Bill Self welcomes back Jayhawks at Sunday meeting: ‘I really think they are excited’
Kansas’ 17 men’s basketball players appear eager for the start of the 2022-23 academic year, which begins Monday morning in various buildings on KU’s campus.
“I really think they are excited. Everybody was here Friday (two days before it was required to report),” Bill Self, KU’s 20th-year KU men’s basketball coach, said Sunday night after speaking to several thousand KU students at the school’s annual Traditions Night at Booth Memorial Stadium..
Self held a team meeting with his players earlier Sunday, before Traditions Night, that included a Q&A session with Self, KU Chancellor Douglas Girod and athletic director Travis Goff.
“Same as every year,” Self said of his message to the Jayhawks basketball squad in its first meeting of the school year.
“‘You’ve got to be prompt, be responsible, be respectful. Let’s eliminate distractions and let’s do everything we should be doing to put ourselves in a position to have the best year we possibly can.’’’
The Jayhawks starting Monday are allowed to practice up to four hours a week with coaches (and four with trainers in the weight room) up until the official start of preseason drills in late September. Self said the team’s annual Boot Camp conditioning program figures to start around Sept. 13 or 14, with Late Night in the Phog slated for Oct. 14 at Allen Fieldhouse.
KU returns a pair of starters — point guard Dajuan Harris and forward Jalen Wilson — from last year’s NCAA title team.
“There’s may be a different pressure on them this year,” Self said of the team. “We usually get people’s best shot. I think this year you can probably add something to that because we are defending (national) champs. I think our guys know we’ll have to be better this year and probably more committed to take on the field, more so than we even had in the past.”
Self said the team is coming off a productive summer. The Jayhawk players arrived for the start of summer school in early June and headed home in late July, enjoying two to three weeks off before the start of first-semester classes and workouts.
“I think Dajuan was the best player we had this summer,” Self said, when asked by The Star whether there was a star during KU’s summer drills.
“I think he played better than everybody,” Self added of Harris, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound redshirt junior point guard out of Columbia, Missouri.
Self said the Jayhawks (13 scholarship players, four walk-ons) are all healthy entering the first practice of the school year.
There had been some talk that perhaps freshman guard M.J. Rice’s knee, which bothered him in high school, was not 100%.
“I think he’s doing well. I think he’s gotten stronger since he’s been here,” Self said of Rice, a 6-5, 220-pound freshman combo guard out of Durham, North Carolina. “Hopefully it’ll be something that won’t nag him. He’s healthy (and will practice),” Self added.
Self said it will be interesting monitoring the progress of KU’s frontcourt players. Freshmen Ernest Udeh and Zuby Ejiofor are joined by sophs Zach Clemence and KJ Adams and senior Cam Martin.
“Our bigs … it’s going to be a fight each and every day,” Self said.
Why October 14 for Late Night?
Self was asked why Late Night will be held a bit later than usual this year. It was Oct. 1 a year ago.
“I don’t know why we did it that way other than the fact it’s something different,” Self said. “I do think the weather (which normally makes for a steamy fieldhouse in late September) will be more cooperative then. Also I believe it fit with the football schedule, too. We try to do Late Night when the football team is away.”
The KU football team will play home games against Iowa State on Oct. 1 and TCU on Oct. 8. The Jayhawks are indeed away the weekend of Late Night, traveling to Oklahoma on Oct. 15.
Self is a KU football fan
Self told the students at Traditions Night he was excited for the start of football season.
“There’s nothing that energizes a campus more than the football team. And the football team is better,” Self said. “We’ve got a chance. If you (students) show up, sitting over there (pointing to the student section on the east side of the stadium), it gives us a good chance to be very competitive and make you very proud.”
Self added that, “Lance (Leipold, second year coach) is great. He’s going to do a great job here.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2022 at 10:31 PM.
