4C
BASKETBALL PREVIEW
THE UNIVERSITY BABY KANSAN
COMMENTARY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2007
KU basketball has it good
Self, Henrickson have potential to make history
Two days after the men's basketball collapse against Bradley in 2006, I got a phone call from an editor at The O'Collegian, Oklahoma State's student newspaper. He asked whether I'd heard the Bill Self rumors.
Rumors? What rumors? Truth be told, nobody was saying much at all about basketball during that solemn hangover for Jayhawk fans, so I'd heard nothing about Self.
Of course! It made so much
sense: A once hot-commodity coach turned postseason flopper returns home with his tail between his legs, pretending to be thrilled to take over at his alma
"He's coming to Oklahoma State, taking over for Eddie Sutton," the guy boldly informed me.
BY ERICK R. SCHMIDT
KANSAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ESCCHMIDT@KANSAN.COM
My reaction? I laughed in the guy's face (via the telephone, but I'm sure he got the message). The problem is, I never bought into any of those doomsday prophecies after the team's second consecutive surprise ending.
mater when really he's ashamed he couldn't hack it in the spotlight.
Now I'm not saying the idea never entered my mind. I'd wondered immediately after the hire of Self in 2003 what he would do when Sutton decided to hang them up. Id even put myself in his shoes, wondering if I would leave a perennial powerhouse (say, North Carolina for conversation's sake) in order to
That's right, I said it. I'm not just a Self supporter, I'm also a Bonnie believer.
return to The Kaw. So I realized it might happen at some point. But I laughed because the O'Collegian editor was making an assumption that fans in Lawrence had turned against Self for his inability to win when it counted. That might fly somewhere else (say, at Chapel Hill for conversations sake), but not here at Kansas.
We recognize a good thing when we see it, and we've got two good ones pacing the sideline at Allen Fieldhouse.
That's right, I said it. I'm not just a Self supporter, I'm also a Bonnie believer.
The women's team was in stagnant disarray when the Athletics Department stepped up and brought Bonnie Henrickson to the University in 2004. Now entering her fourth season at the helm, Henrickson has made leaps both in expectations of her squad and in putting Kansas back on the radar in the Big 12. The team's upset of No. 24 Texas in January 2006 was its first against a ranked opponent since 2001 and sent out a warning signal that the program was headed in the right direction.
The key for both Self and
Henrickson has been their ability to bring in playmakers. The best high school talent on the men's side has been walking through the doors of Allen Fieldhouse for decades now, but the basketball program as a whole has taken a major step forward through Henrickson. The team has scoring threats inside and out with returners Marija Zinic and Danielle McCray holding down the paint and sharpshooter Kelly Kohn scoring from the outside. It's taken a few years, but Henrickson has assembled a team of her own players, and the results promise to be favorable.
Perhaps best of all, there's potential for both coaches to be here for quite some time. College basketball's hottest commodity is young coaches who can bring in the top talent and create excitement within the community for their teams. That's never going to be a stretch in Jayhawk country, but both Self and Henrickson can get the job done. I get excited thinking about the Geno Auriemma/lim Calhoun machine at UConn and hoping something similar could exist here. And why couldn't it? Kansas has one of the top men's basketball programs year in and year out. Both Self and Henrickson have the potential to write their own legacies and make the program theirs.
As for that Oklahoma State editor, I sometimes wonder what he's up to. Picking the Yankees in six, taking the spread against Colt Brennan and stirring the "Steve Spurrier's getting the ax" pot?
Well, keep your hopes up buddy. Maybe next year.
Edited by Elizabeth Cattell
COMMENTARY
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Men's basketball coach Bill Self has a history of winning at all the schools he has coached at. Self has the highest winning percentage of any Kansas basketball coach ever at .784.
Self knows how to win
BY BRYAN WHEELER
KANSAN COLUMNIST
BWHEELER@KANSAN.COM
In the 104 years before Bill Self's arrival at Kansas, the men's basketball team had just seven coaches. Three coaches — Phog Allen, Larry Brown and Roy Williams — were so successful at Kansas that they were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The first one, James Naismith, who — oh yeah — invented the game, was not. Instead, the hall is named the "Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame."
With the exception of hired gun Larry Brown, who coached at Kansas for only four years, the aver age tenure of the other six coaches was nearly 17 years. All were hired with one thing in mind: winning the National Championship. Only Phog Allen, who won three, and Larry Brown, who won one, were able to accomplish this feat.
