Kansas Jayhawks’ Bill Self praises Providence coach, asks for fan support in Chicago
Providence men’s basketball coach Ed Cooley is apparently the type of person who’d give somebody in need the shirt off his own back.
Let Kansas’ Bill Self explain. …
“I wouldn’t consider us close friends,” the 59-year-old Self said of Cooley, 52, who is in his 11th season with the Friars, “but we are close friends enough that we were on a red-eye (flight) from Vegas to Augusta (South Carolina) onto Atlanta one summer when he was coaching at Boston College and my bags got lost.
“I had no clothes to wear so I went recruiting in a Boston College shirt that he was nice enough to give me. I actually had it cleaned and delivered to him after that. We are not close friends but we’re close enough to wear each other’s clothes,” Self said, smiling.
Self noted that he didn’t send any prospects on the recruiting trail Cooley’s way.
But he never forgot the kindness exhibited by Cooley, who was assistant coach from 1997 to 2006 at Boston College before becoming the head coach at Fairfield (2006-11) and now Providence (2011-present).
This season may constitute Cooley’s finest coaching job thus far. His No. 4 seed Friars (27-5) will meet No. 1 seed Kansas (30-6) in an NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional semifinal at 6:29 p.m. Friday at United Center in Chicago.
“When they talk about national coach of the year, T.J. (Otzelberger) has to be considered,” Self said of the Iowa State coach. The winner of the Iowa State-Miami game will meet the KU-Providence winner Sunday for a spot in the Final Four.
“Ed should be considered, winning the Big East,” Self added of Cooley. “Jim (Larranaga, Miami coach) ... I don’t see how you could leave him out based on where they were (early in season) and where they are now. They’ve done an unbelievable job.”
Self spoke on a variety of topics at his first news conference this week in advance of Friday’s game.
He put in a request to KU fans to find a way into the United Center to support the Jayhawks on Friday, and if they win, Sunday.
“I think the fans will bring energy,” Self said. “I’ve got to be real honest with you, I hope they show up and bring the energy. I think in Fort Worth we had fans there, but it wasn’t like a really strong contingent of a lot of folks there.
“Chicago we have such a big alumni base. The thing about the NCAA Tournament though, our alums in Chicago may not have had the foresight 12 months ago to purchase tickets for this site. There will be a lot of tickets purchased that are not team affiliated, just basketball fans. Then the NCAA gives 1,200 (tickets) to every school. Then (after that) it’s up to those schools and those fans to hustle. I think it’d be a time for our fan base to hustle and get there because it does play a role in success.”
He pointed to the fact Arizona had what he called “2/3 of the building” (in San Diego) for first- and second-round games.
“It was a home game for them,” Self said of a second-round Arizona win over TCU. “We can’t make it a home game for us in Chicago, but can certainly play our role to make sure nobody has an advantage over us.”
Self has coached in the United Center for both KU and during his time at Illinois (2000-03).
A reporter on a Zoom call Tuesday asked Self as well as KU players Christian Braun and Jalen Wilson about the career of former Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan. A statue of Jordan is located outside the United Center.
“You guys may not know this but I actually, in 1981 that was the year that (Patrick) Ewing, (Chris) Mullen, (Charles) Barkley, Jordan and Self all came out (of college to enter NBA Draft) that same year,” Self said laughing.
“You asked our guys a question maybe who the GOAT was or something like that. I think guys depending on when they grew up always lean a certain direction. There’s not a right or wrong answer. From my perspective when I grew up, I was a (Larry) Bird guy. I loved Magic (Johnson) but there was nobody like Mike. I wasn’t actually in Champaign (Illinois) when Michael was playing. He’d just retired. I just missed out on that but when you talk about most popular athletes of all time, he, (Muhammad) Ali, Tiger (Woods) and LeBron (James) may be the four most popular athletes of all time.”
Asked about Jordan, KU’s Wilson said: “I know a little bit about Michael Jordan. To be able to share the same court he once played is definitely cool to me.”
Braun was asked what he learned from watching tape of Jordan.
“You see LeBron dropped a 38-point triple double yesterday, so I’m a big LeBron fan,” Braun said, a reporter interrupting Braun’s answer, moving on to another question as Braun was still speaking.
The Jayhawks were awarded a day off Sunday after defeating Creighton on Saturday in Texas, then had a full practice Monday and were to have a short practice Tuesday. They would practice at Allen Fieldhouse again Wednesday, then travel to Chicago on Wednesday afternoon.
“We need our two bigs healthy, Dave (McCormack, sore foot) and Mitch (Lightfoot, sprained knee),” Self said. “I think Dave feels pretty good. I think Mitch has made great improvement and will be close to whole by Friday.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Kansas Jayhawks’ Bill Self praises Providence coach, asks for fan support in Chicago."
