We’ve known for years that Kansas basketball coach Bill Self is a master at recognizing an opponent’s zone defense, breaking full-court pressure or running set plays, both during live action or from out-of-bounds sets, that get the Jayhawks easy baskets.
But his handling of the recent Carlton Bragg Jr., situation proved, yet again, that Self is equally as adept when it comes to off-the-court situations.
When the Bragg news first broke last Friday, there were many who believed Self should hand out swift and firm punishment. When Bragg showed up to the Nebraska game wearing street clothes at the end of the bench instead of sulking in his dorm room, many more believed Self had misstepped.
And now that the charge of misdemeanor battery against Bragg has been dropped and the sophomore from Cleveland has been cleared to return to competition, there are many who find themselves apologizing for the way they reacted throughout the whole ordeal.
But not Self. He doesn’t need to. The Kansas coach handled the situation perfectly from the beginning by demonstrating equal parts compassion for his player and respect for the legal process and serious nature of the accusations and never fell on either side of the fine line that exists in such cases.
And it’s not like Self stayed in the clear by avoiding the issue altogether until it was resolved. He spoke with reporters on Friday, just hours after Bragg was arrested, and again for nearly 15 minutes following last Saturday’s game. He did not have to speak at length either time, but, in doing so, showed, in some small way, why he has been so successful as the head coach at Kansas for all these years. He remained calm, in control and sought the absolute facts before making any final decisions.
In a perfect world, situations like the one Bragg found himself involved in would not exist. But we all know this is far from a perfect world and these situations, as well as others, do tend to surface. It happens all the time on campuses across the country with regular college students and, right or wrong, becomes much bigger news when said college students happen to play basketball for one of the country’s powerhouse programs on a team ranked third in the nation.
Because of those last two factors and the national publicity that come with them, situations like these create a lot of tension and put people on edge. But Self never showed it. He spoke clearly, respected the legal process fully and, at the same time, continued to support Bragg, without coddling him, while the investigation remained ongoing.
That’s hard for most parents to do let alone the coach of a basketball program that’s under a constant microscope.
I don’t expect we’ll hear much more from Self on the matter. Now that Bragg has been cleared and the issue is in the past, it’s all about moving on and returning to basketball.
The Jayhawks have two games remaining in non-conference play — Saturday vs. Davidson in KCMO and next Thursday at UNLV in Las Vegas — before jumping into the always-tough Big 12 portion of their schedule and still have plenty of work to do to become the type of team Self believes they can be by season’s end.
As for Bragg, who struggled to find his rhythm on the floor during the first nine games of the season before the incident occurred, he can go one of two ways.
The first has him still shaken by the situation and never fully able to move past it, continuing to battle through frustration on the floor and serving mostly as an extremely talented role player for the remainder of the season.
The second has him operating as a much different player than any we’ve seen to this point in his career. Focused, hungry and even possessed as a basketball player, this incident — and having basketball temporarily taken away from him — could have helped Bragg mature and may lead to him using basketball as an outlet for his frustrations.
If he takes the second path, there’s still plenty of time for Bragg to live up to the enormous expectations that people had for him entering this season. And if that happens, this already-talented Kansas team will get a lot better in a hurry.
