Self realizes that as time goes by, college basketball fans nationwide will not care much about the Kansas Jayhawks’ magical 28-3 season of 2019-20.
Self, KU’s 17th-year hoops coach, does hope, however, that this squad, which was ticketed to be the No. 1 overall seed in the 2020 NCAAs had COVID-19 coronavirus not forced cancellation of the postseason tournament, will forever be recalled fondly by Jayhawk supporters.
“Ten years from now they are not going to talk about what could have been. Nobody is going to talk about that,” Self said. “There will be something new to talk about, but I hope these guys are remembered by our fans as being a team that was probably as special or as close to special as any team that they’ve supported during their time supporting Kansas.”
Self was speaking on KU’s official podcast, “The Jayhawker,” hosted by Brian Hanni.
Self said he personally will remember something besides the team winning the Big 12 regular-season title and finishing the campaign on a 16-game win streak.
“They were the best I’ve ever been around in dealing with distractions. This team dealt with distractions better than any team could ever deal with distractions, and they thrived on it,” Self said.
Distractions this past season including the program receiving a notice of allegations from the NCAA; a Late Night in the Phog that included a risque Snoop Dogg performance; and a melee at the end of the KU-Kansas State game in Lawrence that resulted in suspensions of two players from each team.
“Let’s just call it like it is. This year’s team carried their coach,” Self said. “I know there’s other times where a coach can do things maybe to kind of help a team along. No … this year’s team carried me, and they somehow, whether they thought about it or whether they did it by accident or whether they did it intentionally, somehow they let me be me and still yet carried me with an understanding that, ‘Hey coach we got this. Don’t worry about this. We got this.’
“So to me that will be the thing I’ll carry with me probably about this team as much as anything else because their attitudes were so good. They deserve a lot of credit, even more than the staff does.”
Self said he believes the Devon Dotson/Udoka Azubuike-led team did have what it takes for a long NCAA run.
“What do you have to do in the NCAA? You’ve got to be tough. You’ve got to guard, obviously,” said Self, who calls Marcus Garrett the country’s “defensive player of the year,” and notes that Azubuike “challenged every shot and changed team’s game plans.”
He also noted that point guard Dotson led the team in steals. He had 63, Garrett 56.
‘“You’ve got to know how to handle pressure and know how to deal with distractions because there are so many moving forward (in the tourney),” Self said. “I really believe this year’s team had a real shot, just as I would say the team in ‘08 did as well,” he added of the 2008 national champs.
Self, as stated before, liked the intangibles of this team — one that basically went eight players deep.
“I think every coach is very, very biased in how he feels about his own players,” Self said. “I’ve heard so many coaches over the years say, ‘I’ve got the best kids in the world.’
