It still seems somewhat farfetched, but there is increasing chatter about Kansas Jayhawks’ coach Bill Self leaving Lawrence and heading Austin to take over the Texas basketball program.
Indeed, most of the recent rumors about the longtime KU coach is that he’s considering retirement. But Chip Brown of Horns247 says Self has had a long-standing interest in the Texas job.
Coming off of his worst year at KU, Self has been more vocal lately about changes needed at Kansas for the Jayhawks to be more competitive. Especially in regards to the transfer portal and NIL funds.
“We’ve got to reevaluate how we do things, and you can’t afford misses,” Self said after getting bounced out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round by Arkansas. “There are going to be schools that do a great job (in the portal), but there’s still an element of luck involved. You can go after the kids that you get a great bargain on. You get a good deal on it and all that stuff, but it doesn’t matter unless they fit in and can help you win. We’ve got to do a better job of evaluating the portal, but I’m happy with the roster we had. It just didn’t turn out to be the team that we had hoped it was.”
The 22-year Kansas coach also thinks the NIL has given college basketball more parity than ever before.
“I’d say there’s more parity, and I would say there’s a bigger chance for what is perceived to be an upset in today’s game than what is actually an upset just because of everybody’s gonna have guys that are good enough to pay,” Self recently said. “And you don’t pay guys unless they’re good enough to beat teams that also [have] real guys. So yeah. I’d say there’s more parity.”
There are rumors Self’s agent has spoken with Texas in some capacity, but this chatter is unconfirmed. It makes sense Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte would go after a name as big as Self. Apparently, Self has shown interest. But this could all be a dance by Self’s camp to squeeze more money out of KU’s coffers.
Self denies he’s eyeing retirement, but he might be using the Longhorns to put pressure on the KU administrators. He’s been at Kansas for 22 years and had a lot of success in Lawrence, including two NCAA championships. Stay tuned on this one, it could get really hot.
