Two of Kansas University’s biggest financial supporters were thrilled Thursday to hear Bill Self had decided to return for a sixth season.
“I think all Jayhawk fans should be excited,” said Tom Kivisto, a former KU basketball player who, in 2005, pledged $10 million toward improving football facilities.
“Coaching takes a lot of hats today. Bill is one of the best in the game. He’s the type of person who makes a commitment to people. There are a lot of people out there who say they are good friends with Bill Self because he makes them feel that way,” Kivisto added.
Dana Anderson, who has supported many athletic department projects including building the Anderson Family Strength and Conditioning Center, said he’s “tickled to death. I’m elated. Bill is such a neat person, a great coach, a great recruiter. His players are a reflection of the coach and the program. They are a family.”
While neither booster indicated how much money Self would be making upon signing his new contract, both said he’s worth it.
“I think anybody coaching Div. I football or basketball is more underpaid than overpaid,” said Kivisto, who lives in Oklahoma. “What a tough job. You are coaching 18, 20-year-old kids who have the bodies of men. Bill is a great mentor.”
Anderson asked deep-pocketed KU fans to consider donating to KU.
“We need help from the Jayhawk faithful. We need help if we want to remain a first-class program,” Anderson said. “We need to expand Horejsi Center and do some other things. I always say people should give until it feels good. We have to if we want to keep our programs where they need to be.”
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Boone’s bounty: For weeks, there had been rumors OSU booster T. Boone Pickens would try to entice Self with a $6 million signing bonus and $4 million per year for 10 years.
Yet no money was even mentioned at Self’s meeting with OSU AD Mike Holder on Wednesday night.
“I didn’t see any checks,” Self cracked.
Self actually was pleased no money figures were mentioned.
“We started out the conversation by … you don’t make any decisions over money,” OSU AD Mike Holder told the Tulsa World. “You can’t buy anything of value with money. Money provides opportunity and that’s about it. So we talked for the rest of the time about everything but finances and money and that’s as it should be.”
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Consultant: Holder said Self will be consulted about possible candidates for the OSU job.
“The real challenge is to pick the one coach that I think is for us,” Holder said. “That’s my mission. I failed on my first assignment, so I’m going to try someone else. I think everybody and every Cowboy fan would have been very disappointed, as I would have been with myself, had we not given Bill Self an opportunity to come home.”
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Next up: First-round locks Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur are expected to announce their decisions to declare for the NBA Draft in coming weeks. It’s also possible Mario Chalmers will declare for the draft by the April 27 deadline but not sign with an agent.
Players can pull their names out of the draft and return to school if they don’t sign with agents.
“I still think there’s time that needs to elapse to find out who is coming out from general managers, give them an accurate sense of where they view them,” Self said. “I see no reason anybody would rush to making a permanent decision by signing with an agent.”
Rush, said Self, would sign with an agent upon declaring because he already has tested the waters and is ineligible to do so again.
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Off on road: Self is ready to recruit as a national champ coach. He’s off on a recruiting trip today. “I can’t wait to walk in gyms with something on that says, ‘national champs,”‘ Self said. “I’ve always been envious of coaches who do it. Hopefully it’ll benefit recruiting.”
