I just returned to the states from a 3 week holiday. Flipped on YouTube and caught Andy Katz āThe Sidelineā and a 5-day old interview with Bill. I highly advise everyone catch this for a great update on Jayhawk basketball and also get a glimpse of Self right before he went down. He seemed very vibrant to me. Same with the the official KU pressie he gave at the same time. Bill had a sunburn! 
Peopleā¦ stents are common. I know many who have them for more than a decade.
This procedure is common with men his age. Iām not jumping on the bandwagon his days are much shorter at the helm now.
I found this read interesting. It centers around B12 football but surely has implications for basketball, too. It seems that schools like TT have adopted quickly using their big dollars on front loading. Also interesting how HS NIL is growing.
Just a feeling and I donāt want to jinx anything with a detailed prediction.
Iām holding on to a thought that Self has one more trick up his sleeve for that final scholie and it might be the key to our season success!
Iām curious what this does to the world of college agency. Might this finally put an end to less-than-professional agency representation still present in college sports?
And Self is waste deep in 2026 recruitingā¦ doesnāt show signs of him walking out the door. Maybe all the recent skepticism is fueling him. Might he have a recruiting chip on his shoulder? Itās been ages since I preached chip!! 
@wissox said in The portal.:
If I could get paid for each of the comments on this threadā¦Wondering if itās safe to shut er down now? Is Bill done? Roster is set?
I donāt believe we are done. Iāll be surprised if we donāt use that last scholarship. Seems like we have our immediate needs addressed now. Maybe its time for Self to pull an ace from his sleeve and land someone who can offer additional flexibility in a lineupā¦ like a 6ā8" PF capable from the perimeter with handles and defense. A guy who could play 3-5 position. Maybe we sit on an Intāl prospect who has to get legals in order because we arenāt really at a loss if we donāt fill that scholie.
Iām happy about this addition and feeling very positive on the team potential. We should have a more athletic team than the past years and possess solid defensive capabilities. For those worried about heightā¦ Iād rather have athleticism and long wing spans. Should be a very difficult team to beat anytime we bring energy!
@drgnslayr said in The portal.:
@approxinfinity said in The portal.:
I donāt think NIL has destroyed college sports either. This will take an adjustment period and trial-and-error rule changes to make things smoother.
Until there are multiple year commitments it will be unstable and not super enjoyable for this fans particular taste. Time will tell.
Iām not so sure legislating that within the NCAA framework will hold up in federal court. I feel like college basketball will more likely mimic pro ball with player contracts that specify years and amounts. Even that would require major changes.
@approxinfinity said in The portal.:
Are we getting closer to imposing harder transfer rules now that universities can pay athletes directly and there is a clearer contractual legal path? I dont think NIL destroyed college sports, it just pulled the curtain back. Now we have to align what the schools and fans want with what the athletes want. Time to make the fans happy and lock kids into multiyear contracts.
I donāt think NIL has destroyed college sports either. This will take an adjustment period and trial-and-error rule changes to make things smoother.
We were all living an illusion before that college athletes would pick schools strictly by being fans of that school. I am sure that money is the biggest or one of the biggest factors now for players, so why shouldnāt it be? Money incentives drives most employment situations.
It will take us years to uncondition all of us to start treating athletes like people in other work places.
@dylans said in The portal.:
@drgnslayr said in The portal.:
@SlimShaddy54 I worry about visas for Intāl players. Our current federal government is a mess.
Wrong thread. The politics section is wide open for comments.
Sorry about that. I definitely didnāt want to inject politics in here. But in this particular case, there are issues happening with foreign student visas.
@SlimShaddy54 I worry about visas for Intāl players. Our current federal government is a mess. Iām pretty sure if Bill gets a shot at a USA big heāll sign him.
He reminds me of Bill Russell when heās 2-ft from the basket. . But seriouslyā¦ he would fulfill one of our needs. Love his athleticism. Solid for ball screens, rebounding, defense, maybe even top of the key defense.
