Kansas coach Bill Self will miss the entirety of the Jayhawks’ run in the Big 12 Tournament after being hospitalized Wednesday night. KU announced Self would miss its game against West Virginia just hours before the 3 p.m. ET tipoff and amended their statement to confirm he will miss the entirety of the tournament following the conclusion of the game.
As part of its announcement, Kansas dismissed rumors that Self, 60, suffered a heart attack, clarifying that he “underwent a standard procedure that went well” and is “expected to make a full recovery.”
“I am very grateful for the overwhelming number of well wishes my family and I have received. I’m excited to get back with my team in the very near future,” Self said in a statement.
Self appeared before the media Wednesday afternoon for an informal scrum in the bowels of the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City where he seemed upbeat about KU’s prospects ahead of its opening game.
Self and Kansas won the Big 12 regular season race for the 17th time in the coach’s career and secured the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament heading into postseason play after going 25-6 overall, 13-5 in Big 12 play.
The Jayhawks project as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to CBS Sports expert Jerry Palm’s Bracketology forecast, positioning Kansas to potentially repeat as national champions after winning it all last season.
Self is 577-130 at KU since taking over the program in 2003. In that time, Kansas has won nine Big 12 Tournament championships, most recently last season. The Jayhawks entered the week as the betting favorite to repeat and easily dispatched the No. 8 seed Mountaineers 78-61 on Thursday.
