KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At some during this Kansas season, head coach Bill Self deemed this group different than its predecessors. They all turn out to be that way, of course, but this version of KU players had a discernible quality.
They believed they were the most talented group Self had coached. Believed that they had come through a storied program — a true Blue Blood — and bested them all.
Self didn’t have the heart to tell them.
They aren’t.
They weren’t close.
But that’s how they’ll be remembered. That’s exactly why they will be remembered.
Kansas beat North Carolina, 72-69, in the national championship men’s basketball game Monday at the Superdome in New Orleans, erasing a 15-point halftime deficit to deliver the program its long-awaited fourth title in the NCAA Tournament era.
Can we say long-awaited? When you’ve spun the wheel this many times, sure you can.
It’s the second title for Self, joining an exclusive group that includes only two other active coaches — Villanova’s Jay Wright and Rick Pitino, and Pitino has had one of those titles later stripped.
This, though, was Self’s masterpiece.
And not simply because of its remarkable conclusion — KU seemingly dead in the water by halftime, unable to make a layup or couple a defensive stop with a defensive rebound before a swift second-half turnaround. KU didn’t just erase a 15-point lead Monday. It did it in fewer than 10 minutes. It’s a stretch reminiscent of another unforgettable run against North Carolina that prompted Self’s first title with Kansas.
But that was just the ending, and while legacies are defined by endings, and Self undoubtedly cemented his here, the best work of his career came earlier this season. It’s a product of the whole, not some 10-minute stretch.
This was not Self’s most talented group but rather one of his least coveted — not a top-25 ranked recruit among the bunch. The point guard could not shoot. The 7-foot big man and 6-8 four-man could not play above the rim. The All-American could not find a scholarship offer midway through his senior year of high school.
Its a far cry from Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur and Sherron Collins.
Believed they were the best, though.
This team spent 15 consecutive weeks ranked outside of the top-5 because they did not have the talent to be a top-5 team. They hated hearing that, by the way. Christian Braun loved to rub it in our faces when they advanced to a Final Four, but it’s not only accurate to question their talent, it’s actually a compliment.
Never has Self gotten more with less. Again, that’s a compliment. This team out-performed its talent, and that it did so as the season progressed only augments the point.
The Jayhawks were at one point among the worst defensive teams in their conference — a stout defensive conference, to be fair — and then they used their defense to win conference tournament games and seal NCAA tournament wins. An about-face.
The player brought in to revitalize their guard play alternated between an injury and ineffectiveness, and Self did something uncomfortable — he played him anyway. He used the Big 12 tournament to see what he had in point guard Remy Martin, and come to find out, KU wouldn’t have advanced in this tournament without him. Their rotation changed in the postseason.
The Jayhawks were at one point among the worst defensive teams in their conference — a stout defensive conference, to be fair — and then they used their defense to win conference tournament games and seal NCAA Tournament wins. An about-face. The player brought in to revitalize their guard play alternated between an injury and ineffectiveness, and Self did something uncomfortable — he played him anyway. He used the Big 12 tournament to see what he had in point guard Remy Martin, and come to find out, KU wouldn’t have advanced in this tournament without him. Their rotation changed in the postseason.
He adjusted.
A coach that has led his team to a No. 1 seed eight times and a top-4 seed all 18 years made changes unfamiliar to those successes.
Two days ago, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski squeezed into the back of a golf cart inside this same Superdome, prompting the flash from an onslaught of cameras to brighten the darkly-lit tunnel.
“Maybe,” he said, “You can superimpose a sunset.”
And with that, the winningest coach in NCAA history departed the game that has placed him at its mountaintop, a retirement that swings open a door for a new era of college basketball.
Two days later, Bill Self came storming through the entryway.
