Here’s why the KU Jayhawks’ NCAA Tournament appearance ‘does mean more in that context’
Bill Self and the Kansas basketball program live a good life. Lots of money, lots of benefits, lots of fans. It has been this way for what seems like forever, but it can be a burden at KU.
Because basketball is what KU has. It’s what KU does. When you hear KU fans say football is for passing the time before Late Night, they’re not entirely joking.
That burden is even heavier at the moment, maybe the heaviest it’s been. The Jayhawks’ athletic department is riding a massive cold streak. It will soon be paying two athletic directors, and two football coaches. The football team has won 11 FBS games in 10 years. The mismanagement and low morale are now public.
And think about the players who are competing. Basketball players have not been asked to sacrifice like this before: isolate in hotel rooms, trying to wall off an invisible virus, their only face-to-face interaction with other humans coming at practice and during some meals. KU isn’t alone in that, obviously, and everyone agrees the tradeoff is worth it, but man.
There’s a lot going on here.
“I think it does mean more in that context,” Self said. “But I don’t think it’s an extra weight. I look at this as an opportunity to gain, not a situation where you can lose.”
Fair enough, and Self is being both calculating and honest to present it that way. It’s honest because this team has already accomplished plenty, from playing its way not too far away from the bubble to a No. 3 seed with eight wins out of nine games in the last six weeks.
And it’s calculating because he knows this team plays best with a free mind, and doesn’t need the drag of extra pressure or consequence as they begin the tournament against No. 14 Eastern Washington at 12:15 on Saturday (TBS).
But he also knows these are smart kids. These are aware kids.
He knows the unspoken weight hanging above them all — depending on the timing and particulars of the NCAA’s infractions case this could be KU’s last NCAA Tournament for a few years.
For juniors Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack, even if they return for their senior seasons, this bubble tournament could be their last.
KU’s season has been rough by KU standards from the beginning. The recruiting classes have been a bit short the last few years — No. 22 and 15 according to 247 sports, respectively, after ranking fifth and ninth the two previous years — and the margin for error smaller.
This team had to work harder than most to find its best way to win, and Self has said this team came closer to giving up mentally than any he’s had.
There are almost certainly other coaches who could say the same thing. The last 12 months have been varying levels of difficult for all of us. It’s probably true that high-level college basketball players have had it better than most, and given up more than most.
The NCAA Tournament is a microcosm of that. These athletes get to live out their dreams. They get to advance their careers and play for each other and make memories they’ll remember forever. They get to do it all on national television, and how cool is that?
They are also sacrificing even the pretense of enjoying the journey. They are isolated virtually all day in their hotel rooms, their social contacts limited to practice, some meals, and online video games. Bless the heart of the hotel wifi signal.
This is the group on which KU’s annual best chance for glory rests.
“I want it for them, and I also want some good things to happen for our school and our athletic department and I know this could be a way to do that,” Self said. “But it’s not an extra weight. It’s not anything that I feel a pressure that we have to do something. The pressure was basically to put ourselves in a position to be in this spot, and the guys have handled that beautifully.”
That might be the best way this can be framed. Everyone who plays in or works around the Kansas basketball program has already accepted a brighter spotlight and heavier consequence — good and bad.
And in a vacuum, this group’s burden would be lighter than most because the expectations haven’t been as high. Making it through to the second weekend would be a success, and when is the last time a KU basketball team could say that?
At some point in the near future, KU will hire a new athletic director. At some point after that, the athletic director will hire a new football coach. Each will bring some mix of hope and realism to a massive challenge and will need both smart decisions and good luck to build forward.
They’ll also need Self’s program to continue to be the athletic program’s light, and with the case expected to come to some sort of conclusion by the fall this could be the last real chance at good vibes for a while.
Self is smart to shield his players from that. Smart enough to know they might need it.
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 5:00 AM.