Big 12 basketball programs finally have a reason to smile. Kansas Jayhawks coach Bill Self, who has held a stranglehold on the league for over a decade, is pondering retirement.
That idea of retirement? He is considering hanging up the whistle far earlier than you think.
Speaking with ESPN.com reporter Myron Medcalf, Bill Self mentioned that he might retire as soon as the end of the 2021-22 college basketball season. With five more years left on his current deal, that would mean that Self would be retiring before he would even turn 60.
That is rather shocking. Other prominent college basketball coaches are known to coach well into their 60s.
“I’ve said all along that if I could go to my late 50s, that’d be good for me,” Bill Self said to Medcalf. “Now that I’m getting close to my late 50s, I’m like, ‘Well…’ but my contract runs until I’m 59, so I’ve got five more years left. I definitely want to do that. Then whatever happens after that I’d be happy with whatever. But I don’t want to [coach too late].”
This is kind of awesome, if we are being honest.
If Self wants to live life without being held to some idea that he has to coach basketball, good for him. There's no reason to stick around the sport after he wants to.
It was refreshing to hear a coach speak so honestly about it as well, as he's now put himself in a position where some recruits might be nervous about committing three or four years down the road.
All of this is still some time away from actually happening. Self can change his mind, obviously. But this is something worth monitoring.
If Self leaves Kansas, what does it mean for the program and the Big 12?
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