Since we're talking about Self here, I just saw this and I was thinking what a bad thing to say to a recruit. Complete opposite of what Hurley, and Calhoun before him, would tell a recruit.
Kansas: "Just
Bill Self.
Bill Self is a great coach and he basically told me if I play for him then I would start right away. The play-style is really good, they play up and down."
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Here's where I have a problem with this. Now I'm all for with second chances, but I don't like when someone rewards a young troubled athlete who's likely been told all their life how great they are while being enabled for bad behavior. Then when they finally face some consequences, they are still rewarded by given an equal or even better athletic opportunity.
If I understand correctly, his case back in Texas had not been decided but Self recruited him anyways. I would not have had as much an issue if a mid major program took him in after his case had been judicated. Let the kid have a second chance but that chance should not be rewarded a scholarship at one of the top basketball programs. Any coach that takes that type of player clearly shows that winning is more important than character and what's best for that troubled athlete.
If some troubled kid showed that he turned things around, which was the case with Caron before he was recruited by Calhoun, stayed out of trouble and did some volunteer work having a positive influence on others, I wouldn't have a problem with a major program recruiting that type of kid. But that is not the case here.
Bottom line, I don't have a lot of respect for coaches and programs that have a pattern of taking talented athletes who've gotten into trouble and have not demonstrated remorse and any steps to reverse their trajectory in life.
Self rolled the risk and reward dice, and in this case lost. The irony here is that the national media, and certainly the local media, are not going to hold Self accountable for this pattern, and without any consequences, this pattern of rewarding bad behavior will likely continue at Kansas.
I often wonder what would happen with some of these talented troubled kids if they had been held accountable and had to suffer some consequences for their actions early on. The longer they get away with these types of behavior it only seems to escalate into something worse resulting in more victims, and in many cases, a bad outcome for themselves.