KU coach Bill Self on expected winter weather: ‘Cold never called off a basketball game’
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self isn’t concerned about the frigid temperatures affecting KU’s game against Harvard. The two teams will face off Thursday at 6 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse on ESPN2.
“We know it’s going to be cold, but cold never called off a basketball game before,” Self said on Tuesday. “So as long as we got heat in the building, we’ll be playing.”
Thursday’s forecast calls for a high in the single digits and a low that will dip below zero. Snow is expected throughout the day, and there’s also the potential for a winter storm. The wind chill could reportedly reach 35 degrees below zero overnight.
Regardless, Self believes KU (10-1) will be ready in any scenario.
“We will have a good crowd and hopefully, if something happens (and) we get the feeling that it’s not going to be (full) because of weather, then hopefully the administration will be creative in figuring out a way how to get some people here,” Self said. “I anticipate our fans turning out just like they always do. Students won’t be here (as) they are gone for Christmas, but I’m sure we will have a nice turnout.”
On the topic of attendance, the Jayhawks notably had a number of seats open in their top-25 showdown with Indiana. The Jayhawks won 84-62, propelling them into the top five (No. 4 in this week’s AP Top 25), but there were around eight to 10 rows of empty seats in the northwest rafters of Allen Fieldhouse as the game neared.
“The way you can tell if our building is juiced is if the corners are full,” Self said after the Indiana clash.
“The students that came were great. We didn’t have good student turnout. We had a good student crowd, but we didn’t have a good student turnout at all.”
