Kansas Jayhawks arrive in Chicago, which Bill Self says ‘has been very good to me’
Bill Self says Chicago is indeed his kind of town.
“Chicago has been very good to me and our programs respectively at Illinois and obviously at Kansas,” Self, the Jayhawks’ 19th-year men’s basketball coach said Wednesday night upon arrival at the Westin Michigan Avenue Hotel. That’s team headquarters for the Jayhawks, who play Providence College in an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game at 6:29 p.m. Friday in the United Center with the winner meeting either Iowa State or Miami in the Elite Eight on Sunday.
“We’ve gotten some really good players out of these areas, going back to Champaign, too,” added Self, the coach at Illinois for three seasons before coming to KU. “Certainly it’s nice to be back. I love Chicago, especially in the springtime. The weather’s really changing,” he joked on a rainy day with temperatures in the 50s. “If I had to pick any place for us to be playing this weekend it’d be here.”
Since he’s been at KU, Self has recruited and signed Chicagoans Sherron Collins, Julian Wright, Jamari Traylor, Mario Little and current Miami guard Charlie Moore to name a few. Devon Dotson grew up in Chicago then moved to North Carolina for high school.
Current Jayhawk Joseph Yesufu is from Bolingbrook, Illinois. He’s said he often drove into the city for workouts and AAU games.
At Illinois, Self coached Chicago natives Dee Brown, Luther Head and others.
“Yes it’s always been,” Self said, asked if Chicago is his favorite town to recruit. “I always thought kids from Chicago were tough. Illinois basketball is so loved in this state that Illinois kids … there are so many good players. I always thought if there were six top 50 players from the state of Illinois every year and you got three of ‘em you’d go to the NCAA Tournament every year. You can’t help but go (to tourney), maybe (with) two (players).”
Asked to name his favorite high school gym, Self said: “I’ve been in, not most of them, but a lot of them. Probably more Crane Tech,” he added of point guard Collins’ alma mater.
KU has played in Chicago once before in the NCAA Tournament during the Self era. KU in 2007 defeated Niagara, 107-67, in the first round, then Kentucky, 88-76 in the Round of 32. KU went on to defeat Southern Illinois, 61-58 in the Sweet 16 before losing to UCLA, 68-55, in Anaheim, California.
“I remember Brennan Bechard (former KU player now director of basketball operations) played in the game against Niagara and shot a free throw wide right. We give him crap about that … that is his NCAA Tournament highlight,” Self said with a smile. “We played great. If I’m not mistaken we beat Niagara and Kentucky and played really well. That doesn’t mean anything moving forward. We’ve had some teams play pretty well up here,” Self added. His Jayhawks are 2-1 in Champions Classic games in the Windy City, beating Duke and Kentucky and losing to Michigan State.
Self is pleased the Jayhawks are playing Friday and perhaps Sunday in Chicago, rather than Thursday-Saturday like last week’s action in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Playing on Friday is good for us. We needed that, Self said of giving senior forward Mitch Lightfoot and his sprained knee more time for treatment.
Self said Lightfoot was probably 75% healthy for first- and second-round wins over Texas Southern and Creighton.
“It (knee) may not be 100%. It gives him a better chance of being effective, I think it will be much better this weekend,” Self added.
He said senior forward David McCormack (sore foot) practiced Monday and Wednesday.
“He’s fine,” Self said.
This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 7:44 PM.
