Earlier today, Andy Katz conducted an interview with Kansas head coach Bill Self. I posted a link to the video a little bit ago, but here are some highlights the interview.
-- When asked about the season, Kansas head coach Bill Self said, overall, Kansas did an above-average job. Self said there was an “off-the-court” incident that set Kansas back to start the season, and then Self mentioned that Kansas lost a player
“When we were healthy, we were good,” said Kansas head coach Bill Self while talking to Andy Katz. “We beat Tennessee, beat UConn, and I think we were 12-1 in the non-conference. The only team that got us was Marquette
“We beat Kentucky and has some really good wins and then started conference play out slow,” he added. “We had no depth. We just didn’t have much depth. We were good enough to beat Houston and Baylor and Texas, and some good some good people. But when (Kevin) McCullar got hurt and basically, we went from five legitimate starters to four, it was a different team after that point.
“Kevin tried to come back, but he just couldn’t do it,” he continued. “He gave it his all, but his knee just wouldn’t cooperate. We limped home. I don’t know what the percentage of teams in America, even ones that make the tournament, there are some teams that are ascending and some teams that are descending. Very rarely have we been a descending team, but I felt like everything had to go right, too much, for us to have a consistent and make a run. We lost the game against Gonzaga, they handled us and they whipped us, we lost that game against Samford.”
-- Next up, Self and Katz talked about KU’s core group of players coming back next season. While Johnny Furphy has a decision to make, Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris, Jamari McDowell, Elmarko Jackson, KJ Adams, and Zach Clemence all return.
“With Jaun, KJ, and Hunt – Hunt was the only one out of the three that seriously considered, you know, entering the draft,” said Self. “We caught a break there. Elmarko didn’t have the freshman year that he had probably hoped, but he’s a heck of a prospect.
“Johnny probably had a better freshman year than what anyone would ever imagine, and so he’s in the draft,” he added. “Chances are, I think he’ll probably stay in the draft because I think he’ll go in the first round.”
-- When the season ended, I really believed that Zach Clemence, the 6-foot-11, 230-pound forward from San Antonio, Texas would hit the transfer portal and look for a new school to call home. I think there were a lot of people that felt that way after Clemence decided to return last season and redshirt.
Self, during his time with Ansy Katz, spoke highly of Clemence when looking to next season.
“Zach Clemence, who didn’t play this past year, Zach is a good player,” said Self. “He’s a really good player at 6’10, he’s back.”
-- After talking about the guys coming back, Self addressed the moves that he and his staff made in the transfer portal this off-season. During the season-ending banquet, Self said what happened this past season would never happen again.
Self and his staff, to the surprise of nobody, hit an absolute grand slam with the additions of Riley Kugel (status somewhat unknown), Zeke Mayo, AJ Storr, and Rylan Griffen.
“We had to go, in my opinion, address our weaknesses in the portal,” said Self. “I think for the most part we have. I don’t know that we’ve addressed every one of them, but for the most part, I think we’ve done a pretty good job with Zeke Mayo and Rylan Griffen and obviously, AJ Storr.
“We also got a commitment from a young man from Florida, Riley Kugel, that it's up-in-the air whether or not Riley will come, but certainly, those other three, we feel good about.”
-- After talking about last year’s weaknesses on Monday, Katz asked Self specifically what weaknesses he was looking to fill, or improve on when looking to next season.
“What were those that you had to fill,” Katz asked Self during the interview/”
“I think perimeter shooting,” said Self. “I think, obviously, athleticism and, you know, just overall depth. We tried to workout a sub situation where you play five starters and sub all five at once, and play the reserves one minute at a time, to make sure your five starters play together 35 minutes.
“We were so beat-up that we couldn’t even do that,” he added. “But that was the thought we had, how do we keep these five guys together, because those five guys were pretty good. It didn’t workout that way because of injuries. I don’t wanna have to think that way again. I want eight starters.”
“Granted, even though you can only start five, obviously, but have eight guys that are good enough to be in the game at any point in time,” he continued. “You look at the teams that have won it, for the most part and you look at Connecticut, Connecticut had their main guys. You could bring a guy off the bench and rest somebody for a certain period of time, whether it be in the pivot or whether it be a rotational guard or whatever, and there’s not a drop-off. Those were areas we had to address, and I think for the most part we did a good job.”
-- A year ago, Hunter Dickinson, the 7-foot-2, 260-pound center from Alexandria, Va., was the most coveted prospect in the portal. After taking a number of visits, Dickinson, who averaged 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game this past season, ultimately committed to Bill Self and Kansas.
Dickinson recently announced that he’d be returning to Kansas for one final season. Last year, Kansas opened up the season as the No. 1 ranked team in college basketball. When the 2024-25 season kicks off, Kansas will likely find itself atop the rankings again.
If Kansas is going to capture its third national championhip under Bill Self, Hunter Dickinson, without question, will have to be at his very best. When looking to next season, what’s the next step Dickinson must take to reach his full potential?
“I think athletically he can still do better,” said Self. “Guard ball screens better, set and get out of ball screens better and the one thing, and you know, we love Hunt, but the one thing that I don’t think he did last year as well as he can do, he didn’t shoot the ball consistently. He was on a roll, and I don’t know if you remember to start the season, he was shooting 70 percent from three for the first 13 games, or whatever.
“After that, he went through a pretty big drought,” he added. “Just him shooting the basketball, which is what he does, I think he can shoot it much better. And then just play a little bit more athletic.”
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