KANSAS CITY, Mo. — University of Kansas men's basketball head coach Bill Self has been hospitalized due to a health issue and will not coach Thursday’s Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal game against the West Virginia Mountaineers, the school announced Thursday.
Assistant coach Norm Roberts will serve as the acting head coach.
Self is “doing well and receiving great care at the University of Kansas Health System," according to a press release from KU.
Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas reacted on Twitter after hearing the news.
Prayers up for Coach Bill Self.
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) March 9, 2023
As Self continues to recover, he will not have one major influence by his side.
Over a year ago, Self's father, Bill Self, Sr., passed away at the age of 82.
Self "talked to him a lot" while leading the Jayhawks to their second national championship during his tenure.
Part of his father's favorite quote, "Don't worry about the mules, just load the wagons," was hung up in the rafters permanently last November before the start of the 2022-23 season.
Just Load the Wagon forever 🏆@CoachBillSelf | #RockChalk pic.twitter.com/t8We3N2xZr
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) November 4, 2022
Self missed the first four games of the season while serving a self-imposed suspension. During the stretch, Norm Roberts filled in as head coach, going 4-0.
Roberts has been a longtime assistant with Self, dating back to their time at Oral Roberts. He was hired by Self as his assistant coach prior to the 1996-97 season after an unsuccessful four-year head coaching stint at Queens College.
Since then, Roberts has followed Self through his stints in Tulsa, Illinois and Kansas.
While Roberts left Lawrence in April 2004 to return to his New York roots, he reunited in Lawrence with Self in 2012.
Kansas plays West Virginia at 2 p.m. Thursday at the T-Mobile Center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
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