Pathetic !!

I am at a loss for words… this is what a team looks like when it has quit. Pathetic and a total affront to every player/coach who built this program. HCBS is being paid $10M/yr for this is not acceptable.

Play the managers and walk-on’s. They might lose by 50, but they would play hard and w/ pride of the name Kansas on the front of their jersey

Self says that the team needs to get away from each other for a minute, so they're taking today off. Clearly losing a day of prep before the next game isn't ideal, but it seems like a last, desperate grasp at having some of these young mercenaries do some soul searching.

The list of kids who appear to really want to be at Kansas because it's Kansas is short and shrinking. I think DeJuan, KJ and Zeke fall into that category. Beyond that? I don't think it means what it meant to guys in the past.

Sadly, I think this is a predictable outcome of the current state of college sports with easy transfers and NIL money. I've written off this team and season. It sounds like a lot of fans fall into that category. This makes me wonder when (not if) we'll see attendance at AFH suffer. I'm sure season ticket holders will still show up or send somebody with their tickets, but if I were in town and had a shot at tickets, I think I'd skip it. One of the key benefits/advantages that KU holds is a rabid fan base. What happens when we're no longer rabid? The money starts to dry up, and then we can't go out and buy the players we want. And all this is coming after a huge investment in facilities and a much bigger/stronger conference. The days of KU being "the team to beat" in the big 12 are likely already gone.

It's a new and depressing era where HCBS is going to have to manage a team more like an NBA franchise rather than an actual "team" rallying around the same priorities. Instead, you get a bunch of individuals playing to maintain/increase their NIL value and constantly looking over their shoulder to hop to greener pastures if another schools comes along an makes an offer.

I've always enjoyed college sports more than the pros because at some level, there are actually kids (i.e. Mitch Lightfoot) who will never go pro and just love playing, and are living the dream of being able to do so on a huge stage before they get relegated to obscurity like the rest of us. It's inspiring to see kids like that play, because at some level, many of us can identify with it. They're living OUR unfulfilled dream and the fans pour out their hearts proportionately to how much heart those kids pour into their efforts.

That world is basically dead and gone.

Self is 62 and can retire whenever he wants. He probably wants to this morning. He's going to have to make the choice of whether he wants to run things like an NBA team or quit. No more "don't worry about the mules, load the wagon." Instead he'll have to adapt to negotiating with the mules about how the wagon is loaded. It wouldn't shock me if he hung it up earlier than expected.

Much what I was thinking...

The Jayhawk is engraved on my heart and I love the kids that have that too! Sadly for the most part those days are gone...

This is probably why Bennet quit at UVa. Just think about NIL and the state of the portal- I contend that these current players have more negotiating autonomy in college basketball then they will ever have as there are no negotiated Player Association/League restrictions or guidelines. Don’t think this is unrecognized by their “advisors”.

From NotO

Self is 62 and can retire whenever he wants. He probably wants to this morning. He's going to have to make the choice of whether he wants to run things like an NBA team or quit. No more "don't worry about the mules, load the wagon." Instead he'll have to adapt to negotiating with the mules about how the wagon is loaded. It wouldn't shock me if he hung it up earlier than expected.

From JoJo

This is probably why Bennet quit at UVa. Just think about NIL and the state of the portal- I contend that these current players have more negotiating autonomy in college basketball then they will ever have as there are no negotiated Player Association/League restrictions or guidelines. Don’t think this is unrecognized by their “advisors”.

I hate to add to this train of thought, but I was thinking the same thing over the past couple of days. I think Bennett did say that that was the reason he left UVA. And Larrañaga, I think, cited the same reasons for leaving earlier this season. It's really a bad headspace these for us fans who knew the college game the way it was (mostly) supposed to be played.