Good news – Bill Self has turned down Oklahoma State to sign a “lucrative” contract extension with the Jayhawks:
Three days after winning the NCAA championship, Kansas coach Bill Self said no thanks to Oklahoma State, his alma mater, and agreed to a lucrative contract extension that could keep him at Kansas for the rest of his career.
“Home called,” Self said. “And we love home. But this is home now.”
Apparently, OSU never put an actual offer on the table, so the only ones talking about money were the media. Better news – he plans to stick around for a while:
Self said he now has no thoughts of ever leaving Kansas.
“The way I feel today and the way my family feels today, absolutely,” he said. “I don’t know how long my career’s going to last. I don’t see the finish line at all, but I see the finishing line being here.”
He said the fact that Kansas will probably lose many key players off this championship team to graduation and the NBA draft did not factor into his decision one way or another….
“I couldn’t see leaving this place,” Self said. “This is where we want to be.”
The best news is that Self seems determined to put his political capital to use in improving the basketball facilities, similar to the $31 million the university is putting into facilities for Mangino’s football squad:
Self’s new deal is likely to make him one of college basketball’s highest-paid coaches. Florida coach Billy Donovan is believed to be the highest among coaches at public universities, after he signed a six-year contract worth $3.5 million per year in 2007. Texas’ Rick Barnes is the highest-paid coach in the Big 12 at $2 million a year.
But Self had made it clear all along that he wanted to upgrade the facilities to keep up with what he called “the arms race” in big-time collegiate athletics. The Jayhawks are completing a $31 million project renovating and modernizing their football facilities.
“We need a practice facility, improved locker rooms, videos and cardio rooms,” Self said. “We need a place to eat meals. We need a place for [the media] to do your job, a work room. We need extra locker rooms. We need the Hall of Fame to extend. That’s just all part of it. We’re working on housing.”
If there is one area in which KU faces a sizable deficit, it is in facilities. KU certainly has tradition, with James Naismith, Phog Allen, Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp. It has success, with 1,943 wins over 110 seasons. Only Kentucky (1,966) and North Carolina (1,950) have more wins. Since 1990, KU has the best overall record at 541-121. KU has “only” three championships, but only UCLA (11), Kentucky (7), North Carolina (5) and Indiana (5) have more. In the last 20 years, KU has two titles – only Duke (3) has more. So if you’re going to list the top five programs in all of college basketball, you probably end up with Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA and Duke. What KU doesn’t have is first-class facilities, other than Allen Fieldhouse itself. If Self can improve that situation, he’ll have done more for the legacy of KU basketball than a handful of new banners in the Fieldhouse would do.