Self going to Final Four to support alma mater

By Gary Bedore     Apr 2, 2004

Bill Self won’t paint his face orange and black and wave pom pons in Oklahoma State’s cheering section Saturday at the Alamodome.

But, yes, he will be rooting for the Cowboys during their Final Four semifinal game against Georgia Tech, which begins at 5:07 p.m. in San Antonio.

“It’s my alma mater. I’d love to see those guys do well,” said Self, Kansas University’s first-year coach, who played at OSU from 1982 to 1985. He also worked in Stillwater, Okla., as an assistant coach on the staff of Cowboy coach Eddie Sutton from 1990 to ’93.

“Coach knows he can get anything he wants from us,” Self said of advice leading up to the game. “My message to him was, ‘We didn’t prepare very well. You might not want to listen to what we have to say about them.'”

Georgia Tech (27-9) edged KU, 79-71 in overtime, in the St. Louis Regional championship Sunday.

“Oklahoma State has a week to prepare. We had one day. They’ll be ready,” added Self, who headed to San Antonio on Thursday morning in time for various meetings today.

Self predicted OSU (31-3) would knock off the Yellow Jackets.

“Georgia Tech has a really good team,” Self said, “but I think Oklahoma State (a 5 1/2-point favorite) is superb.”

Connecticut (31-6) is a two-point favorite over Duke (31-5) in the second national semifinal, to start at 7:47 p.m. Saturday.

“I think we’ll have a UConn-Oklahoma State final,” Self said.

He believes UConn probably will cut down the nets Monday night.

“I would say if Okafor is healthy, I give the edge to UConn,” Self said of the Huskies, who are led unanimous All-America pick Emeka Okafor who has been bothered by a pinched nerve in his shoulder. “He is the big presence. But if he’s not healthy, Joey Graham and Tony Allen … those guys are tough matchups for everybody.”

UConn was the No. 1 team in the country in many preseason polls.

“UConn is the most talented team,” Self assessed. “Duke’s top six is close to being as talented. I think UConn is the most talented, but Oklahoma State has three pros in their starting five.”

Those pros, according to Self, are Allen, Graham and point guard deluxe John Lucas Jr., who averages 15.2 points a game, with dozens of clutch shots to his credit this year.

  • Miami likes KU’s Roberts: ESPN is reporting that the University of Miami (Fla.) is expected to talk to Texas assistant Frank Haith and possibly VCU coach Jeff Capel, Florida State assistant Stan Jones and KU assistant Norm Roberts about its head coaching vacancy. Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez is the front-runner.

  • Recruiting update: Austin Jackson, a 6-1 high school junior guard from Denton, Texas, is setting up a campus visit to KU. He also is considering Illinois, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State.

“I know Austin would like to play basketball at Kansas. That would be his decision, but there are no guarantees,” Ryan High coach Bryce Overstreet told Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com “Austin plans to take an official visit to Kansas.”

Octavious Spann, a 6-7 junior from College Park, Ga., plans on visiting Kansas. Spann also likes Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kentucky and Louisville.

PREV POST

6Sports video: McDonald's All-American player still considering KU

NEXT POST

5872Self going to Final Four to support alma mater