Kansas basketball coach Bill Self enjoyed return to Illinois, but didn’t call it emotional
CHAMPAIGN, Illinois — Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self received a mostly positive response from the crowd Sunday, as he took the court ahead of the Jayhawks’ exhibition game against Illinois.
It was a return for Self to a place he served as the head coach at for three seasons, before he took over at Kansas ahead of the 2003-04 campaign. With the Fighting Illini, he won multiple Big Ten Conference titles and went as far as the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. And after an 82-75 loss against Illinois, Self reflected on what it meant to come back.
“It was good to walk in, but it wasn’t emotional — not at all,” said Self, whose return also served as an opportunity to raise money for the wildfire recovery efforts in Maui in Hawaii. “Would it have been 15 years ago? Yes. But there’s enough water under the bridge. I’ve had enough stuff happen and real life episodes and events go on to make it, a departure from an institution, not seem quite as big a deal as what I thought it was in real time.”
Here are some more takeaways from what Self had to say about his return:
Bill Self was able to reunite with some former Illinois players
Self highlighted that he is on text threads with former players, but noted as well that it was good to see some of them again. He wished there could have been more there, and estimated the number who were at eight or nine. And most of all, what Self found special is one of them told Self he had gotten his degree.
Bill Self reflects on some past games with Illinois
The last home game Self coached at Illinois was a game against Minnesota that the Fighting Illini won 84-60. It was Sean Harrington’s senior day, Self explained. But, Self acknowledged, he doesn’t really remember that game.
What Self does remember, are a couple of other games from his time at Illinois that he considers special. One was a win at home against Seton Hall, when the Fighting Illini overcame a 17-point deficit at halftime to win in overtime 87-79. That came during the season that Illinois made its Elite Eight run under Self.
Bill Self shares how coaching at Illinois helped him
The way Self’s coaching career played out initially, as he put it he never really “left the nest.” Not long after playing at Oklahoma State, he spent a number of years as an assistant coach there. His first two head coaching jobs, Oral Roberts and Tulsa, came at schools that were also in the state of Oklahoma. The move to Illinois meant an entirely different situation that Self had to navigate.
Looking back, Self considered those years with the Fighting Illini as a great learning experience. He said he grew up more at Illinois as a coach than anywhere else because he had to. All in all, it’s a chapter in his Hall of Fame career that prepared him for the success he’s had at Kansas.
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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball coach Bill Self enjoyed his return to Illinois
