National media has harsh words for KU after giving Bill Self a lifetime contract
It’s fair to say that Kansas’ decision to give men’s basketball coach Bill Self a “lifetime” contract extension sent ripples through the sport.
The deal is a five-year rolling agreement that automatically adds one year at the conclusion of each season for the rest of Self’s career. It comes while the KU basketball program is under an NCAA investigation alleging major infractions.
News of the deal was met with harsh words from many national media members. Here is a sample of what they’re saying.
Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated wrote a column with the headline, “Bill Self’s lifetime contract makes clear where Kansas’ priorities lie.”
Here is an excerpt: “In the throes of an infractions process that has resulted in major allegations from NCAA enforcement, which could lead to huge penalties, Kansas has up and given Self — who is personally charged with a Level I violation — a lifetime contract. It’s a rolling five-year deal that specifically states he cannot be fired for cause due to NCAA sanctions. It is impressively brazen, and also extremely on-brand for the school that claimed victimhood in the federal corruption scandal, sued Jim Gatto, broke out the money cannons for Midnight Madness, and then complained that the scandal has hurt recruiting.
“I mean, at least Kansas isn’t trying to be something it’s not. It is admitting that is winning is all that matters and skipping the pretense.”
The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel said the contract is further proof of how college sports have changed:
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum didn’t hold back in his criticism of KU during a visit to WJOX’s “The Roundtable” on Monday morning.
“Well, I mean we’re talking about a soulless program and we should never be surprised,” Finebaum said. “The fact that this happened without an athletic director is even more amazing to me. But it just goes to show you that powerful coaches nowadays, in any sport, are controlled by the people that matter and those are not the people in the chain of command. You guys have watched that all up close with some of the machinations at Auburn.
“By the way, we act like Bill Self founded the program. This is the birthplace of college basketball. They’ve had some pretty iconic coaches and national championships. You mention Roy Williams. Just think about that for a second. I was never that big of a Roy Williams fan. You can blame him for a lot of things at North Carolina, but most of the NCAA situations were institutional there. They were there long before he arrived. Bill Self, to me, is the poster child for ‘nobody in college basketball cares about integrity.’”
USA Today’s Dan Wolken called it “university malpractice.”
This is what Fox Sports’ Aaron Torres tweeted:
Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports said the timing of the contract was no coincidence.
