Svelte KU coach Bill Self speaks about Jayhawks men’s basketball team at golf outing

Bill Self, who has dropped an untold number of pounds since undergoing a medical procedure on his heart in March, accepted the many compliments delivered by 100 or so KU basketball fans at the 21st annual Otto Schnellbacher Golf Classic on Monday at Shawnee Country Club in Topeka.

"I can't believe how many people have come up to me and said, ‘You look so much better.’ That's a nice way to say, ‘You looked like (bleep) before,’’’ Self, Kansas’ 60-year-old men's basketball coach, said to laughter.

Self, who is beginning his 21st season at KU, explained why he didn't participate in the golf outing that was hosted by the Topeka Jayhawk Club.

"I’ve got my camp going on and have to get back to Lawrence," he said. Self's yearly basketball camp has attracted 900 youths to KU's campus this week; another session is planned for next week.

It's going to be a busy summer for Self. Coaches starting Tuesday (during the two-month summer school session) can work with their players up to eight hours a week in accordance with NCAA rules. Next month, KU can hold 10 days of full, two-plus hour practices in advance of a three-game, one-week excursion to Puerto Rico.

He's looking forward to instructing his three returning players and seven newcomers.

"Our team is going to be OK," Self told the group of golfers Monday. "Lance (Leipold, KU football coach who spoke to the golfers as well as KU AD Travis Goff) says he has 118 guys out for his team. We’ve got 10. We could use one or two of his athletes. We don't care about offensive linemen. We need defensive backs and wide outs," Self joked.

On a serious note, Self said of the roster of 10 scholarship players: "I really do like this team."

He noted that the roster of scholarship players was reduced by one last week when freshman guard Chris Johnson of Montverde (Florida) Academy decided to reopen his recruitment and not attend KU after all.

"We had a young man decide not to come on Thursday. That to me opens up (a spot on roster). We’re open to anything." Self said. "We only have 10 youngsters on scholarship now. We could definitely do something. The pool of players (in transfer portal) has shrunk tremendously. It will not be quite as easy to find somebody that could impact this particular team based on the pool of players that are left. I have a suspicion there may be an opportunity coming up pretty soon where could do that (add a player). Hopefully that will be the case."

KU's three returning starters are: Kevin McCullar, Dajuan Harris and KJ Adams. Incoming freshmen are: Marcus Adams, Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell. Transfer portal additions are Parker Braun, Hunter Dickinson, Nick Timberlake and Arterio Morris. KU's nonscholarship players are Charlie McCarthy, Justin Cross, Michael Jankovich, Patrick Cassidy, Wilder Evers and Dillon Wilhite.

"I don't know we’ll be the most athletic (team)," Self said. "You could put Juan, Elmarko, Arterio, Kevin and KJ out there. You could put a (small, fast) team out there you could say may cause other teams problems We will be more gifted on the perimeter without question."

He was asked about the addition of Big 12 and national player of the year candidate Hunter Dickinson from the transfer portal.

"We recruited a tall guy who thinks he's a 4-man," Self said with a smile, referring to former Michigan 7-footer Dickinson. "We haven't told him yet we play our 4-man under the basket. He's probably the ‘most ready best player’ we’ve ever recruited. We’ve never recruited anybody who could do what he could do in his first year here.

"Granted he's 20 years old or 21 (he's 22). Most kids we recruit are 18, 19. He's a guy from a production standpoint will be better than anybody we’ve ever had here in their first year. We’re excited to have him."

Of the 10-man (scholarship) team, Self said: "Our roster is good, hopefully not complete. One thing you can say about our roster is we don't need anybody to get hurt because there's not a lot of guys on it. As far as going in with a core group of 10, I probably couldn't be much happier about that."