Nick KrugHONOLULU ? Moments before checking in to the team hotel on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Kansas men’s basketball coach caught up with reporters after a travel day that spanned roughly 20 hours from the time the Jayhawks left Lawrence and the time they arrived at the hotel, their home away from home for the next few days.
“It was long,” Self said of the travel day. “Wake-up call at 3:45, depart at 4:15. We always called it negative driving when you went the opposite direction that you wanted to go, and we did some negative flying today.”
Two of the three planes that carried KU’s travel party went through Atlanta while the third traveled through Salt Lake City. Self and the players were on one of the Atlanta flights and their final flight of the day took about 9 hours.
Asked if he thought his team would have enough time to recover and regroup before Friday’s 8 p.m. (central) tip-off against No. 11 Indiana in the season opener at the Armed Forces Classic, Self hardly seemed worried.
“I think so,” he said. “We’ve never had a problem coming this direction. Doesn’t mean you’re gonna play well, but, you know, you get four more hours or rest.”
The Jayhawks had a 9 p.m. local time curfew on Tuesday night and are scheduled for a busy day Wednesday, beginning with a 9:30 a.m. practice at the military base near Pearl Harbor. Thursday morning’s practice will take place at the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawaii campus, where Friday’s game will take place.
Self said the military aspect of this event played a huge role in Kansas’ willingness to participate.
“It’s the reason why we came,” Self said. “We wouldn’t have come if it weren’t for that. We were just here last year (at the Maui Invitational), we’re not gonna have a big contingent of fans here. Most of our fans, I think, will be in New York (for the Champions Classic vs. No. 1 Duke on Tuesday) and we knew that. But it was an opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime type deal, to be a part of the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. We’ll get an education in some ways that, obviously, none of us would’ve had an opportunity to get.”
Before finishing the night by watching the results of the 2016 presidential election, Self said the Jayhawks were largely healthy and added that, after a busy day Wednesday full of scheduled appearances and obligations in and around the military base, the team would get some free time on Thursday.
“Yeah, we’ll have a free day from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.,” Self joked. “But it’ll definitely be free for that hour.”
As for the election, which was just heating up when Self spoke with reporters, the KU coach showed clear interest in the race to become America’s next president.
“I actually purchased Wifi to try to watch it (on the plane) and it didn’t really work very well,” Self said. “But I tried to get it. I watched it a lot since we landed and it looks to me like there’s some surprises going on, which, I guess, you can expect the unexpected.”
