'If we practiced tomorrow, I'd be 100%'

Looking no worse for wear and fresh off of a morning round of golf on Friday, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self shared his status three full weeks after being hospitalized with a health scare that required two new stents put into his heart.

Self said he was feeling much better at this point this time around than he was at the same point following his health scare in 2023.

“I don't think it was a situation that just hit me right between the eyes,” Self said of this year’s incident. “I actually think I'm better today than I was then. Like, I could coach a game tomorrow. I can have practice tomorrow. And back then, because of some complications I had, they didn't want me doing anything for a while. So, from that standpoint, I feel like I'm much further along. If we practiced tomorrow, I'd be 100%.”

That said, Self said he will move forward with a greater priority on his day-to-day habits, advice he said all young people should heed when they’re told to take care of themselves and their bodies.

“They’ve asked me and told me that I could have some improvements in my lifestyle and life choices, primarily with food and exercise,” he began of the advice from doctors upon his release from the hospital in late-July. “So, they’ve got me doing some stuff, but I’m probably doing about as well as you could do.”

Self was asked if the most recent hospital stay had forced him to further consider his future in coaching and he said he had not thought much about that. He then relayed a conversation he had with his surgeon about the issue.

“I asked the surgeon, ‘Hey, what do you think? Is this something that should change my way of thinking on stuff,’” Self began. “He said, ‘Do you love what you do?’ And I said, ‘Yes.’ And he said, ‘Well, keep doing it.’”

So, that’s the plan. And there’s plenty of reason to look forward to what lies ahead.

Despite turning over the roster during yet another offseason, Self clearly likes the look of the 2025-26 Jayhawks, who will report to campus for the start of school next week and begin official practices sometime in mid-to-late September.

“Who knows how it’ll all play out,” Self began when asked about the outlook for the upcoming season. “But I think we got better. We got more athletic. We got more depth. … I like where we’re at.”