Notable Quotes From Bill Self Ahead of Kansas Basketball Season Opener

No. 19 Kansas is just two days away from tipping off the 2025-26 college basketball campaign with a home matchup against Green Bay.

Head coach Bill Self met with the media on Friday afternoon after practice to talk about his team's first contest of the season, and he provided some insight as to where he believes his team stands right now.

On Darryn's Peterson bug/cramping injury:

"He's fine. He practiced today at full speed. So is he 100%? Probably not. But is he practicing? Yes. So I certainly don't anticipate holding him anymore from this point forward, you know, unless something else happens."

On the team's preparedness before Green Bay game:

"I don't feel very good about it. We had a bad day this morning, not from an attitude standpoint or a tri-level standpoint, just from attention to details, carry over, things like that. There's a lot of slippage, so I didn't think we were good at all the other night against Fort Hays, with the exception of Melvin. I thought Melvin played downhill and actually played with some personality and things like that, but we've got to be a heck of a lot better than what we have been in practice the last couple of days."

On Kohl Rosario's struggles:

"He hasn't shot the ball well in a couple of weeks, but that'll change. I mean, he's also just too ramped up and too sped up right now. It's a different moment for him, and it is for everybody, especially young guys. And then, you know, just to practice, he's a little bit too geeked up. He shot [a 3-pointer] at Louisville from the dead corner that hit the top right corner of the backboard, which is almost impossible to do. So he's got to tighten that up a little bit."

On if any other players are underperforming:

"Well, I think you could say that about everybody. I didn't think Flory's been great. I didn't think, obviously Tre, I thought was just average in both games. Elmarko, I think he can be a lot better. I think Jayden Dawson, we haven't seen him play a lot, but I think he's capable. Bryson Tiller's had some moments. Everybody's had some moments, but they're too few and far between. We've got to play better collectively than what we've done. But I actually thought Fort Hays State was really good for us, because after watching the tape, Mark does a great job. They're very sound defensively, and they make you make plays to beat them, and we just didn't make those plays, which was probably good for our guys to see."

On Green Bay coach Doug Gottlieb:

"He came in for fantasy camp one time, if I remember right. But, yeah, Doug's always been a high basketball IQ guy back when he played, and certainly commentating on everybody else playing as a media member. And now seeing him as a coach and still somewhat of a media member, I think it's a unique situation, but he's a very knowledgeable guy."

On how the game against Green Bay was set up:

"If I remember right, I think he just called when he got the job at Green Bay, saying that he would really like to play here if we could work it out. Of course, that was pretty easy. So, it timed up well for both of us to do the open game."