When a fanbase experiences as much success as the Kansas basketball program has over the past few decades, it is not surprising that people freak out when things are not going their way. The Jayhawk faithful have been spoiled with elite teams and All-American caliber players for years.
When KU hit rock bottom after a blowout loss to BYU, fans were fed up with the current squad — and rightfully so. The Jayhawks are on pace to lose more games than they ever have in the 21st century and could fall to as low as a No. 7 or 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
However, conversations began to go awry when people started questioning Bill Self’s future with the school. Between an article revealing that he considered the Oklahoma State vacancy last year and rumors that he could retire, his future at KU looked gloomy. Thankfully for Kansas, Self shot down all the speculation with a quote to Field of 68.
Bill Self ends any speculation he might retire after this season 😳👀 pic.twitter.com/VOPLqDM2Ol
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 26, 2025
Bill Self will continue to coach at Kansas for the foreseeable future
It was not unreasonable for individuals to be skeptical about Self when KU hit rock bottom. After all, he has coached two subpar teams for his standards since suffering a health scare in March 2023. But even if Self’s future in coaching is indeed ‘on the back nine,’ he still has a few good years left in him.
At 62 years old, Self would retire relatively young for a coach of his echelon. Fellow college basketball greats such as Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim spent several more years on the sidelines. Self has coached for 31 total seasons, making stops at Oral Roberts, Tulsa, and Illinois before arriving at Kansas in 2003.
Self is the winningest coach in program history and will always be a legend. Regardless of how poorly Kansas has performed in the 2024-25 campaign, it’s safe to assume that the Hall of Famer will coach in Lawrence for as long as he’d like to.