Bill Self Set to Return After Health Scare, Reflects on Jayhawks’ Gritty Win at Colorado
Two days after a health scare sidelined him from Kansas’ road win at Colorado, head coach Bill Self says he’s ready to get back to work - no restrictions, no limitations.
“I could have coached today,” Self said during his weekly “Hawk Talk” radio show on Wednesday night. “I could have coached last night.
They just didn’t want me flying and being in altitude there. But certainly will be back on the practice court tomorrow, without question.”
The 23rd-year Kansas head coach missed Monday’s game in Boulder after experiencing what he described as “very abnormal chest issues” shortly before the team’s scheduled departure. Given his medical history - including two prior hospitalizations and stent procedures in March 2023 and July 2025 - the symptoms were concerning enough to send him to LMH Health that evening.
The diagnosis? Dehydration and a significant, if brief, bout of atrial fibrillation.
“I’ve got AFib,” Self said. “And I just had a bout with that that was pretty significant in a very small snippet of time. But it was enough that I couldn’t get on a plane.”
That decision kept Self grounded in Lawrence while his team, under acting coach Jacque Vaughn, gutted out a 75-69 win over Colorado - a victory that didn’t come easy in the thin air of the CU Events Center.
It was the 10th game Self has missed in recent years, the bulk of which came during the 2022-23 season due to both suspension and health issues. But watching this one from a distance brought a new kind of challenge.
“When you watch it, I am yelling at the TV, ‘Do this,’ or ‘Do that,’” Self said with a laugh. “And then I start thinking realistically: Even if I was there and I said ‘Do this,’ or ‘Do that,’ there’s still a great chance it wouldn’t work. So now I understand what it actually means to be an armchair quarterback.”
The late tip - just after 10 p.m. Central - didn’t help either. “That’s the latest I’ve stayed up to watch a game in a long time,” he joked.
A Gritty Win, But Far From Perfect
Despite the victory, Self didn’t sugarcoat what he saw on the floor.
“I’d give us an ‘A’ for winning,” he said. “But from a technical standpoint? Maybe a ‘C or whatever.’”
The altitude in Boulder - more than a mile above sea level - didn’t do Kansas any favors. Self noted that the team’s energy wasn’t quite where it needed to be, especially during a stretch of more than seven minutes before the game’s first stoppage.
“I thought last night was one of those deals,” he said. “Our energy level wasn’t close to being comparable to what it was before.”
Still, he had high praise for several individual performances. Melvin Council Jr. came through with clutch plays down the stretch.
Tre White chipped in with timely shooting and rebounding. And freshman Darryn Peterson showed serious toughness, finishing the game on a rolled ankle that may linger for a while.
“It was a pretty severe turn, as evidenced by how he’s walking today - or lack thereof,” Self said. “He’s not going to be 100% for a while, so he’s going to have to learn to deal with that.”
But that grit didn’t go unnoticed.
“He probably earned some points with his teammates for how he handled it,” Self added.
Looking Ahead
With Self back on the sideline, Kansas will turn its focus to Saturday’s in-state clash with Kansas State in Manhattan. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
The Jayhawks may have survived the altitude and adversity in Colorado, but their head coach knows the road ahead demands more.
“We did fine,” Self said. “But we got to play better.
We got to execute better. We got to be tougher.
There’s a lot of things we got to do, but we did have some guys step up when it counted.”
And now, with their leader back on the bench, they’ll look to build on that resilience - one possession at a time.