But if there is anyone out there now who knows how to win, it is Bill Self. Each school Self coached at before Kansas has won. In four seasons at Oral Roberts, he finished 55-54, with his most notable season being 1996-1997, when the team went 21-7. After coaching at Oral Roberts, he went on to Tulsa for three seasons, with an overall record of 74-27, including an NCAA Elite Eight Appearance. After coaching at Tulsa, he went on to coach at Illinois for three seasons, leading the Fighting Illini to 78-24 in three seasons with yet another Elite Eight Appearance.
Through four seasons, Self has the highest winning percentage — at .784 — of any Kansas basketball coach ever. When Self won at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois, fans were just happy their teams were winning. At a school with such a rich basketball tradition, Kansas fans are spoiled. Posting the highest winning percentage of any coach at Kansas in his first four years makes fans want to see Kansas in the
National Championship.
The pressure for coaches to win at Kansas is comparable to other college basketball powerhouses North Carolina and Kentucky, and for college football at Notre Dame, Alabama and Nebraska.
At media day on Oct. 12, fans were hanging out around Allen Fieldhouse hours before Late Night in the Phog. Many were excited about the possibility of Kansas going to the National Championship. Inside the Naismith Hall of Athletics, reporters asked a number of questions, showing the lofty expectations of Self as a coach, and the pressure to win.
Self was asked by one reporter about fans dwelling on last year's Elite Eight loss to UCLA.
"I can't be upset for fans if they dwell on us playing poorly in an Elite Eight Game, because I dwelled on it. I mean, why should they feel any differently than me?" Self said.
While the fans, players and Self would all like Kansas to win the National Championship, the reality is that the NCAA Basketball Tournament is one of the toughest competitions in all of sports.
Self commented on the competitiveness of the NCAA tournament when he said, "You get to the Sweet 16, all the teams are good, everybody can beat anybody."
This is certainly true. Though Kansas basketball is rich in tradition, the expectation for the program to win an NCAA Championship is quite presumptuous.
Not only do fans expect Kansas to be successful, but sports writers often times think the same thing. Almost every year, there is a long list of preseason honors for the basketball team and its individual players. This year, the most audacious comment came from Sports Illustrated's Luke Winn, who said it would be a "colossal disappointment" if Kansas did not reach the Final Four.
When asked at media day about the remark, Self responded, "How can it be a colossal disappointment if you've got ten teams that should be in the Final Four? That's not how athletics work. Would we be disappointed? Yes, but I guarantee it, the
coaches
Coach W-L PCT
Bill Self 105-29 .784
Ted Owens 85-24 .784
Roy Williams 103-30 .774
Larry Brown 108-33 .776
WQ. Hamilton 57-20 .740
Phog Allen 63-24 .724
Dick Harp 72-31 .699
James Naismith 19-23 .452
sun will come up the next day. So colossal, that's not colossal."
Self is certainly right in saying that, and it is no more apparent than looking at the football team. Kansas football coach Mark Mangino was hired to turn around a team that hadn't had a winning record this decade until he led the team to a 7-5 record in 2005.
Source: Kansas media guide
Kansas coaches in their first four seasons
Now, thanks to Mangino, the team is 7-0 and ranked No.9 in the BCS rankings. A year ago, no one would have ever guessed there would be competition at Kansas between the football and men's basketball teams over who would finish the season ranked higher nationally.
The friendly competition was witnessed at Late Night in the Phog, when Mangino made a cameo appearance and received a standing ovation in front of a nearly packed crowd at Allen Field House.
Kansas, still undefeated, was to face Baylor the next morning and Mangino stopped by in between a football team workout to tell Kansas fans, "Have a good time tonight and cheer a lot, but save a little bit for tomorrow morning at Memorial Stadium."
Mangino exited and Bill Self announced, "The best thing that can happen to our school is for the football team to be good, but isn't it about time for basketball season to get started?"
The crowd cheered. During most years when Late Night in the Phog started, it couldn't come at a better time during the football season. Typically, the football team is already out of contention, leaving fans with a desire for what has defined Kansas athletics: basketball
The idea of Kansas being just as much in contention for a National Championship in football as it is in basketball seems absurd. Kansas is the home where the game of basketball was perfected. In 108 years, Kansas has won 1,906 games, made 36 NCAA Tournament appearances, 12 Final Four appearances and won four National Championships. The last time the football team was a national contender was in 1969, when Bill Self was seven years old and Mark Mangino was 13.
While fans may be expecting a National Championship out of Bill Self and the men's basketball team this season, they should remember it has only happened four times at Kansas in the past 108 years. Kansas may have about as good a chance ever this season with Self, and it would be great to see Kansas a national champion, but it certainly won't be a "colossal disappointment" if Kansas doesn't make the Final Four. Just remember, there are 11 other basketball programs in the Big 12 that would love to be in Kansas' position this season.
Edited by Elizabeth Cattell