Bill Self knows what matters: Money
Yael T. AbouhalkahBill Self gets paid around $4 million a year to coach college basketball at the University of Kansas.
So he knows what really matters when controversy breaks out around his team.
Follow the money.
- adidas, a corporate sponsor of the Jayhawks, tells KU to wear some god-awful-looking adidas uniforms in the post-season?
Yes, Self says, we’ll wear them (even though large numbers of KU fans, like myself, think they are absolutely hideous). Self knows adidas calls the shots in this situation.
- Iowa State fans apologize for their ugly behavior after a KU victory Monday night in Ames, Iowa?
Hey, that’s OK, Self says. Passion runs high at college basketball games, he says, so all is forgiven.
Heck, passions run high because there’s so much at stake - for the coaches, the players, the schools and the fans.
College athletics has been built into such a big deal that you get silly but scary situations like Monday night, when an older Iowa State fan actually thought it was OK to rush Self after the game and appear ready to attack him, until stopped by security.
And who benefits the most from the passion of the fans and the corporate sponsorships?
Bill Self.
It helps that he’s a very solid coach with a strong winning record. A team he coached won the 2008 NCAA tournament, after all, helping to leverage his financial position at the University of Kansas.
He’s not universally beloved, by no means. Fans can be fickle. They can be over-demanding.
Of course, no one knows that better than Bill Self.
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