The optimist in Bill Self tells him everything's going to be all right in the world _ including the sports world _ sooner rather than later.
"I'm hopeful that as we are flattening the (COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic) curve and some other things there could be some semblance of life as we knew it that could come back," Self, Kansas' 17th-year basketball coach, said Thursday, speaking as a guest on Shannon Spake's Foxsports.com podcast.
"I don't think fans attending events or social gatherings, things like that, are going to happen at the exact same moment. I think we will do it in stages. I don't think we are going to jump in and have it exactly the way it was before. I am obviously no expert. That's just my opinion. I do believe there's a lot of reasons across the world and especially in the United States to celebrate (once the virus is under control)."
Self believes fans will indeed express jubilation when their favorite sports return to action.
"This will be Mardi Gras times 10," Self said on Spake's podcast. "There will be I believe a great celebration of life _ the appreciation we have that maybe we took for granted before that will be a fun thing for all people to be a part of. Of course sports plays a huge role in that. I still think, unfortunately, and I am not an expert by any means, we are going to have to go in stages to get to that."
Speaking 10 days after the 2020 national-title game was supposed to be played, Self said it's obvious the right decision was made on March 12 to cancel the NCAA Tournament.
"There was only one decision to be made _ to cancel," Self said. "No way anybody can now say, 'If we would have postponed or done it later.' We are at a point the NBA is hoping there is some way they can get in some form of a season later. Major league baseball has no idea when they are starting. This could even affect football, pushing it back, even though we all hope it doesn't. With basketball there was no decision to be made."
Self reiterated what he's said many times before _ he'd like to devise a way to honor his 2019-20 Jayhawks, who went 28-3, won the Big 12 regular-season title by two games and were expected to contend for an NCAA crown as the overall No. 1 seed.
"Just like every coach, I feel I didn't get a chance to hug them, tell them how much I appreciate their efforts as a coach," said Self, who upon learning that KU's campus was going to be shut down told his players the evening of March 12 to return to their hometowns as soon as possible.
"I like to be honest. I'll tell them the truth (during the season) in a positive way that's softened until we get where we want to go. I don't go around saying, 'Hey, Devon Dotson you are the greatest,' or, 'Doke, you're the best,' but I'll tell them how well they are doing.
"The season ended and I haven't had a time to tell them, 'Hey you were the greatest,' or, 'You were the best.' That's been disappointing. I know the players are disappointed. We understand there are things bigger than a basketball tournament. Their legacy will be incomplete and there will be an asterisk next to it in the annals of a storied program. They know what they accomplished on the court."
Self said he does not want anybody to proclaim KU the 2020 national championship team just because the Jayhawks finished No. 1 in the polls.
"I think it would mean something to the players to know people thought we were probably the best team," he said, "but the reality is, how could Dayton not have their season memorialized? How could San Diego State not? How could Baylor not? An abundance of other teams could say the same thing.
"I don't think we were dominant by any stretch like Kentucky was in 2015 going into the tournament, where they ran the table and were 32-0. That was not us this year. But in this particular year, when there wasn't a so called great, great, great team, we were probably as good as the other teams and we were getting better and better. I'd like for there to be something to memorialize, but that way (claiming KU is a national champion) would not be accurate. Our players would probably think about it and say, 'Coach it doesn't feel right.' It wouldn't carry the same weight whatsoever."
