Bill Self feeling ‘tons better,’ hopes to coach in Vegas next week if KU advances

Bill Self says he’s feeling “tons better” and hopes to coach his Kansas Jayhawks next week in Las Vegas ... if his team can defeat Arkansas on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 in Des Moines, Iowa.

“I’ve got my energy back to an extent,” Self, KU’s 20th-year coach, said to Greg Gurley in a pregame ESPN+ interview.

Self said: “We met as a group with doctors and (had) a lot of consultations and everything. We think it’s best we rejoin the team full speed going (into) next week, so we obviously need to play pretty well today.”

Self reported: “I’m sleeping better, doing things that they said (were) important to be on the mend quickly.”

The KU coach had a heart catheterization last week in Kansas City. Self watched KU’s first-round win over Howard at the team hotel.

“I check my blood pressure every five minutes or so. I know one time maybe when we didn’t get back in transition or got beat on a backcut it went a little high, not near where to the point it was considered an issue. It runs pretty high anyway,” Self said.

Self also spoke to Brian Hanni in a pregame radio interview.

“I am doing well,” he said. “I feel pretty good, have improved tremendously over the last week or so. I’m excited to be with our guys full time, just am not quite ready (to coach a game). We had a collection of doctors giving advice, took everything they (said) and made the decision it’s not quite time yet. It’s disappointing to me, but (for the) best.

“I do think short term ... I can’t wait until I hopefully rejoin the team on a full-scale basis after this game today.”