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Making his first public comments since he received an NCAA allegation notice on Monday, Kansas men's basketball coach, Bill Self, said he did not think he would. not that the impending situation in the NCAA would be a distraction for his team and would motivate him instead.
"I think it could become if I'm not very mature about it," said Self on Thursday after the first official Jayhawks training of the 2019-2020 season. "But I'm planning to be very mature about it. And I plan to coach this team better and harder than any other team I had here in Kansas.
"I do not see it as a distraction from the point of view of the players, but as a gift for me, from a personal point of view, that it motivates me quite competitively."
The KU received Monday a 20-page document from the NCAA, alleging three Level 1 violations, a lack of institutional control and a charge of coach liability, all of which are severe penalties that could impact the The future of the Kansas program.
But Self, who spoke to his NDA team ahead of Monday's announcement, said the focus of the group was focused on the coming season.
"Honestly, things go as usual," he said. "And today, it was really good to be on the ground and the guys worked hard. We had a very good first day. "
When asked directly what message he had for the Kansas fan base, Self said that he would blame anyone for being concerned about what might happen in the future.
"But I do not think it should take away a bit of what is preparing for this year," he added. "And it puts a team on the ground that will be terribly fun to watch and support. I think we are going to have an excellent basketball team and this team, like all players who play here, has represented this university in a very professional way and deserves to be supported. "
The Jayhawks themselves were unified in their belief that the NCAA's case against Kansas would not be a distraction.
"Seeing all this in the news obviously gives us more motivation to work harder and that's what keeps us going," said second-year guard Ochai Agbaji on Thursday.
Marcus Garrett, Junior goalkeeper, added, "Honestly, we do not even think about it. We simply continue our days, continue to have fun.
Self stated that he thought this approach would be easy for his players because none of them is directly involved in NCAA allegations or in KU's response.
"They know we have this," said Self. "They do, and they're not involved, so if they're not, there's no reason they spend energy thinking about it."
Senior Udoka Azubuike said that this attitude allowed the team to stay focused and confident that things would go well.
"The coach handles everything," Azubuike said. "And I do not have much to say about it. I leave it just for the coach. Right now, it's time for us to be united and work together. It will be on the news, on social media and we do not have to focus on that. We just have to be together. It's really a big distraction for the outside world, and we just need to get together as a family and focus on improving ourselves and being our best and not letting outside distractions affect our project. "
This, of course, involves putting a team on the field that can compete for the Big 12 and the National Championships, and this work officially started on Thursday with the first real practice of the season.
Self stated that he was "very encouraged" for the efforts made by his players and the attention that they have shown throughout the practice.
"I would say energy, effort, execution, too," he said. "It was not great, of course, but it was not good at all. There were days when the walls trained as much to catch the ball as the hands, and this was only the case a few times today. I just thought we were better and we looked like we were a year older. "
In many ways, it's easier for Self to delve into the current basketball game because, as he said on Thursday about the NCAA's allegations, "I've never had such an experience" .
"Not the best time to do it (for the NCAA's allegations), but I'm really excited about the abilities of this team and its motivation to try and do special things this year," said Self.
As for the support he received from KU Chancellor Douglas Girod and Sports Director Jeff Long who both supported their basketball head coach Monday night, Self made it clear that their encouragement was welcome.
"I feel good about it," he said. "I can not speak for them, but I am grateful for the way the school has handled this situation and how it will be handled in the future."
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