Yesterday, reports surfaced that Illinois coach Bill Self will take the Kansas coaching job which became vacant after Roy Williams left to take over North Carolina.
I don’t have a problem with Williams taking the Tar Heel job. Quite honestly, North Carolina will always have more of a tradition than Kansas. Williams, who was an assistant under the legendary Dean Smith, is the perfect man to take over the job.
It’s Self’s decision which burns a little. Growing up just over an hour north of Champaign, I have a little insight on the Illinois program. I always liked Self, not only as a coach but also as a man. His no-nonsense attitude on the court, but friendly demeanor off it, allowed Self to become the figurehead of “Illini Nation.”
When Self took the Illinois job three years ago, he came from Tulsa and Conference USA. A move into a Big Ten program was the next logical choice for Self, being viewed as a step up in the coaching ladder.
But is Kansas really that much of a step higher than Illinois? In just three years, Self has the Illini program on the verge of becoming a national powerhouse. Virtually everyone from this year’s Big Ten Conference tournament championship team is back next season, and Self was set to welcome in a top-notch recruiting class headed by New Jersey prep star Charlie Villanueva.
ESPN.com analyst Andy Katz called Illinois a regional job. As Katz said, the Jayhawks were on national television 16 times and Illini were on 14 times.
What Katz fails to realize is that in those games, Illinois was being viewed in one of the five largest markets in the nation. The Illini have both Chicago and St. Louis not far from its campus. What does Kansas have? Kansas City and that’s about it.
Sure, Self did get his coaching start at Kansas under former Jayhawk and current Philadelphia 76ers’ boss Larry Brown. Self also graduated from Oklahoma State, another Big 12 school.
But Self was on the verge of something great at Illinois. Just this summer he had just signed a five-year contract extension, yet he quickly threw that away when the Jayhawks came a calling.
With Self gone, Marquette’s Tom Crean is the frontrunner for the job, followed closely by former Chicago Bulls’ head boss Tim Floyd. Crean taking the job would be smart as moving to Champaign and the Big Ten would be a definite step up from Conference USA.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate Self for his decision. I just don’t see how moving to Kansas is such a big step forward for Self.
Matt Duval is a junior in journalism and The Lantern sports editor. He can be reached at [email protected]. He takes solice in that Jim O’Brien wants to finish his career as the coach of Ohio State and won’t leave for some place like Oklahoma State or Baylor.
