Kansas Head Coach Bill Self Says He Has Been Thinking About Next Season For 'The Last Month'

The Kansas Jayhawks made an early exit from the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night after an 89-68 loss to Gonzaga, and head coach Bill Self revealed that his head hasn't exactly been in it.

Nope. He says he was focused on next season and has been for the last month.

Isn't the month of March kind of a big deal in college hoops? People don't normally overlook it.

According to Yahoo Sports, Self was asked when his attention would turn to the 2024-25 season, and he said that switch was flipped a few weeks ago.

"I think for the last month I’ve been thinking about next season, to be honest," he said. 

Alright… already that's not something you want to hear if you're a Kansas player or fan.

It seemed like Self may have picked up on how un-coachlike that sounded because he clarified.

"Not in the moments during the game but obviously we played — we had eight guys on scholarship that were healthy there late, and injuries are part of the game so that’s not an excuse, but we could have done a much better job as a staff of putting more guys out there that we could play."

There's truth to that. I don't think anyone was under any illusions that Kansas was going to go on one of those standard-issue Kansas runs through the Tournament.

Like he said, injuries happen and that was a big factor. But aren't you supposed to stay focused on the task at hand and find a way to win with the cards you've been dealt?

It sure seems like Self — to use a Simpsons reference — said the quiet part out loud and the loud part quiet in this instance.