Lawrence
Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self has had a permanent smile on his face the past 10 days, ever since the Jayhawks cut down the nets after a 72-69 national championship victory over North Carolina in New Orleans.
“I haven’t come down yet. I don’t know that I want to,” Self said at the start of an hour-long address to well- wishers attending KU’s postseason hoops banquet Thursday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Though the celebrations will continue — Self indicated the White House has initiated discussions with KU regarding possible dates when the 2022 champions might be able to travel to Washington, D.C. to meet the President — KU’s coach said it’s also time to return to the daily grind involved in keeping his team at or near the top.
“I’m overwhelmed, humbled. A lot of people believed in us and gave us this opportunity,” Self told banquet-goers, referring to winning the NCAA title. “I’m forever thankful to them. We’ve got to get back to work, too. As good as this feels, we need to capitalize on this to give us an opportunity to maybe feel it again in the not so distant future. We’re definitely on a high now. But we’ve also got a lot of work to do.”
Thursday’s banquet celebration included Self accepting the NABC National Championship trophy and awarding the Danny Manning Mr. Jayhawk Award (which goes to the team MVP on and off the court) to three players — Ochai Agbaji, David McCormack and Mitch Lightfoot.
“I was going to give it to seniors. Those guys have all given their heart and soul to this place anywhere from four to six years,” Self said. “I personally thought it was a no-brainer. Mitch, Dave and Ochai have represented us in every good way possible. That was easy.”
Lightfoot has used up his collegiate availability. But Agbaji and McCormack have super-senior seasons available to them, if they wish to play in college another year.
“I will make the announcement for him,” Self said, smiling, referring to first-team All-American Agbaji entering the 2022 NBA Draft. “Don’t hold your breath on him coming back another year. It’s time for him to go.”
Agbaji, who has said he’ll be traveling to Phoenix soon to start workouts in preparation for the draft, indicated after the banquet that he’ll have an announcement soon, making official his decision to turn pro.
Meanwhile, Self conceded senior forward McCormack, as well as senior-to-be guard Christian Braun and junior-to-be forward Jalen Wilson, have decisions to make regarding possibly testing the waters for the draft.
“They’ll be making their decisions I’m sure within the next week. When they do you guys (media) will know,” Self said. “I’ve visited with all of them. I have an opinion and think my opinion aligns with theirs, but that’s for them to tell you when the time is right.
“I don’t know exactly what will happen with all of them. I think they will approach this very maturely, in a way ‘Och’ and Jalen (who returned to school after testing the waters last offseason) approached it last year.”
Self said his communication with the three possible draft picks has been more, ‘Hey, I’m here if you need more information,’ stuff like that. They’ll let you know what’s going on soon.”
Of his impending decision about staying at KU or turning pro, McCormack said: “It takes a lot of time and thought. Right now I’m looking for feedback as far as what’s going on, how teams feel about me before I make any type of decision. That’s the only type of thought I’ve put into it.
“It is a bonus, something I have in my back pocket a lot of people don’t have the good fortune to have,” he added of a potential super-senior season. “I’ve got to hear what the feedback is before I can lean in any certain direction.”
Of Braun and Wilson, Self said: “Both have a chance to have big, big, big next years. But I don’t think you should look at it that way. Look at it as go get feedback. After you get feedback you can make a decision. You don’t worry about next year until you see what is right in front of you now.
“There’s nothing wrong with them testing, but that’s going to be Jalen’s decision, whatever he decides to do. I told the guys right after the game (against UNC), ‘Whatever you guys do, you deserve to make that decision. You have our support all the way.’’’
As far as possibly adding recruits or players via the NCAA transfer portal, Self said: “I think we are open to whatever now. A lot depends on guys’ decisions (regarding NBA or possible transfers). I personally think with the likelihood that ‘Och’ is probably not going to be back we certainly could use a guard, a tall shooter or guard who can play maybe combo. We’d like to get a guard who can score the ball.”
Chances are it’ll be another busy offseason at KU.
“When we won it in ’08 I remember telling our guys in June, ‘What have we really done to get better?’” Self said. “We have to work smart, basically stay grounded, know what we’re here to do, to put the best product we can on the floor. You don’t do that by going to banquets and speaking, you do it by grinding, and we’ll get back to grinding.”
