LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self, who underwent a heart catheterization procedure on March 8 at Kansas Health System — a health “scare” that prevented him from coaching in the 2023 postseason — said emphatically on Wednesday he has zero plans of ending his Hall of Fame career anytime soon.
The 60-year-old Self — he has completed 20 seasons at KU — squashed any and all rumors of possible retirement at a late morning news conference at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Unless my athletic director or my chancellor makes the decision to contradict that, I am 100 percent positive I will be coaching at the University of Kansas this upcoming season and hopefully many more after that,” Self said.
Self, who had two stents implanted for the treatment of blocked arteries by doctors during his four-night stay in the KU hospital, said he currently has zero restrictions and is back coaching and recruiting full-time.
“I’ve been cleared (for travel),” Self said. “If I wanted to go powerlift right now I could go powerlift. I can do whatever. I’ll probably still bunt it off the tee (golfing), but I did that before.”
Feeling physically strong, Self has been in the office full-time of late.
“I need to be living in the portal right now. That’s what we’re doing,” Self said, noting KU is in the market for at least three transfers in response to five members of the 2022-23 team recently announcing plans to transfer.
Self on Wednesday told reporters he is “doing well” physically.
“I’ll be honest, I have not done a lot since the Big 12 tournament,” he indicated. “I am exercising almost daily. I don’t know if you guys can believe this … they told me I need to improve my diet and exercise more. I don’t know if anybody could believe that.
“I am actually in the process of doing both and have been pretty diligent at that. I feel fine. My energy level is probably back to where it was prior to the episode.”
That “episode” included tightness in his chest and a general feeling of shortness of breath when he went to the hospital.
“But (my energy level) is not getting to where it’s ready to go, I believe,” Self added. “I think sometimes we don’t realize we don’t feel well until we actually feel well and know the difference. I’m in the process of feeling well again and am excited about that.”
Self made it clear that what he called a “health scare” has actually made him want to coach many more years.
“The last several weeks,” Self said, “I’ve been able to reflect on a lot of things. One thing I can tell you without question, I missed my job. I love my job and I want to do my job for a long time.
“That’s what was positive. For me to be as effective doing it I have to wake up a little bit, maybe do some things from a lifestyle standpoint, personal habit standpoint that I’ve been very very inconsistent with my entire adult life. Can you imagine doctors telling you need to lose weight, eat right and exercise? I’ve been told that a long time. I’m taking that serious for the first time I have probably in my life. All this did from a job standpoint is reconfirm how much I love doing what I do.”
Self said the health scare did made him think about the future. He confirmed he recently bought property in Florida where he vacationed with his wife last week.
“My end, … I don’t even see the upcoming train down the track,” Self said,. “When I think of the end now after sitting out and not doing this for a while, I think of it (retirement) being further away.”
Self on Wednesday publicly thanked the doctors and medical staff at Kansas Health System and thanked fans and his coaching peers for all the cards and text messages he’s received the past month.
Because of the medical care he received he said, “I was never scared that I wasn’t going to be OK. It was a different feeling, kind of an out-of-body experience. You don’t know what’s going on. It was something I never experienced before, (but) it was never to the point I felt I was in danger. I was in such good care I just knew I wasn’t right.”
He also thanked his players and acting coach Norm Roberts for their efforts when Self was in the hospital. KU lost to Texas in the finals of the Big 12 tourney and in the second round of the NCAAs to Arkansas. Self said he was told he’d almost certainly have been able to coach in the Sweet 16 in Las Vegas had KU clipped the Razorbacks.
“I thought Norm and the staff did a great job,” Self said. “We were in great hands. I feel the reason we were not successful against Arkansas had nothing to do with me not being there. I’m actually OK with the closure aspect of how it ended. I knew those kids, whatever their ceiling was, they got about as close to it as they possibly could this year.”
