LAWRENCE, Kan. — Bill Self likes what he’s seen so far after a week’s worth of drills with Kansas’ 2021-22 men’s basketball team.
“I’m excited about ‘em (players). All the guys are healthy and working hard for the most part.” Self, KU’s 19th-year head coach, said Monday morning before teeing it up at The Jayhawk Club in the Bill Self Golf Classic, benefit for the Boy Scouts of America/Heart of America Council.
“I think it’s way too early to see if we’re going to be good or not (but) I think we’ve got a chance to be pretty good,” he added.
The Jayhawks — who reported back to campus on Aug. 23 for the start of the 2021-22 school year after taking three weeks off following two months of summer school workouts — are considered a top five team nationally by many prognosticators.
“We are a deep team. We’re an old team,” Self said.
For instance, the Jayhawks return starters in seniors David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji, junior Christian Braun and redshirt sophomore Jalen Wilson. Reserve Mitch Lightfoot, 24, is a sixth-year player. Also, the Jayhawks have brought in transfers Jalen Coleman-Lands, a sixth-year player who is 25 and at his fourth school, plus fifth-year seniors Remy Martin and Cam Martin, both 23.
“We’ve got some good young kids but the the majority of our guys, I mean Jalen Wilson would be a pup and he started basically every game for us last year. We are as old as we’ve been in a long time,” Self noted.
Self, who is able to work with his players eight hours a week until the official start of the season in late September, noted that, “the returning guys know (what they are doing) for the most part, but they (newcomers) don’t know. That’s OK. Gosh dang, it’s August. We’re figuring it out. There are a lot of personalities to figure out what kind of buttons to push with everybody. It’s been a great group so far.”
Self was asked specifically how two-time first-team all-Pac 12 point guard Remy Martin “makes the team different” this season.
“You know what? I’m not really sure yet. I haven’t quite seen it yet,” Self said. “That’s not being negative. He’s a pass-first point guard right now. He was a a shoot-first point guard at Arizona State. He’s trying so hard to fit in that I think we have to get kind of a balance where he’s thinking right now, but he can also play through his talent a little bit better, and his ability to score.
“I think he’s going to be a huge addition for us. Exactly how he fits in, he gives us some speed, some feistiness and some energy that I think would be very welcome,” Self noted.
The Jayhawks will continue to work out eight hours a week leading into the start of the two-week Boot Camp on Sept. 13. Late Night in the Phog is Oct. 1.
Will fieldhouse be full in 2021-22?
Self, who is fully vaccinated but had COVID-19 in late July, said he’s expecting Allen Fieldhouse to be at full capacity for games this season. There was limited capacity in the 16,300-seat building during the 2020-21 campaign in response to the pandemic.
“I believe as of now we will (be at full capacity). I don’t know if there will be restrictions such as masks or whatever,” Self said Monday. “I believe we will as of now. Until somebody tells me different, we’re definitely moving forward like that.”
