KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bill Self spoke with reporters Wednesday for the first time since March 8, when he was hospitalized with a heart condition before the Big 12 Tournament began.
Self reaffirmed his status that he will continue coaching the Jayhawks despite the health scare.
“I am 100% positive I will be coaching at Kansas next season and hopefully many more after that,” Self said.
Self detailed his health scare to reporters, revealing that the same day he spoke to reporters on March 8, he said he went to the hospital “soon after that”.
“I had an unknown tightness in my chest, some balance issues,” Self said, “I wasn’t totally out of it, but I just didn’t feel right.”
When the Jayhawks began the NCAA Tournament, Self said he wanted to coach the game against Howard and told reporters there was potential that he could have, but doctors told him that there was a good chance he would have missed the team’s Round of 32 matchup had he coached against Howard.
The day before the Jayhawks were set to play Arkansas, doctors told Self he could not coach the game because of concerns that elevated blood pressure and a potential emotional outbreak could have affected Self’s health.
“The risk of my blood pressure was a potential major concern,” Self said.
Self said he would have coached in the Sweet 16 if the Jayhawks had defeated the Razorbacks.
Self also said under the advisory of health care professionals, he kept a heart pressure monitor next to him for both the Big 12 and NCAA tournament games, which he said he watched from hospital and hotel rooms.
Self said his health is back to its previous levels, but that he is still not quite 100 percent.
“I’m in the process of feeling well again,” Self said, “I think sometimes we don’t realize that we don’t feel well until we know we feel well and know the difference.”
However, Self said he is back on the recruiting trail and believes his health concerns won’t affect recruiting.
“We’ve dealt with negative recruiting for a while now,” Self said. “I haven’t had to address this with any recruit yet. My assistant coaches have been asked (about my health) but I don’t even consider this something hard to address.”
With the health scare, Self said this episode prompted him to think about things from lifestyle changes to considering the end of his coaching career, but it also reaffirmed his love for being the head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks.