Yepā¦ My wording was a little strong on the use of āstupidāā¦ I apologize. And even under the heat I didnāt mean that directed personallyā¦ but to an idea. Again, sorry to everyone in here.
Iām not an expert in this area but I havenāt forgotten how this all went down originally and harnessing every aspect of NIL will be unlikely because it starts infringing on rights then ends up back in court.
I know I keep mentioning Dukeā¦ I have Duke grads close by and they let me know how Duke is on a real mission to dominate and are doing it by getting out ahead of the changing landscape. Of course, that leads me into hypertension!
So the good news is we managed to divert our thoughts away (a little bit) from recruiting. And on that, some of the people in my circle dropped a heavy on me by stating the recent KU recruiting failures werenāt based on KU coming up short on NIL funds. Then my blood pressure shot up again! Lol
BTW - we are only viewing this like a traditional celebrity-style endorsement contract. Where the real money is ā¦. Far above the NIL abilities of KU is the support of Kansas alumni owning valuable companies who are huge fans of the basketball program. These people are spread all over the world. There are opportunities to connect these people with players in the role of sponsorship but itās essential a gift but structured as a business tax write-off. This alone is an endless resource and though they are hit up for endowment contributions hitting them up directly for basketball contributions and more personal, directly helping one specific player is an opportunity for raising about any amount possible. To my understanding, Duke is all over this.
Before you commentā¦ Iām not describing an AD fundraiser. Iāve attended those lunches. And every month Iām hit up by endowments. But no one has contacted me specifically on behalf of a player. Granted, these times are only developing now, as universities will be capped on NIL and the big avenue for extending benefits beyond this limitation will be private NIL.
@Texas-Hawk-10 I knew the Freddyās management and it carried at least throughout Kansas. It was more lucrative than $25k.
I never indicated there would be a huge sponsor matching KUās contribution. If it was someoneās 365-day job to locate sponsors there would be many deals that would add up considerablyā¦ doubtful to match KU funds, but still a consideration for athletes.
Iāve had a lifetime of sales and just the people and industries Iām associated could make their most notable athletes pretty good spending money and nothing to sneeze at. My own business is national and not much in the midwest or I would be a sponsor of one or more athletes.
To say finding NIL deals in this area isnāt worth considering is absolutely stupid.
@Texas-Hawk-10 Flory received sponsorship from Freddyās. It was NOT from KU.
Flory wasnāt much last year and he did a sweet deal. Donāt pretend to know it all.
There is some valid points there. But I guess you know a lot more than Freddyās marketing.
KU basketball is the only winning basketball in the KC area and, once again, we scored the best player in the KC area. Royals and Chiefs are great but no basketball fans in KC? KC is a big fan base for college sportsā¦ a major reason why they own the B12 basketball tournament.
Hellā¦ how about selling KU to Lawrence businesses?
I guess why Iām frustrated is because I come from the business world. KU AD comes from education/not-for-profit perspective. It seems like such a no-brainer to me that KU leaves a fortune on the table by not fully utilizing the marketing potential of the athletes. We LOVE our guys! When I see an ad with a player I donāt change the channel. And I think more favorable towards the sponsor. I feel positive every starter on our team would make at least a cool million every year through private endorsements. Perhaps two or three times that amount. I feel certain it would help relieve some of the financial pressure on the AD.
@approxinfinity I donāt think we have anyone doing this. I could go out everyday speaking to businesses that have an advertising budget and would be happy to have a ball player in ads.
I could be wrongā¦ but hasnāt Self scored late American players that had something go wrong with their committed team before? Didnāt that happen with Frank Mason?
I could go out and sell KU players to KC businesses all day long for NILā¦ $3 million? No problem.
Seriouslyā¦ we need someone who can sell NIL deals to businesses in KC and Kansas. We will never keep up with east coast money.
@SlimShaddy54 It has been frustrating. I think most of our recruiting issues are financial. The AD is below water because itās just stretched too thin. The football stadium is probably our biggest challenge right now.
