KU assistant Norm Roberts comments on Bill Self’s health situation: ‘He’s doing well’
KU Athletics announced on Thursday that coach Bill Self would not coach the quarterfinal-round game against West Virginia at the Big 12 Tournament due to a health issue.
During the first game of the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament on Thursday, between Iowa State and Baylor, acting KU coach Norm Roberts, appointed in Self’s place, was interviewed on the ESPN+ broadcast.
He said Self is “doing well.”
“We always say next man up,” Roberts said to ESPN. “We always say faces change, expectations don’t. And that’s what coach preaches every day and our guys know that. We know he’s in good hands, he’s doing well and all those things.”
Roberts was also asked about his experience stepping in for Self during the first four games of the regular season, as Self served a program-imposed four-game suspension.
“Get the guys going, getting them focused into the game, worry about the situations that are going on,” Roberts said of his approach. “Play the next play. Don’t worry about things. And stay positive the whole time.”
Roberts is the first KU coach to publicly comment on Self’s situation since the KU Athletics news release announcing he would miss Thursday’s game.
Roberts was previously a head coach at St. John’s from 2004-10 and also Queens College (1991-95).
This story was originally published March 9, 2023 at 1:14 PM.
