Bill Self reflects on Mitch Lightfoot career, love for Kansas basketball
Bill Self and Mitch Lightfoot have been through it all together since the forward joined Kansas in 2016. Five NCAA Tournaments, two Final Four appearances, a cancelled tournament. Now, they’re going to a national title game together.
It’s been a pleasure for Self to coach Lightfoot over his time with Kansas, and the Jayhawks coach explained his adulation for the Jayhawks forward.
“I don’t know if Mitch would love playing basketball a seventh or eighth year, but he would love playing it at Kansas,” stated Self. “He just loves the school so much. He’s so popular on campus. I don’t know that we’ve had many, if any, that would feel the same way about his school that he does. So it’s been a treat to watch him grow up.
“You think about how the senior year was taken away from so many last year in so many ways, and then you have the NCAA giving these kids an opportunity to get an additional year and to think that he has an opportunity to go out this way as opposed to the way it could have been, I think, is very rewarding for him, and I know there’s a lot of other student-athletes out there that get the same opportunity.”
Bill Self and Mitch Lightfoot have been through it all together, but there’s one final accomplishment they can check off their list on Monday — a national title. It could be a storybook ending to a college basketball career for the Kansas forward against North Carolina.
Bill Self reacts as Kansas advances to national championship
Moreover, following an 81-65 victory against Villanova in the Final Four on Saturday, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self is elated to be playing for a national championship. Speaking with CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson after the win, Self said the Jayhawks will be ready for Monday against North Carolina.
“We’re happy that we’re playing,” Self said, following the victory. “Whoever we play is an unbelievable program and unbelievable team. We’re just happy to be in this position representing our school and we’re gonna try to make history on Monday.”
Against Villanova, Kansas was in control from the start, leading by as many as 19 in the first half before taking a 40-29 advantage into halftime. While Villanova rallied to cut the deficit as low as six with 6:10 remaining, the Jayhawks responded with an 11-1 run to pull away for good. With 3:58 left, Kansas guard Christian Braun delivered the 3-point dagger to give his team a 12-point lead.
Continuing, David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji were the stars of the night for Kansas. They combined for 46 of the Jayhawks’ 81 points — 19 from Agbaji and a career-high 23 for McCormack. The Jayhawks also had plenty of success from behind the three-point line, going 13-for-24 from downtown. That proved to be the difference as Villanova rattled off some late runs to make things interesting.
“It was a great team effort,” Self told Wolfson. “We got off to such a good start in large part because of how they shot the ball. He finally got some open looks and he just did a great job. Our whole team competed. We guarded and stayed down on shot fakes for the most part. It was a great team effort.”