KU coach Bill Self opens up about health issues, including scary incident last July
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- Bill Self reflected on two recent health incidents, one a golfing scare in July.
- He missed KU’s Colorado game with AFib; in previous incident, he had 2 stents inserted.
- He briefly weighed retirement this offseason; Self cited plans to refocus on family time.
In “Made for March,” a new docuseries streaming on Paramount+, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self opened up about two high-profile health incidents from the last 12 months.
That includes one that he feared, in the moment, was a heart attack while golfing last offseason.
The ongoing docuseries follows the KU and Michigan men’s basketball teams from this past season. The first three episodes (out of four) are available now. The last episode will premiere on April 18.
Those past incidents have taken on new relevance following an end to the season where Self indicated he would consider retiring, citing his health, before announcing his return about 10 days later.
Self has had a variety of health issues in recent years. He missed KU’s postseason run in 2023 because he was hospitalized in March after experiencing chest tightness. That time, he also had two stents inserted.
Most recently, Self missed KU’s game this season against Colorado due to AFib, which is an irregular heartbeat.
“The day before we play Colorado, we quit practicing, and when I got up the stairs, I’m like going, ‘Something doesn’t feel right,’” Self recalled in the docuseries. “I go downstairs and I have them check me, and my heart rate was really, really racing. I’m thinking, ‘What do I do? I get on the plane in 30 minutes with my team.’”
Jacque Vaughn coached the team in Self’s place, with Self remaining in Lawrence. At the time, a KU Athletics spokesperson had said Self was hospitalized “out of an abundance of caution” after feeling “under the weather.”
Self also opened up about another hospitalization last July, when he had two stents inserted.
“I was on (hole) No. 5, getting ready to tee off. I actually wasn’t playing bad,” Self said of the incident, which occurred while golfing. “I take a knee, and next thing I know, I’m on my back. I said, ‘I think I’m having a heart attack.’ It laid me up. It was a wake-up call.”
In the series, Self also spoke about managing the work-life balance that comes with coaching a college basketball program.
“I feel like I’ve done a poor job with that line,” Self said. “I feel like my family has benefited from me being a coach, because they’ve been exposed to so many great things. The teams, the travel. But it’s a 12-month, seven-day-a-week job for the most part.
“And too much of my family time involves my job. Even though I spend time with them, I still think I shortchanged them.”
He hopes to change that with his grandkids.
“You can’t get that time back,” Self said. “So I’m really looking forward to not making that mistake with my grandchildren.”
