KU, Self arrive in Utah for NCAA Tournament: ‘Everybody enjoy the fresh air’
For the first time in the Bill Self era, Kansas’ basketball players begin the NCAA Tournament in a locale surrounded by scenic snowcapped mountains.
“Everybody … enjoy the fresh air,” Self, KU’s 16th-year coach, said to reporters at 5 p.m. local time Tuesday — when the Jayhawks’ team bus arrived at the downtown Hilton Center Hotel after a short, picturesque ride from Salt Lake City International Airport to the designated KU team headquarters for the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
“I saw my mountains. They are my mountains,” said Self, who recently snapped some photos of the mountains on a recruiting trip to Mount Pleasant, Utah.
The No. 4 seed Jayhawks, who will meet No. 13 seed Northeastern in a first-round Midwest Regional contest approximately 3 p.m. Thursday at Vivint Smart Home Arena, have opened past NCAA Tournaments under Self in Omaha, Neb., three times. They’ve opened in Kansas City, Tulsa, Okla., and Oklahoma City twice and played once in Wichita; Des Moines, Iowa; St. Louis; Minneapolis; Chicago and Auburn Hills, Mich.
The trip to Michigan in 2006 was KU’s longest journey for first-round games prior to this year’s trek to Utah.
“The trip was easy. It’s nice, beautiful here, perfect weather (50s). Can’t ask for much more than this,” Self said.
He noted that it’s kind of nice to try something different in the postseason.
“We’ve been the benefit of some good geography the last several years, our fans being able to get here,” Self said. “I think with this team, it is probably just as good to get away. I think this is actually perfect.”
His Jayhawks, who take a 25-9 record into Thursday’s first-round clash against Northeastern (23-10), may have fallen from a 3 to a 4 seed following Saturday’s loss to Iowa State in the finals of the Big 12 Tournament.
“I do think there’s a separation after you get past the 3 seeds,” Self said. “You can maybe look at it and say these teams (No. 4 seeds) didn’t have near as good a year as the 3 seeds had or 2 seeds, where in years past there hasn’t been such a division at least based on the pundits and everybody talking. I kind of like it.
“If I tell you I really like it, I’d probably be lying to an extent because then that means I’m OK not being a 1 or 2. Of course we’d rather have a better regular season. We didn’t. It’s still not bad … a 4 seed, a lot of people would sell out for that.”
Of course if KU is able to beat Northeastern and then the winner of Thursday’s Auburn-New Mexico State game on Saturday, KU would play a Sweet 16 game near home next week at the Sprint Center.
“If we could win two games there’d be some distractions next week. Hopefully we’ll have to deal with that,” Self said Tuesday. “We are not going to deal with that at all here. Tickets are tight. Boosters want them, but not like it has been in the past. That’s probably good for players as well.”
Self said the Jayhawks had a good practice before leaving Lawrence on Tuesday after a good practice and also shootaround on Monday. He concedes there could be some changes in matching up against Northeastern on Thursday.
“We could change the lineup but I’m not going to say how we’d change it,” Self said. “I don’t anticipate there being a significant change. I’d still like to say David (McCormack) is starting. Our lineup will be much different the vast majority of the minutes. I feel we’ll have to play that way (smaller).”
The four freshmen (Ochai Agbaji, Quentin Grimes, Devon Dotson, McCormack) have played to an 8-3 record in opening the last 11 games with Dedric Lawson.
“Everyone is as healthy as they are going to be this time of year without question,” Self said. “We’ve practiced short and hard. An hour, 10 minutes this time of year does get kind of long. We’ve gone hard, that’s for sure.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2019 at 9:07 PM with the headline "KU, Self arrive in Utah for NCAA Tournament: ‘Everybody enjoy the fresh air’."