KU’s Self followed Hurley’s job saga. Has Jayhawks’ coach ever heard from NBA?

The biggest story in college basketball nationally this summer came in early June, when the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers offered UConn coach Dan Hurley a six-year contract worth $70 million.

The 51-year-old Hurley, who in early April directed the Huskies to their second-straight NCAA title, interviewed on a Friday, then took a long weekend to ponder the offer before politely declining.

A few weeks after deciding to stick around for a seventh season at the Big East Conference powerhouse, Hurley accepted a six-year, $50 million deal to keep him at UConn through the 2029-30 season.

His saga gripped the hoops world, even more so than Hall of Fame coach John Calipari’s transition from Kentucky to Arkansas in April.

“I would say, ‘How can you not listen, but at the end of the day, how do you go?’” KU coach Bill Self said in understanding Hurley’s decision to try for a three-peat in Storrs, Connecticut, rather than coach in the NBA during the 2024-25 season.

“It’s good for our game to have the best want to stay in our profession,” Self added, speaking as a guest on Seth Davis’ Bleacher Report podcast, “especially at a time our profession is so out there from a boundary standpoint that we don’t know where it’s going to move going forward (in terms of NIL, transfer portal and revenue sharing). Nobody really does even though I think we have a better handle on it than 12 months ago

“I think it was very good for our sport that the best coaches want to remain in our game,” Self repeated. “Jay (Wright, who coached Villanova for 21 seasons before heading to the announcing booth after the 2021-22 season) I’m sure had many opportunities to go (to NBA) at Villanova. Coach Krzyzewski (Mike, former Duke coach) I’m sure multiple times. Coach Williams (Roy, former KU, North Carolina coach) and there’s others.”

Asked if he’d been pursued by NBA teams in his 22 seasons at KU, Self said: “I haven’t really flirted with it. I’ve had some discussions, but not serious discussions.”

Self, 61, last November signed a lifetime contract that would pay the Hall of Fame coach $53 million over the first five years. The five-year deal extends by a year at the conclusion of each season.

After signing the contract, Self said: “I’m excited that I will finish my career here.”

“I think that certain people are built for different things,” Self said on Davis’ podcast, “and when you push aside ego and push aside, ‘OK, what am I best at? How can I relate to people best and where would I be most effective?’

“I’m not saying that college guys can’t do it at that (NBA) level because I actually think we can. And I’m not saying NBA people can’t do it at our level but there’s a lot of guys out there that, hey it’s pretty good where you are at regardless of which level you are at, because of the way you have grown.”

Several college coaches have made the jump to the NBA — some successfully, some not.

“I think Billy Donovan (from Florida Gators to OKC Thunder and now Chicago Bulls) is one of the guys that’s done the best,” Self said. “Brad Stevens (from Butler to Boston Celtics), obviously off-the-charts good. To have so much success at the collegiate level .... through personality and everything it translated at a very positive way (for Stevens) at the next level.

“But you know, telling LeBron and A.D. (Anthony Davis of Lakers), ‘I don’t care how you’ve always done it; this is how we’re going to do it now,’ that may not go over quite as well as it would bringing in a freshman you can actually mold.”

Self is not afraid of the new challenges facing college head coaches. He is more than willing to adjust to players making money through NIL, as well as upcoming revenue sharing. And his program has jumped right into the transfer portal.

“It’s going to be a great year for college basketball,” Self said. “The thing about it is the level of play I think is going to continue to get better because schools that are traditionally really good aren’t going to have dips. Because when you lose a player unexpectedly, now you can try and attempt to replace him (in portal). In the past you had to wait to the next recruiting cycle because all the good ones were taken or the kids who transferred all had to sit out a year.”

Now they are immediately eligible after transferring.

“I think there will be more good teams. There are going to be a lot of darn good basketball teams,” Self said.

Self pointed out that “teams are older. Look at us. Hunter (Dickinson) fifth year; Juan (Harris), sixth year; KJ (Adams) fourth year; AJ Storr third year; (Rylan) Griffen third year; Zeke (Mayo) fifth year; Shakeel (Moore) fifth year; (David) Coit, fourth year.”

Self said coaching an older team “does make it easier in theory, still yet a lot of times transfers haven’t worked out as well. Freshmen come in and they don’t know what they don’t know a lot of times. Transfers can come in and say, ‘Well I’ve been doing it this way. This is how I do it. This is how I see my game. Coach you don’t understand my game.’

“I think there is a skill of getting guys to play well together even if they are old. But it’s going to be a good year,” Self said. “The NIL has changed everything obviously. The revenue share will affect it moving forward in ways nobody really knows or understands. Until we get a grasp of this, it is going to play a huge factor in every decision we make.”

It is said teams will have about $22 million per year to distribute to their players as part of revenue sharing.

“I mean even when revenue share kicks in,” Self said, “now we become GMs (general managers): OK you’ve got this much money to spend. Where are you going to slot each player?

“Right now you don’t have to slot them. You can just pay ‘em as much as you want to (via NIL). Everybody potentially is the New York Yankees if they want to be or they could potentially do that. Now people are going to have to operate I think smarter and wiser in putting the roster together. That also makes it fun too. New is fun in many ways.”