Bill Self sheds light on Kansas exit rumors to join Oklahoma State

Bill Self has been the head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks since 2003. He has led his team to two national championships in 2008 and 2022 and several other deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. However, there were rumors that Self was seriously pursued by the Oklahoma State Cowboys before this season. The report came from "The Tulsa World's" Berry Tramel on Friday.

"Multiple Cowboy sources said OSU took a swing at Self, and Cowboy decision-makers grew increasingly confident that Self was impressed with the organization of the plan his alma mater had produced and was intrigued at the package, complete with competitive salary and budget to pay players in this new professional age of college basketball," said Tramel's report.

However, reporter Brett McMurphy spoke with Bill Self on Friday and the coach explained that he was never in consideration for the job. Instead, he was asked his opinion on what they needed to do to win, but he never considered leaving Kansas.

"I spoke to them, answered questions about the job & offered my opinion about what is needed to win in our league,” Self told McMurphy.

"“Which I have done every time the job has opened. They got the right guy (in Steve Lutz). I did join Karsten Creek, one of country’s top golf courses, as an out of area member but I’ve never spent a nite close to Stillwater in last 20 years unless my team was playing there”."

Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks have struggled despite early-season expectations

The Oklahoma State Cowboys will play Bill Self and the No. 23-ranked Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. While the Cowboys (13-13) have not had a stellar season under new head coach Steve Lutz, they have improved on a poor 2024 season.

The Jayhawks (17-9) are in a better position than the Cowboys this season but have struggled based on the expectations for them at the start of the year. Before the season, the Jayhawks were the No. 1-ranked team in the nation. However, they have already lost nine games and are barely ranked within the top 25.

Heading into the game against Oklahoma State, Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks have lost two games in a row against unranked opponents, and four of their last six. They lost on Tuesday 91-57 to the BYU Cougars and 74-67 to the Utah Utes on Feb. 15.