Expectations, as they always are, were high for the Kansas Jayhawks in the 2024-25 college basketball season, especially knowing that this was Hunter Dickinson's final year of eligibility. After what went down on Thursday, we can officially say that the Jayhawks did not live up to their lofty standards.
Kansas had an underwhelming regular season, and wound up as a 7-seed in the West Region as a result. That placement was their lowest ever under head coach Bill Self, who has been running the show in Lawrence since the 2003-2004 season. Due to their up-and-down regular season, the Jayhawks had a tough first-round matchup against an Arkansas Razorbacks team led by John Calipari that had been playing very well leading into the tournament.
Sure enough, Kansas' season ended in disappointing fashion as the Razorbacks pulled off the upset, winning Thursday's game 79-72. The Razorbacks will advance to the Round of 32, while the Jayhawks, reluctantly, have to go home.
The Jayhawks won the national championship in the 2021-22 season, but have fallen off since. They were a 1-seed in the 2022-23 NCAA Tournament but were sent home in the Round of 32. They fell to a 4-seed in 2023-24 and were once again sent home in the Round of 32. Now, they were a 7-seed this time around and lost in the Round of 64 for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
This downward trajectory and frustrating 2024-25 season is understandably leading to chatter about just how long of a leash Bill Self has at Kansas. His buyout might end up playing a role in that decision.
Bill Self's buyout makes moving on from him tough to justify
After Self helped lead the Jayhawks to their most recent title, he wound up signing one of the most unique contracts you'll see. It's essentially a lifetime deal: Self will make approximately $53 million over each five-year period, and then, after each year, an additional one gets tacked on.
Given the expensive and complicated details of his contract, it isn't surprising that his buyout is a hefty one. According to Gary Bedore and Shreyas Laddha of the Kansas City Star ($), Self's buyout is set for $23.1 million. That's a massive step up from the $5.41 million his buyout was set at in his previous contract.
Self's expensive buyout makes firing him more complicated than it would otherwise be. In addition to finding and paying a head coach whom the Jayhawks believe is a better fit than Self, they'd have to pay Self an enormous amount of money.
With all of that being said, there's reason to believe it's going to take more than one subpar year for the school to completely cut ties with Self. Finding a head coach better than him is easier said than done, given his tremendous track record, and doing so would come at an absurd financial cost.