Chicago ? After a weeklong wait filled with nervous anticipation, the aftershocks of Roy Williams’ decision to leave Kansas University and take the job as North Carolina’s basketball coach hit home Monday in Champaign.
Confirming the fears of Illinois basketball players, fans and alumni, as well as athletic director Ron Guenther, the Bill Self Watch began about 4 p.m. when a teary-eyed Williams left a meeting in Lawrence, where he told his players he was leaving.
Williams’ departure quickly shifted the focus to Self, a former Jayhawk assistant widely considered the leading candidate to replace Williams. Self, known for faithfully returning phone calls, did not return several from the Chicago Tribune on Monday but did issue a statement.
“I have not been contacted by Kansas,” Self said. “There are some programs in America we won’t be able to match tradition with over time. But that doesn’t mean we can’t accomplish some great things here and be considered among that group. We’re in a great situation, and in the immediate future Illinois has the opportunity to springboard nationwide among the great programs. I’m the coach at Illinois. We’re happy where we are. Should anything happen in the future — a year, two years, four years from now — we’ll deal with it honestly and openly. Illinois has been awesome to us, and there have been a lot of people who have gone out of their way to make sure we know they like the direction this program is going.”
Associate head coach Norm Roberts, Self’s assistant for three years at Tulsa and the last three at Illinois, said he doesn’t know what Self will do.
“I have no idea,” Roberts said. “He worries about that, not me. It’s none of my business. He hasn’t really talked about the Kansas job or the North Carolina job. He has been concentrating on recruiting. What he’s doing here is his total focus right now. Personally, I don’t see anything happening as far as him leaving.”
Freshman point guard Dee Brown wonders what will happen.
“It’s kind of crazy, but if going there is the best thing for him and his family, we’ll support him,” Brown said. “But I don’t think he’s leaving. There’s no telling. Things can change. You never know.”
Other possible candidates for the Kansas job include Notre Dame’s Mike Brey and Marquette’s Tom Crean.
Self’s roots are in Oklahoma. He went to high school in Edmond and college at Oklahoma State. His first coaching job was at Kansas in 1985-86, where he was Larry Brown’s graduate assistant. The Jayhawks went 35-4 that season and reached the Final Four. Self often has described that experience as one of the most rewarding of his career.
How a former diehard Oklahoma State player would feel about coaching an intense Big 12 Conference rival is worth wondering about. But so is the question of whether Self could really turn down one of the most prestigious jobs in the college game.
Self’s career chart reflects a man on the move. On the June day in 2000 when he was introduced as Illinois’ 15th head coach, Self promised to be around “for the long haul.” But after leaving Kansas to spend six years as an assistant at Oklahoma State under Eddie Sutton, he was the head coach at Oral Roberts for four years, from 1994-97, and Tulsa for only three more, from 1998-2000, before coming to Illinois.
Self long has professed happiness with his current job. He has a highly regarded recruiting class coming in, which should help his desire to elevate Illinois into an elite program. But he may face a decision as agonizing as Williams’ was.
By 6:20 p.m. Monday, Illini supporters were already planning a pre-emptive strike. Members of Illini Pride, which includes the Orange Krush student cheering section, invited fans to the Ubben basketball facility Tuesday, where they were to “camp out all day and show appreciation” to Self whenever he leaves the building. A separate rally was to be held at the Holiday Inn in Urbana at 4:30 p.m. before Illinois’ annual basketball banquet.
Self is scheduled to leave today for a two-week vacation in Florida. Chances are it won’t be as restful as he might have hoped.
Speculation already is centering on Crean as Self’s most likely successor. At 37, Crean seems to fit the Guenther mold: He’s clean-cut and hard-working with Big Ten and deep Midwestern roots. A 1989 Central Michigan graduate, Crean is a native of Mt. Pleasant, Mich., and was Michigan State coach Tom Izzo’s assistant from 1995-99, a tenure that included a trip to the 1999 Final Four.
Other potential candidates include Brey; Butler coach Todd Lickliter; Oregon coach Ernie Kent, a Rockford native; Xavier coach Thad Matta, who starred at Hoopeston-East Lynn High; and former Bulls and Iowa State coach Tim Floyd.