Bill Self Responds to Oklahoma State Rumors
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Oklahoma State’s coaching search nearly ended with a splash in 2024.
On Friday, the Tulsa World’s Berry Tramel reported that OSU basketball’s search for Mike Boynton’s replacement was held up for a bit because of the potential for a former Cowboy to come home. Tramel reported that OSU was the closest it has ever been to getting Kansas coach Bill Self to come to Stillwater.
The move would have sent shockwaves around the country but particularly in the Big 12. Self has been at Kansas for the past two decades and led an incredibly successful tenure with the Jayhawks. Including two national championships, Self has never missed the NCAA Tournament at Kansas and has been a national title contender in almost every season.
Along with recruiting an abundance of NBA talent to play for him, Self could have immediately transformed Cowboy basketball. Instead, he chose to remain with the Jayhawks. Self gave his input on the recent reports to Brett McMurphy on Friday as well.
“I spoke to them, answered questions about the job and offered my opinion about what is needed to win in our league,” Self told McMurphy. “Which I have done every time the job has opened. They got the right guy (in Steve Lutz). I did join Karsten Creek, one of the country’s top golf courses, as an out-of-area member, but I’ve never spent a night close to Stillwater in the last 20 years unless my team was playing there.”
While Self’s response doesn’t exactly make it seem like the Cowboys were close to getting him into Gallagher-Iba Arena, it also does nothing to deny his reported interest. Self played for the Cowboys during his college days, and a reunion with his alma mater is an idea thrown around any time the OSU job opens.
However, the state of the Cowboys program makes the job far less desirable than it was 20 years ago when Self began at Kansas. As Steve Lutz looks to get OSU back into Big 12 contention, there will always be memories of the past to look back on. If OSU can look anything like it did in the Eddie Sutton era with Lutz at the helm, missing out on Self won’t hurt.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.