Kansas Jayhawks Q&A: Bill Self on NCAA transfer portal targets, Hunter Dickinson + more

It’s certainly been a crazy week for Kansas basketball.

Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self talked to the media on Wednesday for the first time since the Big 12 Tournament.

Self underwent a heart-catheterization procedure in early March, referring to the situation as a “health scare,” which kept him out of KU’s postseason.

He quickly dispelled any rumors of retirement.

“The last several weeks, I’ve been able to reflect on a lot of things,” Self said. “One thing I can tell you without question, I missed my job. I love my job and I want to do my job for a long time.”

The Jayhawks also had their annual postseason awards banquet on Thursday.

It was one last chance to see the 2022-23 KU men’s basketball team together as five players (MJ Rice, Zach Clemence, Cam Martin, Bobby Pettiford and Joseph Yesufu) are in the NCAA transfer portal.

In a time when the transfer portal is highly polarizing to college coaches, I thought Self’s comments were nice to hear.

“We had five kids announce they were going to do something different,” Self said. “I want everybody to understand — we are good with that…. Because if they can go somewhere and better themselves and have more of an opportunity to live out their dreams, we should support that.”

Anyway, it’s time for another Kansas Jayhawks Q&A. As always, thank you for all the questions!

Honestly, I was just a little surprised about how open and honest he was about everything related to the “health scare.” He was reflective about everything and the overall experience.

Self saying, “I thought stress affected everybody else, but not me,” was something you don’t hear much from a coach.

Also, Self using his health issues as motivation to get into better shape to coach even longer is like music to any KU fan’s ears.

I don’t know how high the chances are, but Dickinson is certainly on KU’s radar.

Self even joked about wanting a big man that can get 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds) — if that doesn’t scream Dickinson, I don’t know what does.

I know some Kansas fan is going to say well, actually, Dickinson averages 18.5 points and nine rebounds, but you get my point.

He’s almost a perfect fit for Bill Self as he’s an elite post-scorer but also shoots 42.1% from beyond the arc. Dickinson is solid on defense — averaging two blocks per game, plus Self could help him improve on that end.

Still, it’s more about his offensive game and his ability to be a traditional center, making him an elite transfer pickup.

Dickinson allows KJ Adams to focus on improving his shooting and move down to the four spot. Dickinson also gives major competition to Ernest Udeh and Zuby Ejiofor in practice, allowing them to learn from one of the best bigs in the nation.

I think Allen Fieldhouse is the best — bar none. KU fans are extremely loud and passionate; even if the arena has empty seats, it never feels like it.

Getting to cover basketball at Allen Fieldhouse is a true privilege — you can feel and see the history in and around the arena.

As a guy who grew up as an NBA fan first, Kansas was always one of the schools mentioned for NBA prospects and its history. It wasn’t until I got here, did I realize how special Allen Fieldhouse and KU basketball is overall. Covering a program that will never be irrelevant in an always-loud arena is awesome.

It’s looking much improved! KU hasn’t picked out their kicker yet, but it looks to be fierce competition.

In the offseason, Kansas picked up two kickers from the NCAA transfer portal: Seth Keller of Texas State and Charlie Weinrich of Nebraska.

Here’s what Kansas special teams coordinator Taiwo Onatolu had to say about KU’s kicking competition.

“If you were to ask me today: Who is the starting field goal kicker?” Onatolu said last week. “I couldn’t tell you because it’s that close. We’ve been charting all of it. It’s gonna go on throughout the summer. It’s gonna go on throughout the fall camp. All I know is we are going to have three or four pretty good kickers. which is awesome”

Heck, backup quarterback Jason Bean is even practicing returning kicks!

I’m going to say maybe five times or less. Any more Adams family jokes and it’s overdone also to be quite honest, the Adams family reference might be before both Marcus and KJ’s time.