I feel certain that we will need structural changes in our basketball program. The extent of it may not be possible while Bill is coach. Iām not positive he is sold on hiring a GM (for example). It sure seems like one of the missing pieces in our program now.
I also feel like we need new blood and likely younger blood in the program. I think we now are seen as an āold schoolā operation. Duke is a school I despise but I think we would do very well to model many of the needed changes to what Duke is doing.
Canāt make a post like this without complaining about our ability to develop players. The closest example I have to compare us with is Houston.
@nuleafjhawk What is your work? Coaching college basketball is something I donāt understand on the hiring practices. I know some of it is politicalā¦ a bit of a popularity contest. Otherwise, I think it requires visionaries to see the future when hiring. I donāt trust myself to pick the next KU coachā¦ but I like the idea of JV coming in as an assistant, and I can sense the potential of him being the next Kansas coach.
Iām on board thinking JV is trying out to be Selfās replacement. And I support this maneuver!
And who do we have building NIL private deals? Another part of the job of a GM?
Iām thinking we need to go after endowment contributors to invest in NIL. Does this make sense? NIL is still relatively newā¦ but Iām thinking KU alumni are happy to divide their endowment contributions to split into education and sports.
So Williams left town without signingā¦. Aargh!
I think we pen in Williams today! Iām feeling the love!
@wissox Iāll bring a six-packā¦ orā¦ make that 12-packā¦ bet you have great sunsets up there!
@Texas-Hawk-10 Yes. I see Williams as a good possibility. Not sure we are a real consideration for Fland. I expect him to stay in the SEC.
There is a reason why they call it āanimal husbandry!ā 
@Texas-Hawk-10 Iād be thrilled to land Williams and Fland. Like you said Williams is better now. We need quality experience to go along with DP.
Picking early is what we did last year and it didnāt work out. Iām still optimistic this year will work out.
Yes, we got punished but we got another trophy. Like I said, leave it to the basketball Gods!
BREAKING NEWS: Sarr goes KU after drgnslayr donates nipple pinchers!
But seriously, weāve been down this path before. I remember when we lost Zion to Duke and the world ended. We went on to eventually winning another nattie while Duke has done nothing but disappoint fans with all-star rosters who canāt finish.
At some point I step back and leave it to the basketball Gods to influence the eventual outcomes and go to bed happy knowing weāll be okay and we are scheduled for another nattie some day soonā¦ still ahead of Duke. Hahaha. They looked so good this year!
Might this be helpful for recruiting those last open scholarships? It seems weāve tried the money approach enough. Maybe some players are more sexually motivated? Iām willing to donate some of these clamps if it gets the job done!
@mayjay said in Jacque Vaughn... Thoughts?:
@Crimsonorblue22 Larry might have had two if Archie Marshall hadnāt gotten injured in 1986. Besides Haase, Roy also might have won if Capt Kirk hadnāt hurt his knee. Bill, perhaps three if Embiid hadnāt ā¦ You can go on and on with what ifās! Itās what makes sports funāno season is ever over in our memories!
Bill likely scored another nattie in the Covid year. That team was a real smasher!
Vaughn is an excellent selection to replace Roberts! I feel certain he will help in every areaā¦ recruiting, development, game/practice coaching, team structure/strategyā¦ and YES he is potentially a future replacement for Self! He is perfect to help modernize our program through all the current challenges!
His off-court shenanigans will surely disqualify him. I canāt imagine it happening either. Iām not going to qualify this rumorā¦ yesā¦ I heard it, but rumors donāt mean facts!
Donāt lose sleep over it.
What should we look for in a new coach? I think the landscape is changing. A skill has emerged on my radarā¦ evolution! A coach who is open minded and capable to adapt quickly to the changing landscape. This makes me think YOUNG! Where do we find youth with vast experience? Maybe a past player who also played in the NBA, or coached in some role at that level?