The final buzzer sounded and every Kansas fan watched in horror as a practically uncontested layup rolled into the basket to give St. John's a two-point victory over the Kansas Jayhawks in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Then all eyes went to head coach Bill Self, who in frustration, kicked the scorer table.
Yet again, the Jayhawks failed to make it past the second round of the tournament, but it almost felt fated this past season. Once the game was over and it set in that the season had come to an end, immediately, Self knew he had a decision to make.
In an interview with The Athletic, Self said he was giving himself a week, but ended up taking 10 days to decide whether or not he was going to return to coaching, but it wasn't because the love of the game was gone.
Bill Self explains why stepping away from Kansas didn't feel right
The KU administration told Self to take as much time as he needed to make his decision, but he knew there were pressing matters that needed his answer. So, Self spoke with his family, but more importantly, he spoke with his doctors about what moving forward would look like.
In the last few years, Self has dealt with some pretty serious health issues involving his heart, which in 2023 kept him out of coaching the Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments, needing surgery last summer, and even being hospitalized for a short time during this past season, causing him to miss the Colorado game.
Going forward, Self wanted to know if this would be his new normal and if coaching was going to impact everything. Not only did this Self go to one doctor, but he even got a second opinion, and the news was exactly what he would have hoped for.
"Basically, it reinforced what other doctors had told me, that, ‘Bill, we’ll get the medicines figured out. You’re actually in better shape, health-wise, than what you were this past summer. You just don’t feel it yet.’ And they convinced me that it was more short-term than it was long-term on how I felt," Self said in his interview. "I wanted to certainly continue to do what I love. And if I do make a decision not to do this, it will not be because of my health.”
Kansas didn't end the season the way anyone wanted to, and especially Self. This 2025-2026 season just never got to the point where Kansas fans really saw this team making a run at any point. Self admitted that the questions around freshman Darryn Peterson never really allowed the team to gel.
Self knows whenever he chooses to hang them up, he very well might not end it all on a win, but going out like that against St. John's just didn't sit well with Self. He may not know exactly when the time will come to end his coaching career, but he feels like he will be able to feel better about it than he would have this season had he made that tough call.
"I thought we tried hard. I thought there were a lot of good things that happened from a coach’s vantage point. But the way that it ended out in San Diego is something that I wouldn’t want that to be my last memory of my tenure here. And I know it’s more likely your career is gonna end on a loss. I mean, I know that. But it didn’t feel right to me," Self said.
“So, did that have anything to do with it? No. I would have made the decision regardless of how it ended. But it certainly gives me some extra motivation.”
Fans have to hope that the extra motivation will end with another championship for the Jayhawks, as Self is excited about the team he has brought in for next season.
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