Bill Self’s first “Late Night in the Phog” is one he certainly will never forget.
“I have been in some loud places,” Self, Kansas University’s first-year basketball coach, said after Friday’s extravaganza at jam-packed Allen Fieldhouse, “but that place got pretty loud there for a bit.
“That was a little bit overwhelming.”
Self, who coached at Illinois the past three years, was humbled by a long, incredibly loud standing ovation he received after a highlight video of his introductory news conference at KU was shown on three video boards hanging from the rafters.
The fans cheered him for a good two minutes before he grabbed the microphone at center court.
“You guys have already spoiled me,” Self told the crowd. “It gave me goose bumps. I didn’t expect this. It’s better than I thought it would be.”
The building was full at 8:30 p.m. for “Late Night,” which didn’t start officially until 10 p.m. Fans cheered for Self and the 1988 national champions, who were recognized.
The players and coaches from that team were greeted with rousing standing ovations when they were introduced individually.
Former KU coach Larry Brown of the Detroit Pistons — who skipped an exhibition game Friday to be at KU, flying in on private jet at 9 p.m. and leaving on private jet at 1:30 a.m. — spoke to the crowd after receiving a thunderous ovation.
“I spent five of the greatest years of my life in this building,” Brown said. “There is no better place to go to school. There is no better place to play. It’s because of you people here.
“I’ve never had a chance to properly thank you all from the bottom of my heart,” added Brown, who never had spoken to the fans since leaving KU for the San Antonio Spurs after the ’88 season. “I am so proud to have sat on that bench. God bless you all, and go KU!”
Self, who was a graduate assistant on Brown’s 1985-86 team, joined in the cheers for Brown before and after Brown’s speech.
“This night was about the 1988 team coming back,” gushed Self. “It means something to me personally to have coach Brown here because he gave me my first opportunity. I coached against all those guys (on ’88 team) when I was at Oklahoma State. I have the greatest admiration for that team and what it accomplished.”
Milt Newton of the ’88 team also spoke to the crowd, saying, “We all had goosebumps playing here in 1988, and we have goosebumps again tonight.”
Other highlights at Late Night: The current Jayhawks took part in a rap and dance session, with freshmen J.R. Giddens and Omar Wilkes stealing the show with their dance moves. Also, Aaron Miles was emcee of “Soul Train,” in which the Jayhawk players, again led by Wilkes, did some wild dance moves.
“I’m just a city kid who likes to have some fun out there,” Wilkes said after scoring nine points off 4-of-4 shooting in the White team’s 37-32 win over the Blues in the annual midnight scrimmage.
In that scrimmage, after a wild dunk drill in which Giddens dazzled, Wayne Simien hit four of five shots, scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds for the winners. Also, Jeff Graves had eight points and eight boards.
Junior Keith Langford, who had arthroscopic knee surgery Sept. 30, had a dunk and four points. He played just five minutes, electing to ice his knee, which isn’t quite 100 percent yet.
“I probably shouldn’t have done that,” Langford said of dunking. “I knew after that I’m not where I need to be right now, to play at the level I want to right now. I wanted to dunk in the layup line, but I didn’t because I haven’t played in three weeks.”
Self noted structurally Langford’s knee was fine. Langford said he’d continue to practice and receive treatment.
“It was fun,” Langford said of Late Night. “The skits we were involved in were fun.”