Bill Self might have thrown some shade at Arkansas coach John Calipari ahead of the highly anticipated match up between two of college basketball’s most popular coaches. Kansas, which has handed the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament despite a lackluster season, will face No. 10 seed Arkansas in the first round and it didn’t take long for controversy to ignite.
Depending on how you look at it, Self’s comments ahead of the game, sort of come off like a slight to Calipari, who is in his first season as the Razorbacks head coach.
"To me, he's always great at recruiting great players and terrific athletes," Self said in a story from the Lawrence Journal-World. "I think they do a good job coaching them too, and I think they usually guard, and I'm sure they'll do that, and they're battle-tested obviously going through the grind of the SEC. It'll be a fun, competitive game."
It’s the second half of that quote that could come off as a dig at Calipari. While Self probably didn’t mean any ill will with the statement, alluding to the fact that Calipari isn’t as good of a coach as he is a recruiter might not be the best move.
Especially for a coach that struggled to, well, coach his own team this year amid a downward spiral and early Big 12 Tournament exit.
Bill Self should be less concerned about John Calipari’s coaching ability and focus more on his own
In that same Lawrence Journal-World story, Self talked about the challenges he faced in a year where things went drastically bad quickly. He referenced this as a season full of inconsistent emotions.
Which is true, at one point Kansas was the top ranked team in college basketball. Now this is the longest they’ve been unranked in over four years. This first round game of the NCAA Tournament will do a lot for Self and his squad.
For one, they couldn’t have asked for a better opponent. The Jayhawks can’t just coast through the first round like they usually do. They have to not just face a tough Arkansas team, but Calipari as well.
While he did struggle toward the end of his tenure at Kentucky and wasn’t great in the NCAA Tournament, it’s still the last coach Self probably wants to face amid a season of many struggles.
This season hasn’t been conventional for either coach. Which is poetic, one will get the chance to knock the other out. It’s the best part of the NCAA Tournament, the uniqueness of the matchups, be it the teams or the coaches.