Kansas, Bill Self, and the Cost of Wearing the Crown
Kansas was eliminated from the NCAA tournament on a Dylan Darling buzzer beater from hell this past Sunday. Offensively, it was about as bad as I can remember a Bill Self team looking. It took nearly 30 minutes for them to even resemble a functioning offense — just to get into real sets, real rhythm. They made a push, sure, but the hole was unfortunately one possession too deep.
Physically, Kansas looked ready. Mentally, they didn’t. Self and the staff spent significant time preparing for “the Johnnies press” leading into the game. Stan Van Gundy even pointed it out on the broadcast — he couldn’t believe how much Tre White struggled just to get the ball in. Maybe that’s the tournament. The pressure. The moment.
But still — Elmarko Jackson missing a wide-open dunk. Bryson Tiller: zero points. Melvin Council giving you a brutal opening 10 minutes. It was about as poorly as you can play on that stage.
The defeat marks Kansas’ fourth straight season not making the second weekend: the longest drought since 1982–1985. It is not hyperbole to say that since the 2022 National Championship, Kansas has been nothing short of an utter disappointment.
Remember Kansas was a 1-seed in 2023: Dajuan, KJ, Jalen, Gradey and McCullar (lost to Arkansas R32). The following year, they brought in Hunter Dickinson, and were the preseason ranked #1 team in back to back seasons. Both years, they lost in the first weekend and were disastrous on the road in conference play. Considering the talent and coaching that has been in Kansas’ building the past four years, it’s gone about as bad as you could ever envision.
Of course, the NIL equation has drastically changed things, but that is now a part of the equation moving forward. The answer? Join or die. Kill or be killed. Find a way to recalculate the solution.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing of the season ending, is the fact that Darryn Peterson, arguably the most talented freshman to ever don a Kansas jersey under Bill Self, is going to the NBA. Like Bugs Bunny once said: “That’s all folks.” Of course, Peterson’s lone season at Kansas was one of the more volatile rides in recent memory, but throughout, my lingering concern was whether the pieces around him could fully realize his value. Now, there’s a world where we simulate the season, and it comes together… but I have my doubts.
There’s no question that this team liked each other. They played really hard. There was this “dog” mentality that Council instilled. We were missing that the previous two seasons. They also, oftentimes, played above their talent level in big games. They won 8 straight games in a conference that might have been the best I’ve ever seen. They went undefeated in Las Vegas without Darryn. They beat Arizona without Darryn. They flogged Iowa State. They went on the road in Lubbock and stole one. Bill Self stayed undefeated at home on Big Monday. There certainly wasn’t a shortage of iconic KU moments this year. But some nights, it just felt like this team wasn’t good enough–and there were warning signs. Bill Self benched Bryson Tiller in the second half of the Big 12 Semifinal game against Houston. Self historically has his rotations settled weeks before March, yet here he was scrambling — stretching the rotation and trying to spark a player at the most critical moment. It was a perfect illustration of a program no longer operating with its usual precision; Kansas, is no longer exempt from the rules it once successfully bent.
BILL SELF
Arguably, the most important discussion revolves around Bill Self, who was notably noncommittal about his future at Kansas. Self has dealt with health issues in recent years, missing the tournament in 2023 and the Boulder game this season. He’s spoken about making changes to his lifestyle and diet to put himself in a better position to coach, but there’s little doubt this has been weighing on him for some time. Self has long framed his coaching future in five-year windows, but now that timeline appears to be shrinking — more two years than five.
Because of the mixed results over the past four seasons, people have started to question whether Bill Self is still the right man for the job — whether the game has, in some ways, passed him by, and whether he fully belongs in this NIL-era.
It’s a fair conversation. Self built his reputation as an elite developer of talent — willing to take risks on players, prioritizing fit over raw ability, and molding rosters into something cohesive. Now, in a system that rewards chasing money, he’s had to adjust his approach. Everyone has. Still, there have been stretches where Kansas’ offense feels a step behind — too rigid, too outdated.
Many of the loudest voices are too close to it, operating under a microscope. On the other hand, four years isn’t a small sample size.
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I’ve sat with this for a few days, and I have some thoughts.
Bill Self is the greatest coach I’ve ever rooted for. He’s exceeded virtually every expectation imaginable, and then some. Let’s not forget how shook the fanbase was when Roy Williams left — people legitimately didn’t know what would happen. To think Kansas not only sustained that success, but improved on it is nothing short of incredible. This simply never happens.
To the critics: remember, the grass isn’t always greener. And here’s the part people gloss over: the floor is still high. They’re still making the tournament. They’re still recruiting at a high level. They’re still winning big games, even in down stretches. They’re still defending Allen Fieldhouse — arguably the biggest staple the program has, the one thing that still feels inevitable.
You lose Bill, you’re not just tweaking things — you’re opening yourself up to the real dangers of this sport and this system.
Bill Self is much more than a coach. He’s a leader. A culture-setter. A program unto himself. A force.
This isn’t fixing Vanderbilt (with all due respect). Sure, we could try hiring Mark Byington, or TJ Otzelberger or Grant McCasland. Maybe it works. But for how long? Kansas isn’t for just an Xs and Os guy — it’s built for a king. Someone who can carry the weight of one of the most culturally important programs in the sport and make it feel natural.
We’ve seen how hard that job actually is. Hubert Davis felt it at UNC. Mark Pope’s stepping into it (or out of it) at Kentucky. Say what you want about Calipari, but he brought a real gravitas to that seat. Izzo. Pitino. These guys aren’t just coaches — they’re institutions.
Self has cultivated this larger-than-life, sharp, deeply human — and honestly — commanding presence that almost nobody else has replicated in quite the same way. And the craziest part? He’s universally respected. Nobody has anything bad to say about how he leads, how he treats people, how he represents the program — his players, his staff, the university.
I won’t lie — there are times in my own life where I catch myself thinking, what would Bill Self do in this situation? How would he handle this? How would he navigate it? And I try, in my own way, to match that standard.
That sounds a little ridiculous when you say it out loud, but I think it speaks to something real. I know I’m not alone. He’s earned that kind of trust. Not just as a coach, but as a leader — someone who’s steady, measured, accountable. Someone who doesn’t flinch.
And when you have a figure like that at the center of your program, it’s bigger than wins and losses. It sets a tone. It gives people something to believe in.
How in the fuck do you replace that?
Tyran Stokes is looming. Taylen Kinney is set to make his debut. Flory is hitting the portal and going to draw interest from teams that you absolutely cannot let him go to (yes, I’m looking at you Duke). Bryson may leave.
You can play Monday morning quarterback all you want with Zuby Ejiofor and LaBaron Philon, but remember this: not a single coach in the country is choosing Zuby over Hunter. And Philon, Adams, Rice, Grant-Foster, Thompson — that’s the cost of doing business. That’s the price of chasing the highest level. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is getting dealt for Paul George one hundred times out of one hundred. Those are the rules.
So yes, Bill has struggled. Yes, he’s not as dominant as he once was. But let’s be rational here — this is still Bill Self. You take as many years as he’s willing to give you and figure the rest out later. Because once he’s gone, you don’t just replace that. You hope to.
The coming days will tell us a lot about the future of Kansas basketball. But the more I think about it, the more I keep coming back to the same question — what does this actually look like without Bill Self? And I’m not sure I love the answer.
