Following No. 4 seed Kansas’ 67-65 loss to No. 5 St. John’s via a buzzer-beating layup by Dylan Darling, Jayhawks head coach Bill Self was rather blunt about potentially retiring after the season.
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“I’ve gone through some stuff off the court, so I’ll get back and get with family and visit and see what’s going on,” Self said. “I love what I do. I need to be able to do it where I’m feeling good and healthy to do it fairly well. So, I’ll get back home, and it’ll all be discussed.”
The plane ride from San Diego to Lawrence, Kansas, offered Self a good opportunity to reflect on his career and prospects for the 2026-27 campaign.
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On Monday, ESPN college insiders Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel suggested on an episode of ESPN’s College GameDay on Monday that Self is leaning more towards retirement than returning for another season.
Self has had stents placed into his heart two times since 2023. He missed Kansas’ 75-69 win over Colorado on Jan. 20. He missed the entire 2023 postseason due to health issues.
“But I think unless there’s a high probability that he’s going to come out and if there’s a high probability of him returning, I don’t think he would have framed it the way he did,” Thamel said.
Thamel did leave open the possibility that Self could decide to announce he was returning for one more season before heading off into retirement.
Borzello noted that Self has been actively trying to recruit the top recruit for the 2026 class out of high school, Tyran Stokes. With that being said, Borzello suggested Self had some frustrations coaching Darryn Peterson this season, the No. 1 recruit from the 2025 class.
“I know this is a kind of a small piece of the Bill Self, Kansas, basketball, whatever, like they’re considered the front runner for the number one recruit in the senior class, Tyran Stokes, and Self has been pretty aggressively recruiting him,” Borzello said.
“It kind of, in the back of my head, I’m like, would he really go this hard after the number one kid just to retire? But he had the number one kid this past season, and at times he seemed incredibly frustrated with it, and didn’t seem to enjoy it as much as he probably enjoyed coaching the number one kids 10, 15 years ago.”
Borzello thinks Self is “inching toward the exit door” based on his lengthy answer about making a decision on retirement with his family.
Self has had an incredibly successful career as a head coach. He’s won two national championships at Kansas and has made three Final Four appearances. He’s won two AP Coach of the Year awards.
Self has a 634-167 record at Kansas. He’s 841-273 all-time during his stints with Oral Roberts, Tulsa, Illinois and KU.
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