Is Self ready for start of KU’s season? ‘I don’t have an idea yet how it all fits’

Bill Self thinks his Kansas men’s basketball players are prepared for the official start of practice Wednesday afternoon and Late Night in the Phog skits and scrimmage on Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

The only question in his mind as the 2020-21 offseason turns into the 2021-22 preseason concerns … himself.

“The person that’s probably not as ready as anybody is me because I don’t have an idea yet of how it all fits,” Self, KU’s 19th-year coach, said Tuesday in a news conference to promote the 37th annual Late Night.

“They (players) may be more ready to practice than I am to actually understand what we have at practice,” added Self, whose roster consists of 18 players, including 10 newcomers.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing how the pieces fit once we get comfortable together,” he noted.

Self has brought in four transfers (Cam Martin, Remy Martin, Joseph Yesufu, Jalen Coleman-Lands) and four freshmen (KJ Adams, Zach Clemence, Kyle Cuffe, Bobby Pettiford) to go with two new walk-ons.

“I think we’re going to go slower than we have the past, which will be very boring for our older guys (including returning starters Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun, David McCormack, Jalen Wilson) but I think we have to do that,” Self said. “I think I’ve got to learn how to practice with 18 guys out there too. Not everybody will be getting reps or many reps, all the time, especially some walk-ons.”

He noted that with 14 scholarship players (including sixth-year senior Mitch Lightfoot), “that’s going to be a little bit different — how to practice. Instead of having two teams you can almost field three if you wanted to do it that way. But I think this will be a learning experience for me also early on, to kind of see how hard you can push these guys and how much you can throw at them and how fast you can.”

One of KU’s players figures to start the season on the injured list. Freshman guard Cuffe recently had arthroscopic knee surgery. “He’s on court doing some stuff. It’s not contact,” Self said noting the Harlem, New York native should be able to practice “next week sometime.”

Senior Remy Martin, who missed Boot Camp conditioning drills because of a high ankle sprain is “not quite 100%,” Self said. “He may not be for a week to 10 days. He’s participating in everything so he’ll be able to go.”

Freshman guard Pettiford (torn ligaments in ankle during summer) and senior big man McCormack (offseason surgery to repair broken bone in foot) are able to practice.

“I don’t know that he’s 100%,” Self said of 6-10, 250-pound senior McCormack, “but he’s been cleared by the (medical) staff and he’s practicing full speed. He’s ready to go. His timing’s not great yet, but it will be. It just takes time.”

Of Durham, North Carolina native Pettiford, Self said: “He is very explosive. He can change direction. He can play off a ball screen. I think he is just experience away, He has a chance to be the next good one (point guard) we have. He’s experience away from being that.”

Asked about the starting point guard position, Self said the likely candidates are in the group of Remy Martin, Dajuan Harris, Pettiford and Yesufu, although Self stated Drake transfer Yesufu is more a combo guard.

“Those would be the four guys, Kyle probably not. Coming early (moving up to recruiting Class of 2021 from 2022) he is probably a little time away from cracking that foursome,” Self said. “Those would be the four guys that are not fighting for one spot but are fighting for probably 1 3/4 spots.”

That’s because, “we can play big like we did last year,” Self said, noting Braun, Agbaji, Wilson and Coleman-Lands could play together at times with one true big.

Self stated, “if we were going to play tomorrow I would say he (Columbia, Missouri native Harris) would get the majority of minutes (at point) just because he’s been around,. That’s with the understanding Remy hasn’t been here (arriving late in summer and having the minor injury). For the most part he was here for two practices in the summer. He’s not at the same stage. So he’s comfort level away. One of those two (Harris, Martin) will start at point. I can see them both playing a lot together.”

Self said when the 6-foot-0 Yesufu is in the game “I anticipate Juan or Remy or possibly Bobby being in the game with him.”

Self seeks full house on Friday

Self, who will be entertaining a batch of recruits on Friday, is hoping for a full house for Late Night, which will start at 6:30 p.m. and run until about 9 p.m. In all, a maximum of 16,300 fans will be allowed into the building after the 2020-21 season in which just 1,500 fans were allowed admittance to games amid the pandemic. Late Night was a virtual event a year ago.

“I hope our fans show up. It’s been long time since anybody at any school from a basketball standpoint is having fun from a crowd standpoint and energy and all that stuff,” Self said. “Nobody in America (had fun last year). You can have fun by winning but the feeling was so much different. This is the first time and we may be the first team in America to have the opportunity to feel what it’s supposed to feel like.

“There’s been a lot of things that we haven’t been able to do, due to the pandemic and protocols but this is a situation in which it’s opened up. We can put 16,000 in here. We will be masked up — masked up in a situation that we can actually be social and enjoy each other and have some fun. It sounds like something that we’ve been missing out for a while, for 18 months or whatever so I hope people are excited about that,” Self added.

Fans are required to wear masks at Friday’s Late Night, but there is no social distancing in the stands this season. Admission is free on Friday.