A full range of emotions should grip first-year Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self today as he awaits the 10 p.m. start of his first “Late Night in the Phog” at Allen Fieldhouse.
Self described his thoughts Thursday as “anxious, nervous and excited” one day before his official introduction to KU fans.
“Humble” could also describe Self, who did not want his name included in the 2003 title of “Late Night.” He preferred a title that could last forever, no matter who was KU’s coach.
“Basketball at Kansas is bigger than any individual,” Self said. “It is bigger than coach (Roy) Williams. It is bigger than Dr. (Phog) Allen. It is bigger than Larry Brown. It is bigger than Dr. (James) Naismith. It is about a way of life, no matter what.”
KU basketball certainly is about tradition.
As such, members of the 1988 national-championship team will be honored at Late Night tonight and perhaps take part in on-court activities.
The coach of KU’s last title team — Brown of the Detroit Pistons — has indicated he definitely would return for the festivities.
“Coach Brown has made a lot of sacrifices to come, and he really wants to be here and expects to be here unless there is inclement weather,” Self said of the man he worked for at KU during the 1985-86 season. “I am excited to see coach Brown, to see all the players.”
Today will be a busy day for Self and his players, who will take part in Media Day activities this afternoon at the fieldhouse.
“Late Night is all about having fun,” said Self, whose players will take part in a 20-minute scrimmage at midnight.
“Then I expect Saturday morning to be very businesslike and efficient,” he said of KU’s first official practice, which Saturday morning will be closed to the public.
How much fun will KU’s new coach have tonight?
Don’t expect any dancing.
“Probably not,” Self said.
What if his players force him to boogie?
“Then they will pay at practice (on Saturday),” he said.
The two will arrive in Lawrence at 2 p.m. today, then fly back to Ohio at 8 a.m. Saturday in time for their team’s first practice Saturday night.
“This will be pretty special,” Pope said of the ’88 team’s return.
Everybody is expected back except Scooter Barry, who is playing basketball in Belgium, and perhaps Clint Normore, who may have a work conflict in Oklahoma City.
“I think the guys on this team have a bond because we went through a period of time when things weren’t going well,” Pope said of the team that went from 12-8 after 20 games to 27-11 and national champs.
“That team experienced ups and downs and persevered. We had Danny (Manning), who made everybody around him better, and a pretty dang good coach, too.
“Coach Brown put a lot of the onus on Danny, who responded,” Pope said. “There was Kevin (Pritchard), who I think people overlooked his abilities a lot. Scooter was just coming into his own. Pipe (Chris Piper) was really good down the stretch.
“Milt (Newton) did an unbelievable job on Mitch Richmond (defensively) to get us past K-State (in regional final).”
Pope is a good friend of KU’s Self.
“I was in his wedding,” Pope said. “He hired me as a part-time assistant when he first got the Oral Roberts job. I talk to him at least once a week.
“He is the right person at the right time for KU. Even though he went to Oklahoma State, he loves Kansas as much as anybody. He is a great person and coach. He does everything at an extremely high level.”
“Late Night is where all the fans come and support the team. That’s a good moment right there,” said Jackson, who has attended two Late Nights. “I knew then, the first time I walked in the fieldhouse, this is where I wanted to go.”
There figure to be a couple skits tonight, but not as many as in the past. There will be highlight videos shown on three screens hanging from the rafters, like last year’s Late Night.
